[sjnowak]

Have a 03 town and country van, heater fan quit working a year ago only work on high speed, replaced the resistor behind glove box worked fine after that until a couple months ago, same problem, thought its funny that resistor broke so soon but got another one, worked well again till the next day then same problem. Now it works on all speeds sometimes and sometimes doesn'r work at all. Frustrating. Don't think it's the resistor again, hate to buy a motor or a switch if I am not sure that's what's wrong. Any suggestions.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

I'd pull the fan, check everything out, and clean the connector. The fan may be good but just need cleaning and oiling with turbine oil. Also, check the continuity of the switch with a multi-meter.

[sjnowak]

OK, thanks

[sjnowak]

Yeah, I think the fan is bad. But OMG, you must have to be a magician to get the back screw out, no tools I have seem to work.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Many times, the trick is seeing what you can remove to improve access.

[sjnowak]

The only thing that would help is to remove the floor. Yikes. I'm hoping if I get a different type wrench maybe it will work

[sjnowak]

OK, van was here today so I got the screw out, standing on my head and twisting my neck around - LOL - ripping out a chunk of floor insulation, I won't be reinstalling the rear screw. Got the new motor in and seems to work at home though don't know what will happen a few miles down the road yet, hope it keeps working. Now just for my own curieosity, the fan must run on 12 volts but what actually makes it run at different speeds when you turn the contril know, does that reduce the voltage at lower speeds or what ? What if I hook a battery to the old motor, would it run if so at what speed etc etc ?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

A blower resistor is used in circuit to create lower speeds, by lowering the current per Ohm's Law (I=E/R). Sure, the battery will run the old motor at high speed.

[sjnowak]

By current you mean volts or amps ? Now I am at wits end, what I feared drove van a few miles and fan quit, When old motor quit it would start again by tapping bottom of shroud, that's what led me to believe motor was bad. I just want to cry-------. What else could it be ?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Amperage or Current=Voltage/Resistance.

Thoughts:

. Check wiring and clean connections with abrasive cloth.
. Lubricate the motor with turbine oil.
. Replace the switch--it may be creating an "open" when it heats-up.

[sjnowak]

OK, frustrating. Like I said when the old one quit then I tap the bottom of fan motor shroud it would run again for a while. If the switch is bad why would tapping the motor start it up -, you understand my frustration maybe when it don't make sense. Could something be wrong with that resistor again ?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Try replacing the resistor again. Other than that, no other ideas.

[sjnowak]

Could the resistor be intermiten like that or would it either work or not work ?

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Work or not work, unless there's a connection problem.

[sjnowak]

Hooray, yes there is a connection problem. One of the connections in the connector that plugs into the resistor look a little rusty and was burnt, I put a new connector on that wire and works, we'll see what happens again after my wife drives it a few miles. What do you think is most likely cause of it burning, because it was a bit rusty ( none of the other pins were rusty ) or maybe the motor starting to go bad and was drawing extra current or maybe both, I like to go with the motor - LOL - makes me feel better that I didn't buy a new motor for nothing. It does run on high when I hook it to a battery, but does make a slight high pitch whistle, maybe that's normal I don't know.

[TxGreaseMonkey]

Likely caused by excessive amperage draw, due to the motor. See if the old bearings were shot--may have needed cleaning and oiling. If they were sealed bearings, the grease may have dried out over the years. You should be able to identify the cause.

[sjnowak]

Yeah, may take it apart to see just because that's the way I am / think. Thanks for all the help.