heat blower motor only works on high

[G-96XLT]

I'm looking for a prelim diagnosis. on my 2000 sport 2dr the heat only works on HI , that is the 4th setting , there is heat and the temp is good but the first 3 clicks of the fan button seem to do nothing and then on the 4th click it goes on full blast.. the other dials to switch between the vents work fine. any ideas. is it just the switch or could the blower motor be in such a condition that it doesn't respond to the first 3 voltage settings

 

[Glen4X4]

Ya know what, I have the same problem as you, I think it might be the heater controls its self so what I'm thinkin of doin to check is take the heater controls out of my other explorer to see if it makes a difference or not. I think my fan must be in good shape because you would that if it wasn't that the fan would be hesitant on starting up.

 

[gijoecam]

It's the blower motor resistor pack. $17 or less from any parts store. It's mounted to the heater box under the passenger side of the hood. Remove the speed control servo, and it helps to loosen the washer fluid and coolant reservoir to gain access to it.

Also, be sure to carefully inspect the connector going to the resistor pack. They are not sealed to the elements, and the connections get corroded over time. A new pigtail is available from the stealership for another $15.

Pics are in the gallery linked in my signature line.

 

[Glen4X4]

thanks for heads up. I'll look in your gallery. Alright called Napa and ordered one, it is only $17.00 from there. Advance's is $20.00

 

[G-96XLT]

lol the stealership will sell you a wire for $15

so 92ex did that solve your problem ?

I think I'll pull the part and get the soldering iron out.. I wonder if this is the same on my 96

 

[Glen4X4]

I didn't get to napa in time today and I think they're closed tomorrow. So what you didn't buy a new resistor?

 

[gijoecam]

lol the stealership will sell you a wire for $15

so 92ex did that solve your problem ?

I think I'll pull the part and get the soldering iron out.. I wonder if this is the same on my 96

No, the dealership will sell you a pigtail that includes four leads and the proper connector already assembled. You can see pics of it in my gallery. You need to solder and shrink-tube the wires where you splice them in, and I went ahead and sealed the outside of the connector with silicone, and sealed the connector contacts using copious amounts of dielectric grease. It's really a poor design IMHO...

And they've been using the same resistor pack on darn near every Ford truck for the last 25 years or more. Anything that's got 4 positions on the fan control switch typically uses that pack.

-Joe

 

[G-96XLT]

damn that thing.. I did get it off but there is nothing in it besides a few coils of wire wrapped up and welded to the base. it looks like the only thing that could be causing the failure is the corrosion around the base.

it looks like the same one as my 96 so I'm going for a switch and maybe a slight refurbish of this one will make it work it in the 96.. haha ..

getting it off was easy but the connector is a pain , it is clamped on both sides so don't try taking the connector off first , you have to remove the piece and then try to pry the connector off on both sides. and I had to take the air filter box out and washer fluid thing out.

 

[Glen4X4]

If it works by switching let me know, and good luck on trying to rebuild that thing

 

[G-96XLT]

good news. the refurbishing may have worked.

I went at it with a voltmeter testing for continuity , it only beeped on one of the terminals , makes sense since only one speed worked... so I found the perfect little stone wheel for the dremel and grinded the rust off the terminals , now there is a clean beep when I probe every post. I probably don't even have to take it off the 96. there is nothing to this part , its just a terminal with a coil and since the coils can't go bad it is usually a contact problem. I think if your coils are silver like mine you can probably just lean the posts , but don't do it yet let me see it it worked ... I'm working on it as I write so check back in 30 mins

 

[G-96XLT]

woohoo it worked..

the harness needed refurbishing too ..

see how I used a super mini slim file to clean it up.. once I put it back on I got 2 -3 -4 but 1 still didn't work, so I pulled the harness and cleaned it all and got all 4 speeds to work.. you don't have to re install to test it , just plug the harness in and let it dangle and turn the key to ON not RUN and go through the blower speeds.. so I managed to fix it all pretty fast with only about 1-2 min of work per post. the dealer would have wanted me to replace the harness and the resistor. the good thing is while I was in there I realized the air filter box had a lot of dirt in it and I cleaned that out too... I think filing down the rust is much easier and cheaper than buying a harness and soldering it on..

 

[G-96XLT]

Burp

 

[G-96XLT]

here is a shot with the hole where the resistor came from , the resistor itself and the rusty harness. the inside of the resistor was rusty but didn't need refurbishing , as long as the coils are silver and have continuity with the terminals this thing should work

 

[Glen4X4]

Cool deal. I know the resistor aint expensive but its worth a try see if I can get mine to work

 

[G-96XLT]

just take it off and do a refurb and if it doesn't work don't put it back together and run out to get the part.. either way unless you replace both pieces you will have to do some work so you might as well just get a $1 file and go to it..

 

[Glen4X4]

Well I was gunna do it tonite but that wind is blowing to much makin my hands freeze I can barely feel'em now so I'm not gonna try tonite hopefully tomorrow is better.

 

[G-96XLT]

well I took it out for the first day today with the new fix, it worked great , it was not so cold today so it was nice being able to turn down the heat instead of turning it off and getting cold again.. looks like you're not too so I'm sure the weather is the same.

 

[Glen4X4]

Hows it working a couple days later?

 

[G-96XLT]

great , its been running fine for a week now. like I was saying there is nothing to this part at all , its just corrosion and I'm sure my fix will last years.

 

[G-96XLT]

by the way I'm not sure if they have dollar stores in PA but I was just at one here and there was a nice 6 piece small file set for $1.. I think you need one of these to file the harness part , the resistor itself is a piece of cake with a dremel and a small stone.

do you have a voltmeter , to test this part all you have to do is tuch the contact posts and one of the springs and it there is contact it works.. I bent each pin to one side so I could get it good with the dremel and it got down to bare metal pretty fast.