2013 Journey Rear HVAC

Symptoms:
A)
The Battery would drain a lot overnight. If not driven each day ... by about the second day there was no longer enough charge left in the battery to start the engine.
B)
Rear HVAC Fan not working.

Fix for Item B:
Took the back right trim panel off. Using a voltmeter, found power was arriving at the connector at the rear fan motor. After some disassembly of the fan motor cover/junction block, found that the connections at the motor were loose inside the outer motor cover. Re-Crimped connection and the rear fan motor now works great on all speeds!

Following are some pics that show how to get access to the rear fan motor.
I took these pictures as an after-thought when the problem was found and repaired.

First removed the rear storage compartment - there are 8 plastic push fasteners that need to be popped out of the forward edge slots (slots shown in top of photo below)--- they connect the carpet to the storage compartment. Sitting on the lid cover in corners below are the 4 nuts I removed from inside this compartment which fastens the strorage compartment to small studs in the car floor.



Here is close up of the nut and rubber cap that fits on end of stud (hard to see cap on right):



Removed these fasteners from side panels and the little plastic covers which hide some fasteners. Used a flashlight and discovered the hooks are held on with phillips screws and some of the fasteners under the white plastic caps are torx. Under each cover is a hidden fastener.





The two top white trim panels on each side of the window need to be popped off ... however, the mid-row white panel can just be left hanging on the middle row shoulder harness. The white panels must be removed first before the big lower trim panel can be taken off. Was careful not to force them there was torx fastener(s) on each - and metal clips.


Opened up the passenger-side door and there is a recess in the side panel, near the car door. In the recess (circled in red below) is triangular shaped cover panel that needs to be popped off. The triangle panel looks like it is not detachable but using something thin it will pop off. Under that triangle cover is a hidden screw that fastens the forward edge of the side panel to the car.
In this photo the left side actually faces down when the panel is in the car. The edge where the red circle is runs along the door jam.






Only the very back right-side seat belt anchor top torx bolt needs to be removed before taking the back white side panel off.
I put the bolt back in after removing the white panel.




This picture shows the underside of the shoulder harness anchor bolt cover - note square slots that tabs lock in to.




After the trim panel is removed this is what it looks like -- the one connector that needs to be removed is the white connector in middle of photo. The black rectangle next to it is the motor's external resistor that resides in the hvac box.
The photo is out of sequence, fan is already removed.


Fan Motor is not bolted in, the bolt holes are empty! The only thing holding in the motor is a small plastic thin tab.
I just lightly pulled up the tab and slight twist of motor and it fell out (one electrical connector).
The two terminals for motor power are at the eight o'clock position in following picture of outer fan motor cover.
There are three plastic tabs on the motor mount plate with holes for bolts. However, no bolts! The only thing locking the motor in is the one thin tab that does not have a bolt hole in it (10 o'clock). Arrived from the factory this way.







Took off torx screw on the plastic outer cover shown below to get to the inner connector terminals.





Here are a couple pictures of what is under that cover.
While examining the squirrel cage fan I notced the outer edge of the blade was cracked at the rim in 2 places.
There are small weights that are clamped on to the blades to balance the fan. I think the weights when installed put some stress on the plastic that eventually caused it to crack. Still feels solid so I did not replace.
Added a little grease to the end of the motor shaft that sticks up above the bearing; letting it seep down (non-brush end of motor).




Note there is a fuse here. And several crimps with wires having sharp bends. This is the area that had loose wire.



Reinstalled the fan motor and so far it works on all speeds. Leaving the side cover off for now to make sure the fan problem is fixed.

While working on the car I noticed even with the ignition off the dampers were cycling at times - both front and back.
Do not know if this is what is causing the battery drain mentioned in item "A" above. Will look in to that further.
Ron

 

what year?

 

2013 - Base A/C - 37,000 miles -- just out of warranty.
Could a moderator please add the word "Fan" to the end of my thread description?
So it looks like this ...
Journey - Battery Drain Overnight - Rear HVAC FAN


Thanks,
Ron

 

Hi, were you able to find out what the battery drain issue was? I know this is an old thread, but I am having the same battery drain issue. Thanks.