How to: Prevent a Fire Hazard!

[Jason94sport]

Didn't know there was a thread for this. When I replaced the cooling system last month I replaced the resistor. OMG the amount of crap in that box was amazing. Did the same thing.. shop vac time.
I didn't remove the blower motor though.

 

[sector9]

Just a question to add Has anybody tried to add a cabin air filter to this system?

 

[gmanpaint]

Just a question to add Has anybody tried to add a cabin air filter to this system?

I wouldn't even have a clue as to where to install a filter. :scratch:

Glad this thread was bumped tho!

This is around the time some of us start using the heater/defroster settings. For a lot of us we have another month before we really should be looking into cleaning this out.

 

[Xeek]

i dont think it needs to be bumped. i think it needs to be stickied.

i had been meaning to do this, then i didnt have any heat due to heater hose problems. so when i converted to a non-ac box im glad i hadnt used the heater before. it was FULL of leaves/crap.

i need to do this to my other truck also. and replace the blower thats broken

 

[msmith65]

Found this searching for "smoke defroster" because on backing out of the driveway last week I got a column of smoke from the defroster vent, which smelled kind of woodsy (almost like tobacco) and had me totally confused as to what would cause it. The smoke stopped after a few minutes, and everything on the car still worked, so I figured whatever burned had burnt away.

Now I have a little work ahead of me to get that junk out of there. Thank you for the play-by-play.

 

[Currency]

Interesting post Gman, glad everything worked out for you.

Will have to give my a quick once over and check for stuff in there. Had issues with my blower in the 2010-11 winter and ended up changing out my relay. It only wanted to work on high most of the time, but on lower speeds it would work when it wanted too.

 

[Anime]

Just did this...didn't take too long. With a cold air intake, you don't even have to remove it, and can just remove the screws and leave the connectors attached to the blower and resistor.

I was still surprised at how much stuff there was in there, and that it hadn't started a fire in all these years. There were pine needles in the resistor wires, and lots of leaves. Maybe not a lot considering it's never been cleaned since it was new.

Maybe the Ford engineers put the resistor there with the intent it would burn up such debris? Seems to have worked that way on mine, there was a lot of small burnt up bits under the resistor. If rain water gets in there and washes them down a drain exit, it could work.

Be careful when poking around in there though, I messed up some of the evaporator's fins with the vacuum hose tip trying to get all the small stuff in the bottom. A smaller flexible hose taped to the vacuum hose would have worked better and probably not messed up the fins.

 

[gmanpaint]

Knowing this could happen just gives some heads up, and some peace of mind to owners. The shock of seeing smoke coming out of the vents can catch you off guard, and scare the pants off someone when it does happen. That in itself can be dangerous to a drivers reaction from thinking they are on fire. Also an owner might think they are stranded for fear of driving the vehicle, until they find out what the problem is.

This thread will hopefully ease (or scare) some minds.

I am thrilled, some of you have taken the time to do this.

 

[Harpua216]

wow... thanks for the heads up!

 

[backfrmcolorado]

Well to late for me...already had a small fire and now no low speeds for my heat. Thanks for the how to thread. Defiantly going to be my weekend project.

 

[jp1985]

Thanks for the info i cleaned mine out tonight not only was it good for the sake of safety but it also made a good father son time for me and my boy.

Also found an unplugged box that says eec test one it not sure what that means or where to plug it back in at?
thanks again.

Jp1985

 

[WVUexplorer]

So this just happened to me and while it was smoking I sat there and thought 'this probably has something to do with that prevent a fire sticky I'm always to busy to read'. Thanks for the write up I'll be doing that in the morning.

Oh and jp1985 that eec test thing is a port were someone would plug a code reader to get engine codes. It doesn't plug in anywhere but it should have a cover that protects the inputs.

 

[Roadrunner777]

When taking ownership of a 1st gen Exp... this and the cracked fan blade are really, I think, required reading. Easy fixes to prevent major issues. Too bad there is not a super-sticky.

 

[arcblue]

I just did this job today as the blower was making a ticking sound like a leaf had got in there. After removing the blower, I saw just one leaf in the housing. It looked completely clean at first. But after feeling around in the resistor housing, I found pine needles, lots of leaves and even a wasp packed in there. I cleaned it with my fingers and a small socket wrench to reach around the corner of the housing, as the compressed air wouldn't blow it all out.

I am so thankful for this information. I wouldn't have known about the resistor and checking in that cavity otherwise. I just wonder where exactly the stuff gets in - it must be a fairly sizeable opening.

 

[gmanpaint]

I just wonder where exactly the stuff gets in - it must be a fairly sizeable opening.

Falls thru the slots below the windshield.

It needs a mesh screen to prevent debris from entering. Too bad that would be a PITA to accomplish.

 

[sirhk100]

Excellent thread, picked up a '91 on sat and 99.999999999% this is what happened on my 2 hr drive home about 10 minutes from pulling into my house. I knew it had to be something to do with the blower so I simply unplugged everything associated with it and drove the rest of the way home. Pulled the blower out on Sat night and vacuumed out quite a bit of stuff. Didn't know about the resistor assembly though and honestly, I think the multi stages worked before the smoke bomb went off but now it's off or full on and nothing in between so I'm assuming it burned out the resistors in the fire. I'll pull it back apart tonight and examine for replacement.

Thanks for the pictures and a good thread!!! I've got another expo I can probably pull the part out of which is convenient cause it's going to act as a parts vehicle anyways during my build and then eventually end up scrapped.

 

[Snort]

From these photos it looks like you're able to remove the debris that's been sucked through by the blower, but is there anything else that collects the stuff for example directly under the air intake cowling at the windshield? I'm wondering if there is a collection box under there with a drain hole that gets plugged up.

 

[HarryMcW]

I really need to do this, see my other post with the aircleaner, I'm sure this area is chock fill as well. It does have a slight "toasty" smell after it's warmed up, not unpleasant, but don't want a fire.

 

[mr cribb]

I just cleaned mine out this weekend. I however am switching to the 134a A/C system and pulled all the components from a 94 X, there wasn't much in the A/C box of the 94 versus the box off my 92 (that one was FULL!!)

I only cleaned minor stuff out of the 94's box.

 

[HarryMcW]

Finally got around to looking at this, yes, it was packed pretty full...