96 E320: a/c only blows on the low setting. Any ideas?
 

The A/C blows cold but the fan never goes faster than the lowest setting, it barely blows at all, no matter what fan speed I set. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks,

-Dave

Answering my own question...
 

I'm answering my own question for those of you who might encounter the same problem. The blower resister failed. Common problem, I'm told. It's located in the passenger footwell, underneath the glove box, inside the blower motor housing. It's $275 from the dealer, and get this: the blower motor ($392) also has to be replaced to accomodate the resister. Plus a blower motor housing piece ($45), AND a cable adapter from the regulator to the blower motor ($32) must be replaced. FWIW, the job doesn't look too involved, a couple hours for a pro, all day long for a weekend warrior if he's good ;-)

"resister" or "regulator" interchangable terminology...
 

I just noticed that in my previous post, I interchanged "resister" and "regulator". This is from my BMW experience. But I mean the same thing: the blower regulator.

BMWDTR,
I know I spoke to mechanic today and he said the same thing about changing the all of the pieces, they stop selling resistor alone.

I hope someone here comes up with a solution. It is ridiculous to change all that just for a resistor.

What did you end up doing?

I hyave the same problem and the following solution was recommended to me. I haven't tried it yet but it was a MB tech who recommended it. Do a search for blower motor regulator and you should find the thread.

You can use a blower motor regulator for a W140 (S Class) MB and it will work with the existing blower motor and climate control panel. You will have to splice the wiring connector as that is the only part that is different.

I plan on trying this myself but if you get to it first, please post your results!

I think I have the same prob?
 

Recently may dads E320 has had an AC problem. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesent. The more we try to 'futts' with it the worse it gets. The fan and AC will work for a little bit and then either stop completely or just fart on and off. Is this the same problem that you are having? The car is out of warranty and I was hopping to get some insight that would save me some $$$!

Mike

For all those who have this same problem (blower motor regulator bad and the dealer is qouting over $750 for a new regulator, blower motor and mount due to a parts discontinuation), here is the solution.

You can use a blower motor regulator from a W140 S Class (I bought one new at wholesaleimportparts.com for $160) and it will directly replace the original regulator from your W210. Part number is 140-821-83-51. You will have to splice your old wiring connector to the new regulator as that is the only part that is different.

Thanks to Benzmac for identifying the solution. I just replaced mine and it works like a charm. It's an easy job (took about 45 mins total) and saved over $600.

I have the same problem with my car, how do I get access to replace this and what kind of tools will I need?

Thanks...:)

Aglasgow...thanks for your post with the instructions but for some reason the last few replies to this post got deleted wich included your helpful info. I just received the part today and am planning to replace it this weekend. If you don't mind, can you post the instuctions again??? That will me very much help to me.

Thanks,
David:confused: :confused: :confused:

FYI the site lost a couple days posts due to server failure.

:hammer: :hammer: