Honda Air Conditioner Blower Motor Help

exalted512
exalted512 Posts: 10,735
edited June 2010 in The Clubhouse
Wifey has a 04 civic. She got in her car the other day and no air would come out of the vents.

Took out the blower motor. It does work. Hooked it up to the trickle charger and it came right on.

Tested the voltage at the signal wire going to the blower motor. It has voltage, but when you plug the blower motor in, the voltage goes away. Any ideas? Semi-faulty relay or could the it be the motor blower resistor?

I've heard if its the resistor, it will usually work if you turn the fan all the way to high, but thats not the case here...no air comes out on any setting.

BTW, the motor comes on for about a second in the car and then turns off. All the fuses check out good. I did swap out some relays under the hood with the horn relay, but when i took down the glove box, I noticed there were 4 more in front of the AC assembly, havent messed with those.

Help!!!!
-Cody
Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,808
    edited June 2010
    I'm betting the resistor. If it's not the motor and not the switch, it's the resistor. If it has automatic temperature control, the thermocouple might be bad or shorted out as well.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited June 2010
    I really hope it is. I was just hesitating because some people were saying that it usually will work if the air is all the way up if its just the resistor. So I was worried it might be something else. I just didnt know if the voltage going away when the blower motor is plugged in is a sign of the resistor or what. I'll get that ordered tomorrow, should be here Tuesday and we'll go from there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

    No automatic temp control.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,808
    edited June 2010
    Yeah, every time I've seen this problem it's been the resistor. Dodge is notorious for this because the resistor they use, they use the air flow in the vent to keep it cool. But if you have a big engine, like a 5.9L V8 in a Dodge Dakota running for hours at a time in cold weather and idling with the heater running full-tilt boogie, it bakes the resistor and they go bad quickly.

    Very few companies don't use a similar setup. The resistor is the cheapest part and sometimes it's cheaper and easier to throw a part at a problem and see if it fixes it. This is probably one of those times.
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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited June 2010
    +1 on the resistor. Probably the cheapest part to fix since you checked the motor and switch.

    I have had that go a couple of times in my VW's. One time the system still worked on full blast and the other time it did not work at all. What the difference was is beyond me but thems the facts.
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,808
    edited June 2010
    When you dial the blower motor speed to high, in many cars, it bypasses the resistor. Think of the resistor as a sluice gate in a damn. It meters the flow of power to change the speed of the fan. If the fan's speed is going to be maximum, then you can bypass the resistor completely and run full juice to it. It helps save teh resistor by not heating it up necessarily.

    Some designs run through the resistor all the time, no matter what. Those are the ones that don't work at all. When the resistor goes bad.
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  • sda2mike
    sda2mike Posts: 3,131
    edited June 2010
    ha! i just replaced the resistor block on my 96 civic this weekend..all is well now:D
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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited June 2010
    Congrats Mike, glad to see someone have some luck.

    Thanks for the lesson Jstas. I figured it was something like that just seemed weird to have the same type car VW Golf GL have two different schemes for the same thing. Mid year redesign maybe. Anywho thanks again.
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  • mrmusicman
    mrmusicman Posts: 303
    edited June 2010
    Had the same problem with wifes 04 Honda CRV a few months ago.. turned out to be a faulty blower motor transistor,hope that helps.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited June 2010
    replaced the resistor, works like it did before!

    Thanks for the help!
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited June 2010
    Hey man, no problem. Any time.

    ;):D
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,808
    edited June 2010
    Sweet


    Unless that "like it did before" part means it didn't fix it then that would suck.
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  • exalted512
    exalted512 Posts: 10,735
    edited June 2010
    Nah, like it did before it stopped working.

    I was also careful to say it works great, because it doesnt, but it didnt work great from the factory...I guess it works great compared to no air at all though.
    -Cody
    Music is like candy, you have to get rid of the rappers to enjoy it
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,808
    edited June 2010
    A/C is a necessity in Texas.

    Last time I was in Dallas, we had a Ford Windstar for a rental and that A/C blew gale force Arctic winds from the vents and it was much appreciated. Texas in August is a bad idea.

    Actually, come to think of it, every Ford A/C system and Mazda too, that I've ever used has been excessively cold and powerful.
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  • Joe08867
    Joe08867 Posts: 3,919
    edited June 2010
    +1 on the Ford AC, nice and cold.

    My dad had an old Pacer that the best AC I have ever felt in a vehicle. Probably cause the car was like driving in the Pope mobile with all the glass. You aren't hiding a thing in that car.

    Glad to hear your wife's AC is working again. Cause we all know when she's happy your happy.
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