Jfrahm

Hi all,
I have been researching a problem with my 89 S2, my fresh air blower only works on high. I read that the resisotr pack can fail and cause this problem, but I'm having some trouble locating a resistor pack, and I was unable to determine for certain if my pack had failed (I can't find the open circuit.)

Also, the wires connected to my resistor pack are overheated badly, the insulation is cracking off and the copper has turned brown. is this normal?

In my research I have read that Golfs and Jettas have a thermal fuse in the resistor pack that fails and opens up this circuit. Do we have one of these? Supposedly when the blower motor gets worn it starts to bind up and use more current. The thermal fuse blows to protect the system. Since I have evidence of high heat I wondered if this might be an issue for our cars too.

Thanks,
-Joel.

Jfrahm

Forgot to mention that my car (supposedly) has a new climate control unit.

-Joel.

Melchior

Had the same problem a couple months ago. There is a plastic plate (1/2" X 3") that is screwed to the top of your blower box underneath the flimsy plastic cover below the driverside windsheild. It has two screws that hold it on and a 3 or 4 pin long connector attached to the top of it. This is what controls your fan motor speed. Cafefully remove it and you will notice that it has a strange coil attached to it. The problem lies with the copper contacts getting corroded. You will need to get a piece of fine grit sand paper and clean the top/underside of the unusual copper metal piece that looks sort of like an old telegraph machine (only way that I know how to discribe it). This is a crude relay and it needs to be cleaned very thoroughly. Have fun. <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" />

kennyandersen

Is works on high because it is getting full voltage. The other settings (at least this is how it worked in my 'other' car) are run through a resistor(s) that cut the voltage and thus the fan speed. Bad contacts, bad resistors could cause the fan not to work at the other settings. If it starts blowing fuses 'cause it is drawing too much current, the motor is starting to go.

SoCal Driver

If you need any blower parts I'm about ready to haul off an 86 automatic. Still has the blowers and resistor and other heater stuff in it.

Jfrahm

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take another look at it when I get home.

-Joel.

Jfrahm

A big thank you to David Rios!
There is indeed a pair of thermal switches mounted on a white plastic piece on the blower motor assembly. It has a rectangular connector on it, and a small part number (944 616 101 00) this part is located on the LH (driver's) side of the blower assembly and can be easily removed with a short phillips head screwdriver. My thermal switches are green with corrosion, but a light touch with a screwdriver got the fan working again, intermittently. I'm carefully cleaning them now and feel that this will solve the problem. Of couse with it 95 degrees out, I want the blower running flat-out anyway :-).

Thanks again!
-Joel.

Bri Bro

On edit: My bad, Blower Fan not cooling fan.

Jfrahm

OK it's fixed. I put a note in another climate control thread too. Basicly my problem was the thermal protection switches, which are part of the white plastic... module? in the blower assembly.

I was unable to use sandpaper to clean the corroded thermal switches, so I put a drop of battery acid in each and let them fizz for a while, then rinsed and dried the module with compressed air. This might be a stupid thing to do so don't go telling me I didn't warn you. Make sure you seperate the contacts and allow the acid to flow between them. This worked for me, or has so far, but I can't say if it's the smartest way to fix this part. It's certainly not the safest way to fix it! I'd already gotten the gunk off of this part with carb cleaner too by the way.

Be advised that the coils on this module get hot, so let it cool off before messing with it, and dry it completely before testing it.

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions!
-Joel.

The_Phantom

My car intermittently would only work on high, so I removed the plastic plate and cleaned the terminals and replaced it as seen in the pictures below. Now it only works on high. I wonder what I did to make it worse and what I can do to fix it? If it's broken, does anyone have a part number? (By the way, that's my dog's nose in the last pic)

Melchior

I think you cleaned the wrong thing on that resistor pack. Read my post above. You are looking for a thing that looks for a small telegraph that has two loose copper plates. You want to use fine sand paper on the top and bottoms of these small disks; also use a little wd-40 to clean the copper. Let it dry before running current. PM me if you still have problems.

Peckster

What you are cleaning is several (?) pairs of contacts, the tiny round things that look like discs, one is mounted on a spring. They get pitted and corroded on the surface, the best way to clean them is to sand them lightly and clean with lacquer thinner. It's really picky work, I got my kid to do it, he's good at painting warhammer so he has lots of practice!

The_Phantom

Thanks guys, I'll try again tonight and let you know what happens.

The_Phantom

I tried to clean between the contacts shown by the yellow arrow but it still didn't work. Maybe I didn't get them clean enough or am I still cleaning the wrong parts?

Bri Bro

Check your resistors, one may be open.