Blower not working: it's NOT the resistor or blower motor? Help.
 

What's up, fellas?


2001 Durango that I love (except for the 16mpg's that is), and it won't blow any heat.


Last year about this time it was doing the same thing, and I did some research and found out about the resistor. My mechanic took it out and we saw one of the plugs was burnt so we Went and bought a new one at AutoZone for $27, changed it and it worked like new. Last week it started doing the same thing. We checked the resistor again, and the same plug was burnt, we changed it, and this time it didn't work. We checked all of the fuses and those were fine, then we took out the blower motor and connected it to the batter with connector wires and the motor turned instantly.

I have no blower at all, not even on high like most people do when their resistor goes bad.

It sucks that this keeps happening in the cold weather, any ideas on what this might be? My mechanic has a few ideas but he was stumped last night.

Any help is greatly appreciated, all of the searches I've done just keep coming up to change the resistor.

Thanks a bunch!

PS -- Is there a difference between a "resistor" and a "resistor pack?"


Sorry, i'm no mechanic. I have no speeds for the blower, but we replaces the resistor last night, and tested the blower and it works fine. This is frustrating to say the least.

resistor and resistor pack are the same in this case

it sounds to me like you have a problem with the wire harness, they are also a potential problem area, if i were you i would check for continuity through the wires, do you get power to the resistor? is there a connection from there to the fan? if not you need to figure out where the wire is off, or broken, and maybe even replace the harness/plug.

Thanks, i'm green.

I'm not sure, I know my mechanic tested some stuff but not sure about the harness.

Okay, this is where we'll look next I guess. I looked up some of the harnesses online and found one on Amazon for $65 with the resistor. Hoping if it's the harness I can get it from a junkyard.

Look at the plug that goes onto the resistor pack closely. I'm betting you'll find that the contacts on the plug are corroded or burnt away, especially at one end of the plug where the two heavier (green?) wires are. It's documented on heere many times that this is a problem area, and it fits your description exactly.

A replacement plug kit is ~$35 at the dealer and is easy to splice in. Put a little bit of di-electric grease (available at most auto stores) on the plug and it'll help the contacts last longer.

Bob

Okay great, thanks a lot, Bob! Could I just clean the plug if it's corroded?

If it is slightly corroded it might work and is worth a try.

Totally agree with the harness had the same problem and all of the contacts but one were burnt out. Decided to replace the whole so i wouldnt have to deal witb anymore and a year later and its still doing good. Hope you get that harness in there and fix your problem. Took me about 20 mins to get it done.

Thanks! Where did you get it? And did you get the harness and plug both at the same time? How much?

One thing to add, to looking at resistor connectors,, Even though they dont look bad or burnt, (and i'm not saying this to make anybody look bad) but the first time i trouble shot a resistor or motor I was checking terminals wth a test light and you can open up the terminal so it wont make a good connection. Make sure and find a terminal to check connector terminals to make sure they are not stretched open. I have seen this several times also, and this WILL cause problems too.