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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / November 20052 blown blower motor fuses in a row!
Hi, I have a '91 Chevy Cavalier 2.2 L. My blower motor no longer works. When you switch through the different settings (vent/heat/defrost/etc.), it sounds like the motor is trying to work since in the background as you can hear a very slight humming noise of a motor, but nothing happens. So I checked the 25 amp fuse and found it was blown. I replaced it, and immediately the second one blew, even before the blower motor could turn on I want to test the motor itself by connecting jumper wires to it from the battery, but I don't own jumper wires. I could make my own, but I don't even know if they would make terminals so small that they that would fit into a female pin connector. So could I just use my battery jumper cables (8 amp I think) and attach a needle to the alligator clips, and test my motor this way? How would I get the needle to stay in place on the large alligator clips? Or is there a place you can buy jumper wires? Or can I use the probes from my DMM and connect those to my battery jumper cables? And what would cause a fuse to blow two times in a row? Does this sound like a bad blower motor problem, or something else? Thanks for any help! Julie julie, you have a short somewhere. more than likely the blower motor itself. when you replaced the fuse was the key in the "on" position? if so, try replacing one more time, this time with the key off.if it blows this time...replace the blower motor. oh and whem it comes to running power to the old blower motor just snip off the plug that already fits onto the female terminal connection,hook up a - and a+,and test that way. be sure you cut it in an area that will easily enable you to put it back together again. hope this helps. > julie, you have a short somewhere. more than likely the blower motor > itself. when you replaced the fuse was the key in the "on" position? > if so, try replacing one more time, this time with the key off.if it > blows this time...replace the blower motor. Thanks so much for your help! When I replaced the fuse the first time, the key was in the off position, but the blower motor switch was in the "on" position. I started the car, waited five seconds, and then tried to manipulate the blower motor and vent settings. oh and whem it comes to > running power to the old blower motor just snip off the plug that > already fits onto the female terminal connection,hook up a - and a+,and > test that way. be sure you cut it in an area that will easily enable > you to put it back together again. hope this helps. Sorry, this might sound stupid, but I am not sure what you mean by hooking up a positive and negative. What do I connect to where and with what? I would prefer not to cut anything. I've done a lot of auto work in the past, but I guess you can tell auto electric is not my strong point. :) I guess I should try o work on finding the short and reading up on auto electrical. Most likely this means a wire is touching a metal ground somewhere? Would just wiggling the wires around work? Or could the short be in the actual motor itself, thereby necessitating replacement? I guess it would be a lot easier if I simply had jumper wires. Julie you could just unplug blower motor at motor.replace fuse turn key on.put fan switch to on.recheck fuse.if good,plug motor back in.front row seat!or just take motor out and test. > you could just unplug blower motor at motor.replace fuse turn key > on.put fan switch to on.recheck fuse.if good,plug motor back in.front > row seat!or just take motor out and test. Nice. I will try this. Except I would need someplace to plug the motor in in the front seat! :) Julie I suspect that, as others have suggested, that you have a blower motor that is bad. It may be 'binding up', which will make it draw too much current and will blow the fuse..or, there could be a short circuit, causing the same thing,. >I suspect that, as others have suggested, that you have a blower motor that > is > bad. It may be 'binding up', which will make it draw too much current and > will > blow the fuse..or, there could be a short circuit, causing the same > thing,. Thanks! Well, this is what I just did: I found an old analog DMM, and found that the wires disconnected from it, one side is a banana plug, and the other was a probe. So I took those and pulled the cover off the blower motor terminals. There was no pin connector, like I assumed, but two metal prongs (one to an orange wire, and one to a black wire). The negative prong was all black and disgusting, so I did my best to clean it, but it was hard to get all the black stuff off (maybe it was burnt). I then touched the jumper wire prongs to the terminals and held them in place as best I could. I then touched the other ends to the alligator clamps of a portable jump starter battery I have. It was hard to kow if the connection was good, since I really needed 4 hands at that point. But the motor did not start (I assumed I would have been able to hear it from outside the car?). So this must mean the motor is bad. Now I just don't know what replacement motor to buy. The thing is the blower motor for Cavaliers with A/C is much cheaper than the one without (I don't have A/C). I wonder if there really is a difference? I suppose I could pull the old one and bring it in to compare, but