When Ice Attacks

[TheEdgeofSanity]

in a previous thread, I was asking reasons why my HVAC Fan wouldn't work. I tracked it down to a blown fuse but the new fuse blew too so i decided to take a look at my fan (that I replaced last september) and this is what I found:

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/8152/carissues001bl3.jpg

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/743/carissues002rk3.jpg

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8971/carissues003rv0.jpg

so...why is there ice everywhere? its all up in the thingy that my fan attaches too as well. I got my car washed about a week ago and everything worked fine up until yesterday. Where's water coming in and how's it getting there?

[jayson_waltz]

i know there has been people o here befor with water problems, so you should get an answer. i just forget for sure where, i think around the window if it wasn't sealed right.

[cherrington17]

i don't have an answer, but a secondary question....

for the HVAC blower... is there anyway of getting hotter air... or more air? possibly replacing with a bigger/more efficient fan?

[TheEdgeofSanity]

i dunno...all replacements that I could find for our cars were actually smaller then the OEM one. i was pissed because its not as powerful as the original

[cherrington17]

whose to say you can't retrofit one from a slightly larger car into it?

[TheEdgeofSanity]

i suppose you could.

for me it wouldn't do any good if my stupid fan keeps getting iced up.

[cherrington17]

if its in your fan like that..... do you have any cracks in/near the plastic... or is it coming in through the airway?

[Cliff8928]

Subject: Heater Blower Inoperative or Water on Passenger Floor (Install Sealing Strip)

Models: 1999-2001 Oldsmobile Alero
1999-2001 Pontiac Grand Am

Condition

Some customers may comment that water drips on the front passenger floor or that the heater blower is inoperative in cold weather.
Cause

This condition may be caused by water entering the fresh air inlet to the HVAC case due to poor sealing of the air inlet screen to the fresh air inlet opening.
Correction

1. Open the hood and remove the windshield wiper arms.

2. Remove the air inlet screen panel and replace the foam seal. Refer to illustration above.
3. Inspect the cowl drain holes located at each end of the cowl. They should be open and free of debris.
4. Reinstall the air inlet screen.

5. Make sure the lip on the lower windshield lace sits on top of the air inlet screen panel when installing the air inlet screen.
6. Reinstall the windshield wiper arms.

Parts Information

Part Number Description

22680817 Sealing Strip, Air Intake Upper

[TheEdgeofSanity]

thanks cliff, i really appreciate the help

i'm gonna check it out now and clear out the drain holes and hopefully I can get a new seal soon.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

Ok, i haven't had a chance to fix that seal and it did it again last night because I washed my car. I had the ACT exam this morning and wow, that was a PITA going to school. I couldn't see where I was going unless i was constantly wiping the windshield with a hot rag to keep the condensation from freezing.

what my issue is now is that I think the resistors are fried. I just got out of school and it's working but only on the middle three speeds (lowest and highest are a no go)

why would this have fried the resistors instead of popping a fuse? i'm kinda mad.

also, where are the resistors located so that I can check them and see if thats my problem?

[alerocar01]

the resistors are under the pass side dash. kind of a PITA to get to, but thats weird that low and high don't work. I always thought it would be either the last three wouldn't work or the first two wouldn't work.

[meadus101]

usually, it blows the first few settings.... so that it's full blast or none...

[TheEdgeofSanity]

yeah, its an odd story. for some unknown reason (i've never heard of this before) it was the fuse. I thought that either a fuse is good or bad but this one must've been in-between. I pulled the fuse and it looked blown so i replaced it. then the fan worked fine. i put the old fuse back in and same symptoms as before I changed it. Anyhow, its all good and my resistors must be ok, therefore I am happy.