Heater Fan Problem

Hello all,

My heater fan just quit working sometime in the last month (I'm not sure when). From searching the forum, I've found 3 possible locations of problems: the switch, the resistor pack, or the fan motor. I'm looking for how to test the switch and where the resistor pack is located on an '89 XJ Laredo. As I live in Wisconsin, fixing this is becoming a priority right now. Any help on what to look for, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

Does the fan work at all? I just fixed my 99 -the fan had 2 modes of operation, off, or full on. It turned out to be the resistor pack. I had to pull it out and resolder one of the coils back onto it's post. I thought that it was probably the thermal fuse, but the fuse checked out good.

Here is a great page if the problem turns out to be the resistor pack:

http://www.geocities.com/chmwatson/FAQs/Jeep/HVAC-fuselink_fix.html

No worky at all. Can't tell if it's trying to or not, so I'm gonna have to start with the switch and work toward the motor. I've checked the fuse and it appears good (need to to a continuity check on it yet).

cmeuzelaar said:

No worky at all. Can't tell if it's trying to or not, so I'm gonna have to start with the switch and work toward the motor. I've checked the fuse and it appears good (need to to a continuity check on it yet).

Click to expand...

The fan on my '88 went a couple or three years ago. I'd suggest you skip the switch and try the motor first. Only three nuts hold it in place -- pull it out and hot-wire it to see if it runs. Or just unplug the connector and run jumpers direct to it from the battery, don't even remove the motor.

I had to change the switch & the wirring harness in mine. They melted. Got everything at the JY. Replaced the switch & the harness plug. Haven't had any problems since. JIM.

Just replaced my 96 blower motor last week; it's a 20-minute job although access to yours is going to be different. Mine required removing the windshield washer bottle, but you'll have to get in underneath the radiator bottle against the firewall.

Well, it's been a week, and this morning my fan decided to work again. I have been too busy to look at it and have been driving our other car to work for the last week so the Jeep's been parked for a week and now the fan magically works again. Without me tearing things apart (getting my stereo wires back into place is a b!tch), should I just replace the fan motor itself? I wouldn't expect a blown resistor pack to suddenly start working again (and I do have 4 speeds) and I don't really think the switch is likely to suddenly behave either.

Thanks for all the help.
Chris

Sounds like a blower motor to me - I had the exact same problem, and the replacement part for my 93' was about $35.00 at my local discount auto store.

FWIW, with basic tools and basic knowledge this is a job that you can do yourself in about 20 mins. I think that there's a radiator overflow bottle or something on yr 89', instead of the washer bottle on my 93', but if memory serves me correctly, you need to remove that bottle (located on the engine bay firewall on the front passenger side), then directly below it (about 1 foot down), you should see a black type of cannister, held in by 3 bolts and a couple of wires out of it, which lead into a connector that mounts up on the passenger side front wheel well.

By removing the 3 bolts, and unclipping the connector, the whole assembly (motor and fan blade unit) will come out. You'll then need some needle-nose pilers to take off the circlip that keeps the fan blades mounted on the motor shaft, along with a rubber gasket that lines the motor housing.

Then, with the new motor, reverse the above, reinstall it all back on the housing in the firewall, bolt it all up, re-connect the wiring, and put the overflow bottle back in place and your all done. FWIW, I had to re-solder the wires from the connector to the wires coming out of the new motor, b/c it did not come with a matching connector when I bought it.

This is pretty much the procedure that I used on my 93', and if memory serves, is close to what is written in my Haynes manual.

Good luck, and I hope it helps !

Quarterwave

Quarterwave - the only thing I see that you're missing is the drain/vent tube that squeezes into the hole on the bottom of the motor housing. It's a pretty straightforward swap once you get the washer bottle or coolant tank out of the way. I've got some pics around here but wasn't in a hurry to publish it; let me know if y'all have any interest in seeing how the swap is done.

Hi Yucca-man,

Yeah, I was just trying to remember the steps that I took with mine as I was typing, and I wasn't sure if there was 1 other thing that I had forgotten ! Thx for pointing that one out !

Quarterwave

Well all, I just wanted to say that I have heat as of last month--the fan had burned up (metal shavings fell out when I took it out). Thanks for the help.

just want to add a thanks for the help. I also had a dead or intermittent fan and was about to pull my dash and check the switch. I found the fan on my '93 and got it started with a smack from my hammer (works for most things ;-)...I'll put a new one in next week. I'm just glad it decided to go belly-up after the bad weather....thanks to all for the posts! This is the best site on the internet!