Major Malfunction

Well at long last I found the cause of the heater only blowing on 3 and 4, it was the heater fan control switch. However it has literally melted together with the connector and the switch had to be broken off (took ages!).



Well I'm a bit stumped now. I've got a new control switch but as you can see the connector has had it. Has anyone had this problem before?

It would be nice to have a heater which worked on all 4 settings!

lorimar

4 standard Lucar Connectors will suffice, make sure you connect correctly.
Cut the harness just below the burnt out connector, leaving just a fraction of colour on the wires to help identify when fitting to the new switch.

Major Malfunction

Nice one, now working on all 4 settings

dazzaUK

I've recently inherited a 2002 Focus from my parents, who mentioned afterwards the NS footwell gets wet if it rains.. Here we go I thought...

Yep, you can guess what happened next, fan speeds 1-3 dead !

Long story short, Google turned up this thread with excellent info on diagnosing and solving the issue. So I then confirmed the thermal fuse was open circuit.
Have now ordered replacement pollen filter/seal and the redesigned scuttle cover to solve the root cause. Will source new fuses from Maplins nearby.
Now going to remove the fan motor to check bearings and lubricate. Will post an update later.

I am new to maintaining vehicles, but eager, and with the absense of anyone mechanical to "hold my hand" I've ordered a haynes manual - pls don't laugh!

I certainly wouldn't have known where to begin without the help you have posted here, so I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU and also HELLO for my first post.

socsitep

Hi Dazza

My first post as well!

I have a 52 plate focus and heating went on 1-3 before Christmas, I read this post and fitted a new resistor pack with a nagging doubt that I was just patching things up, 4 weeks later the heating has gone again on 1-3 which indicates its like yours - the problem being further up the chain and related to pollen filter/fan motor.

I too am relatively inexperienced in this kind of thing but thinking of following a similar path to you so interested in how you get on, just struggling to get time to look at it currently!

cheers
Ian

dazzaUK

Update: So I dropped the fan motor housing out, pressed the foam lugs in and checked the 'freeness' of the motor. To my surprise it spun ok without much friction - but I applied GT85 to both bearings to be on the safe side. It's all back together now awaiting the pollen filter / seal / new scuttle panel.

Whilst I was outside, I thought I'd inspect the existing scuttle panel to see if I could find where the water was getting in... er, it wasn't difficult, in fact I'm ashamed I never noticed a 10mm gap where it's come away!

Therefore I decided to order the replacement (redesigned) scuttle panel, pollen filter & seal. The cheapest genuine Ford parts I found was from a dealership on the south coast here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270665477080
Ł49 for genuine parts, inc delivery, can't really complain at that.





And - Hi Ian, good luck with your fix.
I'll mention now that you'll need to be dexterous and have a stumpy large crosshead/posidrive screwdriver to get the fan housing rear screw out, but it was straight forward.

dohnut

Right I purchased 3 heat resisters from maplins rated at 220 deg, a soilder iron and some soilder cam e to Ł17.00, the problem is I have never used a souildre iron and on first attempt completley buggered it up and most probably damaged the heat resister lol, My question is can I just superglue the resister to the thing and would that work, also whats to stop you just attaching the resister and not putting it back next to the blower then the heat wont be as bad and the resister wont blow???

dazzaUK

Glue? Not a chance. The thermal fuse connections must be conductive for the electric current to flow through the fuse.
You have 4 options as I see it:
1. Solder it very carefully and quickly using flat nose pliers as a heat shunt (this is riskiest because the new fuse will likely blow if you leave the soldering iron (>300c) on for very long. Afterwards, you should test the fuse is good (not open circuit) using a multimeter - it should conduct, i.e. have 0 ohms resistance.
2. Spot weld it - I imagine very few ppl have the equipment and expertise to do this.
3. Connect the replacement fuse using a 'chocolate block' - a mechanical form of connecting wires. You could cut away the external plastic insulation and use a copper insert to connect each end. Be aware that any plastic will likely melt. (cheap and less risky - but a bodge)

4. Buy an entire replacement resistor/fuse assembly ~Ł20 from ford parts direct

Good luck whichever you choose, and let us know how it goes!

dohnut

Ok I bit the bullet and ordered a new resister from a online auction site, was only Ł10.00, will see hot it goes, if my heater is partly seized how long till it blows again, dont want to waste Ł10.00 for it to blow straight away.

dazzaUK

It's difficult to say, my fuse took just 4 weeks before it blew again, but it's our second car and as such is lightly used. At that point i realised it wasn't just a random fuse blown.

