Hi guys

I've been doing some digging on the forum and I think I may have a worn blower regulator.?

My symptons are that the fan will sometimes not blow no where near as hard as it used to and on full power its about half the strength. Sometimes the fan will not work at all, however when it does the AC is cold and working fine, just not coming out with the force i'd like etc.

I dont think its the cabin filter as I changed that about 2 years ago, and also I can tell just by the sound of the blower that its not at full power as it was.

I dont think its the brushes as I have changed these too about a couple of years back and would not account for why the blower will still work a little sometimes.?

Would you guys think its therefore the blower regulator resistor?

 

It also can be the actual connector to the motor. Same symptoms with mine but with I remove the lower shield and gingerly touch or move the wires to the connector things magically improve. I think in my case when I changed the filter a couple of times I may have over stressed the wires/connector. At times certain speeds vary too much but when you touch it it stabilizes. Think the pulse line is not connected/or soldered to the pin. Will remove the plastic wire connector, cut the wires a little bit and re-solder to each pin (3). That should fix it. Normally with a regulator it works in super high but doesn't like anything in between - stays off. Thats when its really bad. Or you get something in between and it doesn't go high. Something to do with certain resistors being burnt out. Each resistor controls a specific speed. With a ohm/voltmeter you can test it in combination of the volts displayed (if you have a digiclimate) to the output of the fan.


How difficult was it to change out the motor brushes and where did you purchase them?

 

Interseting, I will certainly check the connections and also the brushes again too. I notice that the voltage reg looks like large heat sink with resistors on the back. these must get pretty hot then>? do you know if anyone has just replaced the resistors?

 

I dont think you can. Pretty sure its an epoxy sealed unit which cant be disected apart without totally destroying it.

 

kay so today ironically happened to be the hottest and most humid day of the year and I have no air to cool me on my 3 hr drive home. However never one to be defeated I got out my handy leatherman penknife and removed the under tray and fan cover, there were some leaves but not too much, however the blue and red cables when pulled increased the fan speed to what it once was. I think if I replace these cables with some new similar gauge wires and re-solder some connections as well as changing the brushes I may be lucky...

Will let you know.

 

Been having the EXACT SAME PROBLEM on mine and I don't think its related to the three wire harness. Initially I did because when I moved it slightly things would start working.

Last night I was going to cut and resolder the leads to the pins. You can easily open the plastic connector to get at the soldered pins. Took a digital multimeter and put it on the brown and red leads - measured 12V no matter how much I fiddled around with it. Took the gauge on the white and brown did the same (I thought there was a break in the white wire) no problem moving it around either. Voltage varied perfectly with the fan settings. At this point I unplugged the iron and put it away because I couldn't find any break. The wire is solid which is a sure candidate for a break if it was manhandled.

Next checked voltage across the motor (Blue/ReD) at the fan Get 12V at max BUT when I move the red wire around the speed changes slightly and if I move it enough it can stop it. Somewhere there is a problem in the fan because when you move the cable harness (RED/WHITE/BROWN) it shifts the connector which in turn moves the wires at the fan. I'm still not 100 perfect sure if the spade connectors could be tighter (will try) or its moving something at the brush contact which is possible. Think the wires are fine because they are braided and those rarely fail.

Ordered the brushes from the UK (the best ones) and when they arrive will redo the brushes and check all the contact points with the DVM. Also will apply some dielectric grease at the spades and check the ohms when I move it as well as the voltage/contact.

The heat here actually causes my fan to stop at times. Runs perfectly in the morning but leave the car parked in the heat and start it at lunch - no fan. I've removed the lower dash cover so I can tap it - which will start it up immediately - not really sure if its blowing 100% at full power but it starts. A bad regulator would just not cause the fan to work at certain speeds then it would fail completely. You don't really want to have the AC running without the cabin fan - it can freeze the core which also jacks the pressures of the system WAY up past 19-20 bar and the moisture can cause pinholes at the evaporator (OVER A LONG TIME) - think $$$$$$ or lots of time. It shouldn't be a problem if you turn off the AC when it happens to prevent a freeze up.

 

How much would a new or used blower fan be? I have not looked around this area before, or had any problems on this particular car, but I have replaced them on a few Hondas, they are cheap and easy, grab a used one at the junk yard for less than $20.

 

Looking on AutohausAZ, under the climate control section, I see the blower motor is about $200 for OEM or $100 for Uro brand. They also have the resistor/regulator (part with heat sink) for $95 OEM / $60 Uro.

Personally, I would probably just find the parts at a junk yard if mine were malfunctioning and try that first.

 

Typically, its the resistor/regulator. I believe that to be doubly true if the fan ever works. I did mine. It took about 15 minutes to swap. Here's a DIY link with photos.

 

Hi Guys

Problem solved , just bought two brushes for a few bucks and re-soldered them in.

 

Thought it would work - mine are supposed to be here (US) from the UK this week. For people in the US there is a guy selling them on eBay for 26 US ($$$$$$!!!) The problem with them is that the leads aren't copper and are short. The UK version - also on eBay is good quality copper. Typically hardware stores here don't sell them in the size we need.

 

thats rediculous ! brushes are cheap, you can buy any shape that is near the size and easily file them down if needed. eg, drill brushes, lawn mower etc.
PS if you did have the short leads you can always cut the old brushes off and solder the new leads to the old ones to increase the reach.

It didnt take long to do, this is my DIY:

1. Remove plastic cover and undo the 3 screws nuts you can see.
2. then undo the 2 star screws holding the silver voltage regulator and you'll find oen further under neath it
3. Remove fan assembly and unplug cables
4. Remove 2 phillips screws on plastic fan cover to get too brushes then unclip metal clamps with flat screwdriver, brush springs will pop out.

RE-fitting is in reverse.

 

I know but finding them locally in the US is nearly impossible. Our RIDICULOUIS philosophy here is if its broken - don't fix it - just replace the entire part. This applies to nearly everything - appliances, lawn equipment, electronics - you name it. Unless you know a part number or have a specific application a counter person is either too lazy or doesn't care enough to find one. They should only cost a few dollars at most but the time and effort to do a locate locally wasn't worth the few extra dollars the guy in the UK was charging.

Will pull it tomorrow as the brushes arrived pretty quickly this weekend. I have most of the trim removed so it should go very quickly one the iron heats up.

 

WOW thats interesting to know. I pretty much try and fix anything as the internet is packed full of tips and videos, even phones and dishwashers etc. But this is just the engineer in me as im in the industry.!
I fixed my ECU too as through the help on the forum found that I had a blown MOSFET, $2 on ebay and I soldered it in, worked a treat.!

The problem I think we have and expecially in the US is that things for you are pretty cheap, the amount of things I have seen in America that costs me double back home ! no wonder you can throw away and buy another ! But positively you have really cheap gas so you can drive larger cars. Theres so many UK stars that live in the US that its obvious you have a great lifestyle !

 

Anyone got photos?