Bad Blower Motor?

Well, for the last couple of months, my blower has only worked on the highest setting. I assumed it was the resistor, so I ordered one from autozone, put it in (what a PITA!), and the same thing happened. So I started probing around with my meter, and found that I am getting voltage to the motor at all settings. But it is 12 volts at every setting. Does anyone know if this is right? It seems to me that your voltage should vary based on the setting, UNLESS the motor interprets an electrical signal from the switch / resistor, and not the actual voltage. Hmmmm.

So I got a new motor from autozone, just to try. Picked it up today and went to put it in. Well, the connection is not right on the motor. Instead of having the female end of the plug, it has two loose male ends!! Argggghhhh! I checked the internet site, and the part number is correct (same one for Malibu and Grand Am, also). So I'm going to take it back tomorrow and just get one from GM, unless someone has another idea based on what I said above. Thanks!

[Molson]

should be just your resistor bad, not the motor itself. Its the resistor that changes the votages for the speeds.

I put a new resistor in. Same thing.

I got a leaf stuck in my blower once, that was annoying. But Pat pulled it out when he changed the resistor and it worked again.

Thanks, that helps me.

Sorry. I don't see how the motor is broken if it still blows air. The resistor is what "tells" it how hard to blow. Did you check the resistor? You could have gotten a bad one and it blew right away.

[johny_boy32]

mine was the resistor

[Fast Eddie]

I blew through two resistor inside of 6 weeks. So just cuz the part is new don't mean it will work, take the resistor back and get another. If they say it should work hit it with a MM.

OK, here's an update. I was actually a little smart and got a new motor from the junk yard for cheap. Just put it in, and same thing.

Soooo... I went at it with the meter again. This time I checked the plug coming into the resistor. It consists of 5 wires, and the only one that has any juice coming through is wire "B", which is yellow. Anyone with a wiring diagram wanna help me out from here?

Ignore the post above, because I only put the meter on on the first fan speed setting (doh!). So here's the skinny:

The meter readings below were taken on the various fan speed settings, at the plug that plugs into the blower motor resistor.

On setting 1, 12 volts at the yellow wire (which is labeled "B" inside the resistor plug)
On setting 2, 12 volts to the orange wire ( C )
On setting 3, 12 volts to the light blue wire (A)
On setting 4, 12 volts to the purple wire (D)
On setting 5 (the one that actually works), NO VOLTAGE AT ANY OF THE RESISTOR PLUG WIRES! Plus, with the resistor UNPLUGGED, the fan still kicked on at this setting. And no voltage was read at any fan speed setting at the dark blue wire, which is letter "E".

So, is it a bad switch? Could it be a short somewhere? HELP!

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by 3.4Alero@Mar 8 2004, 09:39 PM
Ignore the post above, because I only put the meter on on the first fan speed setting (doh!). So here's the skinny:

The meter readings below were taken on the various fan speed settings, at the plug that plugs into the blower motor resistor.

On setting 1, 12 volts at the yellow wire (which is labeled "B" inside the resistor plug)
On setting 2, 12 volts to the orange wire ( C )
On setting 3, 12 volts to the light blue wire (A)
On setting 4, 12 volts to the purple wire (D)
On setting 5 (the one that actually works), NO VOLTAGE AT ANY OF THE RESISTOR PLUG WIRES! Plus, with the resistor UNPLUGGED, the fan still kicked on at this setting. And no voltage was read at any fan speed setting at the dark blue wire, which is letter "E".

So, is it a bad switch? Could it be a short somewhere? HELP!

Check the fuses, and if that doesn't work, take it into the dealer.

[Fast Eddie]

my guess would be that pin 5 is the ground

Go to the dealer and get the wiring specs, most will make you a copy of a few pages of the shop manual if you ask nice

Got the wiring diagram, duh, it's in the haynes manual. I've checked the grounds with the motor plugged in. I checked the relay. Everything is OK there. Soooo... my official conclusion is that it is a bad switch. Gonna take the dash apart tomorrow to see what all I'll need to replace it. I'll keep ya updated!

[rodney]

i have the same problem, where it only blows on the highest 3 settings. how do you change the resistor, and how much is one? i checked the fuses, and thats not my problem.

Resistor is under the glove box. Remove the plastic panel under the glove box. Then, if you look underneath the dash from the footwell, you will see the BCM closest to you, then the bottom of the blower motor behind it, then there is a plug pointing up behind the blower motor. Unscrew the two screws and the resistor drops out.

[johny_boy32]

update for me....about two weeks ago i changed the resistor because my heat would only work on the highest two settings. After i changed it everything worked fine. Till last night, everything just quit, then it came back on but it was so minimum that you could put a peice of paper in front of it and it wouldnt even move the paper. Luckily i worked at the dealership today. So this morning we tore everything apart. Checked the resistor again, every fuse, every relay, and even the switch. Me and the service manager came up with was it was the blower motor itself. I had to order one and it will be here on tuesday and I will fill you all in on that then. And to answer you ? rodney...the resistor will run you about $20 give or take $2.

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by johny_boy32

update for me....about two weeks ago i changed the resistor because my heat would only work on the highest two settings. After i changed it everything worked fine. Till last night, everything just quit, then it came back on but it was so minimum that you could put a peice of paper in front of it and it wouldnt even move the paper. Luckily i worked at the dealership today. So this morning we tore everything apart. Checked the resistor again, every fuse, every relay, and even the switch. Me and the service manager came up with was it was the blower motor itself. I had to order one and it will be here on tuesday and I will fill you all in on that then. And to answer you ? rodney...the resistor will run you about $20 give or take $2.

Any update? I hear replacing the resistor is a PITA and I really don't want to go there if it is the motor that causes this problem. Mine only works on 2 top settings all of a sudden. Thanks.

[AleroDrime]

I think mine gets leaves from time to time, but i cant find a hole in the screen mess

[CactusWill]

Check the relay in the underhood fuse box, that was what mine was

[smccarthy1883]

Anybody know which relay it is for the blower motor? Mine is not working.