1997 Explorer has no air

[Abba]

Hey guys. I just bought my 3rd Ex in 4 years.
My latest one is a 97, 111k miles. Its nothing to brag about, not as clean as my previous 2, and has all sorts of issues.
The 1 that takes precedence, however, is the air situation. It is ridiculously hot, averaging around 95 degrees, so getting this fixed is the priority.
I bought a truck 2 weeks ago, and from the get go, the air hasn't really worked. I could switch it to max ac, have the fan at the highest setting, and nothing. There were a couple of times where I turned it on, and it actually blew some air out, but hot.
there is no particular reason that I can see why a couple of times, the fan worked, and most of the time, it doesn't. Nothing has changed, no fuses or wires have been removed or moved.
I checked the fuses, and they are all good.
Someone mentioned that there is a component underneath the dashboard on the passenger side that controls the fan. However, I have not seen any information regarding that.
I spent 700 dollars on this truck, so I am loathe to take it to a mechanic and spend more money. Does anyone have any suggestions, or ideas that can point me to the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot guys!

 

[waskly]

hit the blower motor with a peice of wood, when it does not work, if it turns on you need a new blower motor.

or just use a test light see if it gets power, if it does, most likely its the blower motor.

 

[Abba]

I hate to sound stupid, but I don't even know where the hell this thing is.
and I would also hate to start ripping pieces of the dashboard out, trying to find the damn thing, and creating way more work than I need to.
Do you know if there's any kind of diagram, or pictures anywhere that would show me how to get to the thing?

 

[waskly]

the 2002 and up are under the dash, the older ones are under the hood.

i'll see if i find a picture or someone beats me to it. and posts one.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293800&highlight=blower+motor

the first picture that black thing with the rubber on it, is the blower motor

http://imgur.com/eH8Y4

 

[DaExplorer]

I bought a truck 2 weeks ago, and from the get go, the air hasn't really worked. I could switch it to max ac, have the fan at the highest setting, and nothing. There were a couple of times where I turned it on, and it actually blew some air out, but hot.
there is no particular reason that I can see why a couple of times, the fan worked, and most of the time, it doesn't. Nothing has changed, no fuses or wires have been removed or moved.
I checked the fuses, and they are all good.
Someone mentioned that there is a component underneath the dashboard on the passenger side that controls the fan. However, I have not seen any information regarding that.
Does anyone have any suggestions, or ideas that can point me to the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot guys!

Couple of questions:
Does the A/c clutch engage when you turn on the Air? If not then you would only get hot air.

When you say you have the fan on or switched to max and nothing, I understand nothing is comming out but can you hear the fan running? If so then no need to hit it.

You said that sometimes it blew some air out, Was it blowing high and only a little air came out?

If you hear the fan running and only a little air coming out then the thing under the dash you heard about is the blend door, of actuiator issue. This can also give you the hot air.

Keep us posted, and I hope the heat wave gives you a break. Stay cool.