HEATER A/C BLOWER WTF? Haynes!

[harpon]

I just bought this '91 with the blower motor out
(The ad claimed a/c, but then of course, it doesn't work- I bought it anyway to replace the 88 Festy I had to sell three years ago)

Anyway just starting to look into it as the sun set today- fuse OK
I'll test the continuiity next

The guy said it's the blower motor- "a $40 part" and he's about right about the price I see- at least a used one.


What I'm wondering is where the hell it's at- or at least how do I get to it-

According to my Haynes repair manual: "on models through 1993, the blower motor is in the heater housing under the center of the dash"

OK- I can get there-

but the next instructions are to
"remove the three screws retaining the blower motor to the housing- see illustration-. Withdraw the blower motor straight down and out of the housing"

there's the illustarition with three screws as plain as day and the end of the blower motor which must be what? 3 or 4 inches round at least

BUT I CAN'T FIND IT!

Is it INSIDE THE HOUSING STILL?

perhaps Haynes skips to the post '93 models where it's in it's own unit????

So my question is- where are those three blower motor screws? Do I have to split the heater housing?

I hope it doesn't require the dash and steering wheel and control bezel to be removed- like the heater core.
The repair manual makes it sound like it just comes out the bottom of the box somehow otherwise, but I'm not sure.

Anyone familiar with the removal of the blower motor? RUIDD:

[Studebaker]

You should be able to see the end of the motor from the drivers side. Yes it is in the center a little below the dash behind the cubby hole. First test should be to turn the blower on then tap on the motor with a screw driver. if it starts working bushing are worn in motor. Best to buy a new not used motor.

[F3BZ]

it is pretty easy compared to most other cars. the motor/wheel is attached to the round mounting plate. remove electrical connector. under dash on drivers side. 3 screws. you might have to move a wire or cable but everything pulls straight out to the left.

[harpon]

Hey thanks-

that diagram is just what I needed- and not in the Haynes Repair guide.
Right click saving to my computer!

Got a FESTIVA folder on my desktop and backed on SD card!

[MasterTec]

Just look above the gas pedal.. it's up there.

[william]

Yep^ auto zone has them for about 40 . Kinda sucks to get to, but not bad. If your really cheap like me, brushes from a 87-91 ford f150 windows motor work in the blower motor. Good luck!

[drddan]

If your really cheap like me, brushes from a 87-91 ford f150 windows motor work in the blower motor. Good luck!

That's nuts! I likey!

[harpon]

I've been out there wrestling with this again- extremely HOT in Florida last week- now it only VERY hot- so I can just get a few bursts on this before I'm drenched in sweat- and I'm 60- stiff and sore back-

The heater blower is barely accessible up in the dash- w/ a tiny little connector wire danging from the upper portion-
a user friendly SANE WORLD would AT LEAST have a longer wire to make the connector easier to test for power-

I'm concluding what I always seem to conclude-
the designs are always about prodding customers to get a newer car I think!
"Went back to the bigger gas hog!" probably.....


Anyway, lacking a way to test the conector easily- I thought maybe I can just drop the blower out of the unit, and test that at least at leisure-

only 3 screws and the connector holding it on

so I got the screws out- they have a phillips head center which is very hard to access, but squared sides to get a wrench on

the Haynes manual off course cannot bother to tell us they are 9MM bolts otherwise, but I got them off with a small spanner

VERY HARD to reach

Now the motor and blower are stuck up still under the dash-
a short period of effort- but very painful- proved fruitless in clearing both the motor and attached fan out of the tight quarters- the nut holding the fan is deeply recessed in the fan itself making that inaccessible-

the Haynes instruction seem to jump to the later rare '1994 models and ASpire-
describing the unit as 'dropping straight down"

ihe blower and fan sit in this '91 horizontally, although they are now angled in the small cavity beside the heater box-

so my question is:

HAS ANYONE HERE REMOVED THE BLOWER AND FAN WITHOUT TAKING THE DASH OFF?

maybe I got it angled too quickly? A short effort found it difficult to slide back in easily as well- but what came out surely must go back in-

I was really breaking in a sweat them and in back pain- I had to largely be on my back beside the car to get ANY access to the blower- it's connector and three screws-

If I cant get the unit to clear the dash and pedals I hope I can at least test it now-
the other side of the harness connector is still WAAAAY up in the dash
and almost inaccessible-

anyway-

HAS ANYONE HERE REMOVED THE BLOWER (from the earlier heating box) W/O taking the dash out?

is there some trick I'm missing?

It's kicked up my TMJ and I probably won't wrestle with it until this evening at least.

[harpon]

I said 9 mm bolts above for the three blower screws-

correction:

They are 8 MM bolt/ screws

the unit seems to be blocked by the steering column-

perhaps my question should be:

Has anyone here taken out the blower w/o altering the steering column?


I don't know why the Hayes Manual wouyld not tell us these things.....
It sounds as if it isn't necessary- but their last instructions seem to be dealing with the later versions
with the haeater blower on the right under the glove box

[harpon]

I GOT THE BLOWER AND FAN OUT! Intact even.