Taking the blower motor out to inspect whether it's sticking is actually straight forward, and will take about 20 mins. At the end of the day, fuses (even thermal ones) blow for a reason and unless you identify and fix the root cause it's just a matter of time before you're back where you started.

If the blower motor is free-running then the other thing which may cause it to draw more current and blow a thermal fuse could be a blocked pollen filter - which reduces the amount of air which can be sucked in, hence the motor has to work harder. Many of the non-dealership garages (i.e. kwikfit, etc) don't replace pollen filters during an annual service in my experience.

dohnut

How do you take out those plastic screws, at the bottom of the glove box?,also do you have to take out the fuse box?, and how many screws are there attached to the blower/heater??.

I know many questions but I am begginer at this sort of stuff and would rather sort it myself than get shafted by some dodgy mechanic.

dazzaUK

With a screwdriver - they're just normal screws which unfortunately screw into cheap plastic mountings - which sometimes rotate and you find yourself screwing for eternity (if only!) and getting nowhere.
If you find that happens, you can get your hand on the mounting from behind to stop it rotating. Worst case, pull it out and the mounting will come out with the screw. You can then unscrew it by hand and insert the mounting back into the dash when re-assembling. You might be able to detect I am not a mechanic!

You don't need to take out the fusebox to access the blower motor housing.
There are 3 screws on the bottom of the blower housing - the motor drops out from below.
Everything you need to know about dis-assembling the fan motor you can find out by reading the earlier posts in this thread.

dohnut

What do you mean by you used the clamps to fix it?, I couldnt soilder it because it was to fiddly and the heat of the gun probably blew the fuse anyhow, cant see any clamps to use though.

dazzaUK

Whilst not intending to answer on behalf of tdmike, I reckon he was referring to terminal blocks.

dohnut

Is this the bit were the fuse connects to, cant see how you could do this, did he just twist the end of the fuse around the metal ends??, forgive my ignorance, as you can tell Im not that clued up on this stuff but willing to learn, in fact need to learn as my car is showing signs of disease all over.

dazzaUK

Cut out the blown fuse, leaving enough length on the legs to attach an individual terminal block to. (You can extract two brass connectors from the plastic housing of a terminal block - see previous photo).

Connect the ends of the replacement thermal fuse using the terminal blocks to the old legs. Done.

Note: Try to use very small terminal blocks as these will act as a heat shunt, and the whole purpose of a thermal fuse is to blow if it reaches a critical temperature.

dohnut

Ok fan will not work on any setting, was working on position 4 until this afternoon, what does this mean??, fuse blown, blower completely buggered, I can still feal hit coming through the vents so that is something, I was going to replace the resister and maybe wd40 the blower this weekend but not sure if I now have another problem.

dazzaUK

Sounds like a fuse.

dohnut

Right checked fuse in auxilary box under bonnet 30 amp green that supplies the heater blower not blown??, is there another fuse that supplies the blower, not according to my handbook?, what does this mean has my blower got to the stage that it wont work on any setting and would be a waste of time removing it to lubricate it, this is really starting to piss me off, I need car for work and dont want to drive in the freezing cold.

dazzaUK

I feel for you, it's not the weather to be outside fixing cars.
Have you checked the fuses in the fusebox behind the glovebox? I don't know if there is a fuse relevant to the blower in there mind you.
Other than that, I would check the blower and resistor connectors are firmly seated.

dohnut

According to the manual the only fuse for the heater blower is the one in the aux fuse in the engine bay, 30 amp green, It may be the switch has gone??, if the blower switch was going would it make the screaching sound and not the blower??, I need to find out what the problem is before I can sort this out, was all sorted to remove the blower just purchased new resister as well, old cars ehh

dazzaUK

If the fuses seem ok I would test the blower, resister and switch voltages with a multimeter then. to ascertain whether the blower has power to it. it's a quick test to do.

dohnut

Right I have taken out the heater blower, wd40 it, seemed not to bad though, am starting to think it was the switches all along, is this a really difficult job to do, to replace them, and dazzauk I purchased a Ł5.00 multimeter from maplins but not sure how to test the things you said.

dazzaUK

Without giving you a short course in electrics, the general idea is to test if 12v is present at the blower, or resistor pack. If it is then the switch is probably fine.

