Air, no! Heat, no! Help!!!

[kevyrev]

Just finally got my festiva on the road yesterday after lots of new parts, tune up, axels, etc..... Oh and the new battery!!
Love driving this car!!! Going 55 feels like 80mph!!
Problem that I found on my way this morning is that the windshield fogged up and I went to turn on defrost, and nothing! So I have no power at all. Got home and pulled some fuses. I have a 92 festiva GL and I believe all the fuses I have are under dash. A 20a cooling fan fuse was blown. Not sure if that is for the fan in front of radiator or my air unit (I have no ac just vent and heat). But it did not come on so just wondering if anyone can give me some guidance. It's going to get cold soon!

[bravekozak]

C.FAN is right behind the rad.
The blower motor gets its power from the HEATER fuse.
The power flows through the blower motor, through the respective blower motor resistor that the blower motor control switch is set to, and then to ground.
Your A/C condenser fan motor, in front of your rad, gets its power from the MAIN fuse link, through a 15A inline fuse.
Aloha.

[kevyrev]

Ok, thanks for such a quick response! I double checked and I have a good heater fuse and the defog is good too. What should I consider now?

[bravekozak]

Unplug the connector to the blower motor resistor. Jump the blue/red wire to ground. The fan should come on with the ignition on.

[kevyrev]

Thanks my friend. I will check that tomorrow when I get home from work, calling it a day. Thanks for being there bravekozak!!

[kevyrev]

Sorry didn't get to check that blower motor as promised. The next morning I overheated just as I got to work. What a sight I was. This became my priority for the day. Turns out my cooling fan was getting stuck on the fan housing and causing the cooling fan fuse to blow. No fan coming on ever I suppose is what led to me boiling my coolant everywhere. I got that fixed, fan spins freely, fuse replaced, verified that it did come on. Cooling system does need to be flushed, looks like radiator has mud in it. I am checking the blower today and will update.

[Pu241]

Hope you did not blow the head gasket and/or warp the head.

Easy to remove the radiator w/out the fan assembly and give it a good flushing out.
Or before it get too cold, use some of the radiator flush then fill with deionized water and run to/from work and drain and repeat till water is clear.

[kevyrev]

Thanks for the tip Pu241. No I didn't let it get that hot. Stopped way before it even got to H. I was thinking of using the garden hose method with the bottom drain valve opened to flush everyting out. I did speak to previous owner today. She said the heater had stopped working before she sold it to me. Hmmmm.... Well I'm going to follow my friend bravekozak's advice and try jumping those wires to ground later today and see what happens!!!

[kevyrev]

Well, I just went out and got myself down in the drivers side floor board and lightly tapped on the side of the blower motor. It came right on! I had my key switched on and set knob to position 4(high). There is all kinds of debris, foam, weird stuff that I need to clean from my air vents I suddenly noticed. Also, strangely, changed poison of knob and noticed it only works on 4. What, why, how......

[bravekozak]

Sounds like mice set up shop in your ducts. Big cleanout problem.
One possibility is the resistor is damaged. Carefully remove it (2 screws), inspect and test it.

[kevyrev]

Sounds good to me. Probably the same mice that set up shop under my air filter. Remembering that this car sat for five years when I bought it. I cleaned my carpets today and vacuumed and polished my glass. Then after I gave that blower a tap and she came on, I was wrong earlier it was setting 3 for high, I did vacuum out the air vents. Just went for a drive with the air blowing on high having random bits of leaves, etc.... getting it all out. Tested the heat and she be hot. Guess I would check that resistor for my final repair, thanks again bravekozak, but I'm thankful that it does at least work on high. That will very well get me through the winter.

[Studebaker]

Keep a reach rod handy to tap on the motor while sitting in the drivers seat. Heater motor needs new brushes.

[kevyrev]

I know what you mean by keep a reach rod handy. It seems to go off and on quite often. I can tap with my foot and it comes on. Truthfully though, I need to get in there and clean out the ducts because there is lots of leaves and stuff trying to blow through the vents. Honestly the highest setting (3), which is the only one that works the blower, is not blowing much at all. Have a friend at work with the same year festy and his blows much better. Wondering what I need to do, the motor does work just not at full capacity I guess. Can I replace the brushes in the motor or will I have to replace the whole motor, is this a resistor issue, or related?

[1990new]

Have you removed the little plate under the hood on the top right side of the fire wall and cleaned out behind it?
It's held on by two screws. When I clean mine I cut out a makeshift filter from a home furnace filter and stuff it on top of the wire guard.

Also forgot to ask... just to clarify, your car never did have AC...correct?

[kevyrev]

No I haven't, but I'm going to go check that out. Thanks for the tip 1990new!