OK- Now to answer my own question:

No I don't have to take out the dash or kower the steering column


There was some other long bolt there with a nut on the end- a 14 mm-

not even sure what it was- but it was jutting out in the way- so I got that removed

as it gets later in the day- I'm getting a better sight line under the dash-

from outside the car- I got the assembly-

and the last bit was a kind of twist of the far-

so a corner of the blockage went down inside the hollow fan sides just a bit to clear-

and then guess wgat?

IT'S NOT THE FAN that's the problem-

a direct test on the battery showed the fan runs fine-

now the other harness side of the connector is still WAAAAY UP in the dash- and will be a hard test-
I've just got this crappy indicator light- have to get another continuity tester I think-

And could be the switch- or the connection to the round switch BEHIND the controls-

or maybe the RESISTOR for the variable speed motor
or the connection to that maybe?
I CHECKED THE FUSE OF COURSE, AND PROBABLY CHECK AGAIN NOW-
OOOPS- CAPS LOCK!

such fun-

anyway- not in a great hurry- it'll be parked in the garage at least until Spring

[F3BZ]

it's a 10 min job to take out either front seats (14mm socket) and makes under dash work a good bit less contorted. in a perfect world all wiring would stretch as far as needed for testing or repair but hey, copper costs. they're only going to make it long enough to reach by hand or special rotunda tools. you'd probably laugh you head off if you knew how many minutes ford allots to a factory trained mechanic to replace that fan motor.

[harpon]

I'm going to ELIMINATE the connectors I think, and that way I can splice that other section of wire
to make the connection further down toward the bottom of the dash for future testing

use some wire nuts like we USED to!

[harpon]

I got the blower out- wasn't that- that runs fine,

and actually the connector wire on the other end was folded over and tied- it hangs down about level with the bottom of the dash- unlike the blower connector- very short!

YES taking the front seat out helps, and a pillow on the floor helps too, but all this in 90 plus temps- a little cooler now
(Drove the old 88 around for awhile with no passenger seat even- you can feel the difference- always lose the back seat)


I took off the plastic under the steering column- PERMENENTLY- and a big HEAVY square metal bracket under it,
and then also a long and heavy metal brace under the steer colunm that ran horizontally across the drivers dash-
it's like taking off a CROWBAR- and I don't think I'll be using it again- any reason to?

POUNDS of weight

It looks like the blower will be a lot easier to get back up there now, and out again if ever needed - I'd already cut the connector off the blower motor- so I'll have to do the other side- may not be as necessary as I thought, but will facilitate any future work there

So then I was thinking it might be the resistor gone bad-

got a decent continuity tester at Harbor Freight, even thouigh waiting for one I ordered from China- so it's much easier than trying to use a rigged up indicator light that seemed to forever hang AWAY from me

anyway- also found a blown fuse in line over by a/c relays under hood-
the car has a/c but at sometime someone replaced the ac button with non-standard rocker switch- looks bogus and probably is

Then all at once I have continuity, but CONSTANT- to the blower connector-
I thought was supposed to come through resistor- now disconnected even!
and getting reduced readings- all similar off a wire on the resistor connector-
and only with the A/C switch on or off- can't recall which, "on" I think
cleaned the ground under hood near ac relays - I think it did some good,

but this things all screwy

relays clicking somehow with testing and dim tester- it seemed when I started that the compressor clutch was engaging-
at least the motor was slowing down when the car was running- but no trace that ac was working while blower was NOT
now I'm wondering if that was just a drop in electrical power- haven't started the car for a couple of days

two wire connector under climate control- one getting full power- one dimly lit and clicks ac relay- and I can't tell which one from inside the car
not sure where it come or goes, but probably a/c switch ?

tomorrow I'm disconnecting the ac relays and taking the fuse out and then testing the blower connector and resistor connector- just to see

anyway it's not the blower and I don't think the resisor even, but the makeshift ac switch seems like it may be setting things weird

don't know much about a/c or if I can ever get it running- R-12 freon too I guess-
but the worst I can ever do at this point is fuse a hotwire and switch to the blower for all on or all off heat and defrost- some need of that even in North Florida!
and the motor's taking forever to heat up- so I've got a new thermostat and not looking forward to that- really shot on mechanics
no one ever told me it gets so hard after 60!

anyway- buying another climate control at this point
I think it's the jury-rigged ac switch, maybe the relays still, and one other ground shown on diagrams I still havent found, beyond the one on the upper firewall on passenger side
Not even sure if I can replace the control yet myself

anyone got any knowledge or wisdom here?

[TominMO]

I would be cautious about removing that heavy metal brace you mentioned. They must have put it there for some structural reason.

[bravekozak]

I never remove anything without first testing it with 12V from the nearest connector that I can unplug.

Here's the 91 wiring diagrams. Just look up the wire colors to discover what that connector is for.

That brace is primarily for supporting the cubby and dash.