Blower Motor and/or Resistor Issues..
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 306
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From: Olympia, WA
I also am on the "no short" train... If the harness is melted then that is the problem... Could cause a weak connection and when you started to play with it again, made a connection and now the power is getting to the fan again... 13 years of electronics experience behind me, says it is NOT a short... Mainly due to the location of the melted harness, fan now working, etc...
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Registered User
Joined: Apr 2009
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Hmm.. Makes sense.. Explains why it's actually working again..
So, basically just get the wire harness replaced and new resistor??
Any idea what I could be looking at cost wise?? I know the resistor is a relatively cheap and easy part to replace, but not sure I would be comfortable enough to start cutting/splicing wires replacing the harness on my own....
So, basically just get the wire harness replaced and new resistor??
Any idea what I could be looking at cost wise?? I know the resistor is a relatively cheap and easy part to replace, but not sure I would be comfortable enough to start cutting/splicing wires replacing the harness on my own....
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 306
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From: Olympia, WA
Are the wires melted at all or even the insulation hardened? If the wires and contacts are fine, you may be able to buy JUST the connector... Or even what I have done, go to a junk yard and cut the connector off and splice in... MUCH cheaper that way... Get the connector and resistor pack done all at the same time and I am sure you'll be set... Just curious, where are you located?
Champion
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,822
Likes: 4
From: Indiana
+1. Junkyard find on a new end, cut it back leaving plenty of wire to splice with and replace the resistor. No use hunting for a short. The resisters suck and a bad connector isn't going to help the new one much.
Just be glad your D is a 01+. Changing the 00- isn't so easy as pulling it out from under the dash.
IndyDurango
Just be glad your D is a 01+. Changing the 00- isn't so easy as pulling it out from under the dash.
IndyDurango
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Registered User
Joined: Apr 2009
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Are the wires melted at all or even the insulation hardened? If the wires and contacts are fine, you may be able to buy JUST the connector... Or even what I have done, go to a junk yard and cut the connector off and splice in... MUCH cheaper that way... Get the connector and resistor pack done all at the same time and I am sure you'll be set... Just curious, where are you located?
I'm taking her in first thing tomorrow morning to a guy that's done some work on my truck before. I unfortunately don't have a space to be able to work on this myself as I'm in a condo and they're pretty strict about people working on their cars in the parking lot..
Neo, I'm in the Metro Detroit Area..
All Star
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: MINNEAPOLIS, MN
"When I disconnected the resistor from the wiring harness, I noticed that the plastic was melted on the resistor around one of the metal prongs and also around one of the contacts on the harness... "
Which connector slot was melted? I will refresh everyones memory and this is from the schematic in the Chiltons Manual (20500) 2001-03 Dakota/Durango repair manuail Chapter 12 page 51.
OFF-- BLACK
LOW-- TAN
MED1-- LT GRN
MED2-- LT BLUE
HIGH-- BLACK/TAN
MOTOR-- BLUE/YELLOW (RESISTOR-MOTOR
MOTOR-- DARK GREEN (MOTOR- IGNITION, ACCESSORY/RUN)
With that said, YES I ditto, concurr/ +3 or however many yes answers there are!!! Here is what I did 1. Find a salvage yard, my donor vehicle was a Dakota, but just make sure remember the color coding, take photos etc...
It took me two tries but here goes. On the donor vehicle splice the wiring harness as far against the firewall as you can, get as much wire as you can. Once you cut obviously you are buying the resistor and harness, depending on the yard they may not sweat the extra wire, but thats between you the salvage yard, security cameras and the junkyard dogs. I kept my bad resistor and junkyard resistor for troubleshooting with the new one. Once I got the harness into the resistor, I was able to keep the resistor for troubleshooting. Once I was able to verify the resistor worked with the new harness splice I replaced the junkyard resistor with the dealer resistor and workd with full power all modes,/temperature/and fan speeds. As I write this I remember it was the power wire that had shorted and grounded out. The power wire between the resistor and the blower motor (DARK BLUE/YELLOW) Once I removed/replaced the harness it worked fine, I will caution you there could be a lot of extra wire to tuck up but at least it will work, I ziptied and electrical taped mine up under the dash. The key thing to remember, is cut on the firewall end for the harness that you are removing, and on the floor end of the vehicle you are splicing into, that way you have some slack.. I tell you this because I almost ran out of room for splicing because of bad splices and having to redo the connectors, I tell you this so you don't make the same mistake. The harness is a poor design, but we can't cry over spilled milk now. Dealer resistor was about $15 I believe, so that, $20 for a salvage yard harness, about $15 for wiring terminal connectors, electrical tape, and combination cutting and crimping pliers total $50
Good luck and once all my parts were in place, it took me about an hour but that was ops checking after each splice completion and taping/ziptie of more wire than normal.
FYI, Even though the Dakota is a different schematic, if you look at page 12-49 of the Chiltons manual the wiring color codes for the blower motor/resistor are the same. Please feel free to check for yourself especially before heading out to a salvage yard on my say so.
Which connector slot was melted? I will refresh everyones memory and this is from the schematic in the Chiltons Manual (20500) 2001-03 Dakota/Durango repair manuail Chapter 12 page 51.
OFF-- BLACK
LOW-- TAN
MED1-- LT GRN
MED2-- LT BLUE
HIGH-- BLACK/TAN
MOTOR-- BLUE/YELLOW (RESISTOR-MOTOR
MOTOR-- DARK GREEN (MOTOR- IGNITION, ACCESSORY/RUN)
With that said, YES I ditto, concurr/ +3 or however many yes answers there are!!! Here is what I did 1. Find a salvage yard, my donor vehicle was a Dakota, but just make sure remember the color coding, take photos etc...
It took me two tries but here goes. On the donor vehicle splice the wiring harness as far against the firewall as you can, get as much wire as you can. Once you cut obviously you are buying the resistor and harness, depending on the yard they may not sweat the extra wire, but thats between you the salvage yard, security cameras and the junkyard dogs. I kept my bad resistor and junkyard resistor for troubleshooting with the new one. Once I got the harness into the resistor, I was able to keep the resistor for troubleshooting. Once I was able to verify the resistor worked with the new harness splice I replaced the junkyard resistor with the dealer resistor and workd with full power all modes,/temperature/and fan speeds. As I write this I remember it was the power wire that had shorted and grounded out. The power wire between the resistor and the blower motor (DARK BLUE/YELLOW) Once I removed/replaced the harness it worked fine, I will caution you there could be a lot of extra wire to tuck up but at least it will work, I ziptied and electrical taped mine up under the dash. The key thing to remember, is cut on the firewall end for the harness that you are removing, and on the floor end of the vehicle you are splicing into, that way you have some slack.. I tell you this because I almost ran out of room for splicing because of bad splices and having to redo the connectors, I tell you this so you don't make the same mistake. The harness is a poor design, but we can't cry over spilled milk now. Dealer resistor was about $15 I believe, so that, $20 for a salvage yard harness, about $15 for wiring terminal connectors, electrical tape, and combination cutting and crimping pliers total $50
Good luck and once all my parts were in place, it took me about an hour but that was ops checking after each splice completion and taping/ziptie of more wire than normal.
FYI, Even though the Dakota is a different schematic, if you look at page 12-49 of the Chiltons manual the wiring color codes for the blower motor/resistor are the same. Please feel free to check for yourself especially before heading out to a salvage yard on my say so.