Turn your ignition on, and fan to speed3.
Turn your multimeter to measure 'Voltage DC' and hold the black probe on a bare metal chassis contact point (ground) whilst probing various bare metal legs of the resistor pack and blower power connector with the red probe whilst looking at the readout.

Be very careful not to short anything out with your probes.
If you don't understand what I've written, then I'm afraid it's time to call a friend in. Good luck.

>edit - earlier posts discuss replacing the switch, not something i have done.

dohnut

Ok today I have remove the blower heater and applied wd40 to it, replaced the resister with a new one, removed my stereo and front panel for access to switch not sure how you remove the actual connecters to the heater switch though?, I did notice that my speed switch came off not sure if this is a problem it just attached back on, am running out of ideas of what to do, have already spent Ł10.00 soilder gun Ł5.00 soilder, new resister Ł10.00, multimeter Ł4.99, and a radio removal Ł4.99, so Ł35.00 and am not any nearer to sorting it out.

dazzaUK

What were the results of your electrical diagnosis?
The goal is to ensure 12v is present at the blower connector, and something is clearly currently preventing this.

Here's what I would do if I had your symptoms:

Turn the ignition and blower on.
To diagnose you generally start at the fusebox (blower fuse) measuring whether it has 12v, and then work logically towards the blower:
i.e. Fusebox -> switch -> resistor -> thermal fuse -> blower

At some point you will lose your 12v.
The trick is to first isolate the problem, then understand the cause, then fix it.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Either the blower motor itself is the problem or the switch I should think.

Check at the motor power connector WITH the ignition and blower in position 4, if you have power there?

If you do, then the problem is the blower motor.

If it did not work on position 4, the resistor pack was never the problem!

Martin

dohnut

Right how do I test the blower has power coming to it from the switch is it the connector on the bottom of the motor?, and which lead do I connect to what part, this leads seem to be sealed really tight so can't see we're I could touch the multimeter to the connection?

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Disconnect the motor, then check at that connector. If you don't have power, then check power at the switch.

Martin

dohnut

So do I attach the lead to the connector from the cable or the actual blower/switch. The connectors are tightly seeled so cant se how to atach the meter to those?, and today I smell maybe a burnt smell from something cant isolate it though, thinking the motor has burnt out is this possible, it was screeching for months before it died.

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Test for power at the connector you remove from the motor first, if you have no power here, you need to go back to the switch.

The screetching sound is most likely where water has got onto it which is what causes them to sieze and cause problems with resistor packs in the first place!

It may well be your motor has siezed and this is what you can smell (Assuming it's not an unrelated issue) although the fuse should blow!

Martin

dohnut

There's a definite smell near the motor blower, I took it out and it seemed to move quite loosely, but who knows am now considering getting another one for around Ł60.00 new. Does anybody know what the various connectors on the motor/blower are for is the bottom one the power, and what is the side connector for??

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

So far as I know there is just one power connector? (A glance at my manual also verifies this) all you have to do, if in any doubt about it, is put power directly to the motor and see if it runs.

Martin

dohnut

How do I put power directly to motor to check if it is still alive, Also I checked my switch connector again today and the connector that goes to the switch has a little red patch maybe for a fuse??, how do you upload picture??

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

Don't touch the switch connector, look for a two pin connector on the motor, then with some wires put power directly to it from a sutiable power source.

Martin

dohnut

Ok have had the motor blower tested and the motor has burnt out, need new one great more money down the drain.

dohnut

Ok recieved used blower today and guess what it WORKS, only problem is it is very loud, not sure he has sent me a duff unit or I haver installed it wrong, am I right that there is only 3 screws connecting the blower to that black thing, also my old blower had a plastic screw on the top of the fan not sure what that was for this one doesnt, please tell me I have installed this thing wrong as I finally have heat but it is way to loud on anything bar 1.

dohnut

Never mind this fan has a blade missing, causing the fan to be unstable and very loud have been told they will send me a replacement, so will have to persevere with this one on setting 1 for a few days.

fordjunky

Got same problem as joppy - replaced blower resistor and tried all settings - no go - just blows 30amp fuse under hood every time. Now stumped.??? fordjunky

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

You need to check the motor, more than likely it's siezed!

Martin