half the time these are special order, so I wouldn't be able to do that. Why would the blower motor differ depending on whether you have AC? Julie July, I used Autozone online to check if those parts are the same. They show a Bosch PM138 for the unit without factory AC and a PM136 for the unit with factory AC...So, apparently the applications are different. How different, I cannot say. > July, > I used Autozone online to check if those parts are the same. They show a [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > How different, I cannot say. Hi, thanks for doing that. I did the same thing at Advance auto Parts' website: http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=117&PTSet=A&SearchFor=Blow er%20Motor They list a lot of different blower motors, some with wheel, some with cooling tube, etc. I guess the best thing to do would be just pull it first and bring it to the store. Julie http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=117&PTSet=A&SearchFor= Blower%20Motor > They list a lot of different blower motors, some with wheel, some with > cooling tube, etc. I guess the best thing to do would be just pull it first > and bring it to the store. > > Julie Always the best policy, Julie. > http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=117&PTSet=A&SearchFor= > Blower%20Motor [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Always the best policy, Julie. Well, I pulled the motor. It was easier than I thought. I hooked it up to the car battery this time with those DMM probes, and still nothing. Now I just need to find a way to get the motor off of the impeller wheel. Maybe use a punch, since there is a small hole which holds the shaft on the other side on the motor housing. And now I am wondering why there is a hose connected to the motor housing at one end, and the air duct on the other. Shouldn't the impeller blades be able to suck up air directly, without a hose? Also, while I was at it, I pulled the radiator fan motor, which also does not work. When I connected the jumper wires to it, I got a slight spark and the motor seemed to turn for a split second, then nothing. I was not able to duplicate that again. Not sure if it is because I am not getting a good enough connection at the terminals, or because the motor really is bad. Most likely the latter. I wil get both motors at the store today. Julie > Well, I pulled the motor. It was easier than I thought. I hooked it up to > the car battery this time with those DMM probes, and still nothing. I just installed the new blower motor as well as a new 25 amp Heater/AC fuse. The blower motor worked great. Then I shut of the car and installed a new radiator fan motor. As I was waiting for the engine to hear up to see if the fan would go on, I also tried the blower motor again. This time, nothing! I checked the fuse, and it was blown, for the third freakin' time!!!! Plus, the radiator fan did not go on at all, even though it should have about 10 minutes before I shut off the engine (gauge was getting near red zone). This absolutely sucks. So I really didn't need to replace either motor? Good thing I only spent $50 total on the two. And at this rate, I'm going to run out of fuses soon. Also, I saw a spark near the back of the radiator fan, above the starter, sort of where some fusible links are. Don't know if that matters. And before I installed either of the two motors today, I applied jumper wires to the them and connected them to the battery (just to see if that would work). But inexplicably, the new motors didn't start either. So, so much for testing with jumper wires! Julie > I just installed the new blower motor as well as a new 25 amp Heater/AC > fuse. The blower motor worked great. Then I shut of the car and > installed a new radiator fan motor. As I was waiting for the engine to > hear up to see if the fan would go on, I also tried the blower motor > again. This time, nothing! I checked the fuse, and it was blown, for the > third freakin' time!!!! You have a short circuit. Find and fix it, and you'll stop losing fuses. > Also, I saw a spark near the back of the radiator fan, above the > starter, sort of where some fusible links are. Don't know if that > matters. Yep, it matters. Focus your attention on the wires in that area. > And before I installed either of the two motors today, I applied jumper > wires to the them and connected them to the battery (just to see if that > would work). But inexplicably, the new motors didn't start either. So, > so much for testing with jumper wires! Erm...no, so much for your having done it right. > And before I installed either of the two motors today, I applied jumper > wires to the them and connected them to the battery (just to see if that > would work). But inexplicably, the new motors didn't start either. So, so > much for testing with jumper wires! > > Julie Sorry you are still having problems. I looked back to my original answer, hoping that I had not led you astray, and saw that I had mentioned it could be a short circuit but maybe I didnt emphasize it strongly enough. You definitely can test with jumper wires. The wires have to be connected to the right terminals, etc, and have to make good connections. And since some of these little motors draw 10-20 amperes, they have to be big enough to carry the current without overheating. I know it is a PITA. Again, sorry. |
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