Heater fan is dead

[Guswah]

A few days ago the heater fan on my 2005 Sport Trac quit. Not the heater core -- it appears to work just fine as evidenced by the heat that's produced on the highway without a fan to blow it. No, I'm talking about the heater fan alone.

I inspected several fuses, but primarily the 15amp #11 since the manual says that it's the one for the "climate control". Of course I could see nothing wrong with the fuse and even switched it with another 15-amp fuse, with the same result. Meaning no result when I engage the fan switch.

I'm a firm believer that every mechanical problem on a mass-produced vehicle is not unique. Someone else has had the identical problem. Thus I'm wondering whether members might have experienced the same problem. If so, it would be good to hear from you.

 

[DILLARD000]

Does Blower run with Selector on HiSpeed position, but not any other LowerSpeed position?
If so, BlowerResistor is likely burned out; Vid below on replacing that.

 

[bk10s]

+1

 

[Guswah]

Actually the blower doesn't run in any position.

 

[EddieS'04]

I would try using a jumper wire, for 12vdc straight to the motor. If it runs, it could be the resistor pack or the fan switch.
In all my years on here, we have had mostly resistor burn outs.

 

[Guswah]

Eddie, what are the symptoms of a resister burnout? I presume a complete loss of fan/blower would be highly suspect. Agree?

 

[Phil Frady]

Eddie, what are the symptoms of a resister burnout? I presume a complete loss of fan/blower would be highly suspect. Agree?

If it was the resistor “burnout” the fan would still work in high since there is no resistor. I would try to make a jumper and test the fan. I have replaced my fan once. It was easy.

 

[Todd Z]

try smacking the fan motor, if it runs, its the motor or resister or pigtail is corroded...

 

[Larry Holmes]

I have also replaced my fan motor. It was easy and not at all expensive.

 

[Guswah]

If it was the resistor “burnout” the fan would still work in high since there is no resistor. I would try to make a jumper and test the fan. I have replaced my fan once. It was easy.

According to the guy in the video posted in this thread, a failed resistor results in either the high speed working or no speeds working. Either/or.

 

[Guswah]

If it was the resistor “burnout” the fan would still work in high since there is no resistor. I would try to make a jumper and test the fan. I have replaced my fan once. It was easy.

According to the guy in the video posted by Dillard in this thread, a failed resistor results in either the high speed working or no speeds working. Either/or.

 

[Todd Z]

That’s if the resistor fails but if it breaks on the High Point you will have no fan at all. Just because there’s a common failure doesn’t mean there is an uncommon failure as well.

 

[Larry Holmes]

There’s a high level of heat that accumulates in the dashboard however the fan is outside, in front of the firewall and is most likely the culprit. If it’s the resistors in the switch you haven’t lost much in light of the high probability that either would eventually fail.

 

[Guswah]

There’s a high level of heat that accumulates in the dashboard however the fan is outside, in front of the firewall and is most likely the culprit. If it’s the resistors in the switch you haven’t lost much in light of the high probability that either would eventually fail.

That was my thinking, Larry. Considering that the vehicle comes from Alberta where it had 15 years of cold weather use, I decided to replace the resistor regardless. Once it arrives, I may discover that the old resistor has not failed but may very well fail at this point. If this doesn't solve the problem I will move on to the fan itself.

 

[Larry Holmes]

Rockauto.com and an hour or so will fixya.

 

[Todd Z]

That was my thinking, Larry. Considering that the vehicle comes from Alberta where it had 15 years of cold weather use, I decided to replace the resistor regardless. Once it arrives, I may discover that the old resistor has not failed but may very well fail at this point. If this doesn't solve the problem I will move on to the fan itself.

Watch the connector, It corrodes inside the plug, Hard to see and causes a bad connection or gets damaged when changing the resistor.

 

[Larry Holmes]

If you are going to guess between the two, the less expensive part is the way to go. But a cheap multimeter would tell you if there remains variable resistance across all connections on your resistor array using the ohms setting. Often just looking at failed resistors will show scorched or burnt components.

 

[Guswah]

I'm getting ready to change the heater fan resistor in my 2005. I've never even seen one before, so it's a little daunting when I look under the hood. I'm a woodworker, not a mechanic.

I suppose I could consider buying a SportTrac service manual, but in the meantime, can someone tell me how much of this stuff is going to have to come out before I actually find something that resembles the new resistor? I'm pretty sure it's down there somewhere.

 

[Guswah]

Just watching the video now.

 

[Todd Z]

Remove overflow, remove cruise module. Down there.