Ari
12-23-2011, 12:16 AM
Ah the joys of winter. No sooner does it set in in earnest up here in British Columbia than the most important part of a vehicle in the winter stop working. You may have guessed it... The Defrost fan.
A few days back the heater fan motor was making a squealing noise each time I turned the fan selector on. It didn't matter if it was on 1-4 or on high, it would intermittently squeal when turned on, and stop when turned off. I didn't think much of it, other than that it was annoying. Then while driving back from the coast a couple days ago, the switch jammed in the off position after being a bit stubborn to turn on. It was jammed pretty good, and against my better judgement I tried to force it. Sure enough, this led to something inside the dash snapping and now the switch moves freely back and forth while not doing anything whatsoever.
So, I know that I've probably broken a plastic internal part that turns a switch to engage the fan blower motor, but I am more curious about if perhaps the blower motor may have seized, causing the jam in the first place. If the motor is still good then I'd like to simply bypass the switch and put in a new aftermarket speed selector switch (not that I know how to do that, but I can learn with a bit of coaching...), but first I need to figure out why it seized up in the first place.
Any suggestions on where to start?
Thanks,
Ari
A few days back the heater fan motor was making a squealing noise each time I turned the fan selector on. It didn't matter if it was on 1-4 or on high, it would intermittently squeal when turned on, and stop when turned off. I didn't think much of it, other than that it was annoying. Then while driving back from the coast a couple days ago, the switch jammed in the off position after being a bit stubborn to turn on. It was jammed pretty good, and against my better judgement I tried to force it. Sure enough, this led to something inside the dash snapping and now the switch moves freely back and forth while not doing anything whatsoever.
So, I know that I've probably broken a plastic internal part that turns a switch to engage the fan blower motor, but I am more curious about if perhaps the blower motor may have seized, causing the jam in the first place. If the motor is still good then I'd like to simply bypass the switch and put in a new aftermarket speed selector switch (not that I know how to do that, but I can learn with a bit of coaching...), but first I need to figure out why it seized up in the first place.
Any suggestions on where to start?
Thanks,
Ari