I did a search on the forum, and it looks like I might have a similar issue to the blower resistor problem, but I wanted to check and see what other people think.

My 2003 Caravan has the upscale climate control system -- a sensor for temperature, three separate settings for temp (driver, passenger, rear), and fan controls for the same. In addition, there is an Auto Hi and Auto Low rocker switch, as well as a power switch.

My problem is that the fan runs in high all the time. The only time it is not running is when the car is turned off. The Auto Hi and Low switch has no effect. The ***** to adjust the blower speed works for the rear blower, but have no effect on the one in the dashboard. The power button has no effect, either. The air and recirculate buttons appear to work, turning the air on/off, and you can hear the recirculate flap moving and detect the change in air flow. However, there is no change in fan speed for any reason. Always on high.

Is this the blower resistor problem, or do I have something else going on?

S Moore

 

Your automatic temp control system uses a solid state blower control module instead of the old resistor block. As I recall it's located behind the glove box on the HAVC assembly. It's the most likely cause of your high only speed. Unfortunately they cost a bit more than a resistor assembly at around $60.

 

Coug, you are right. The problem was my blower control module. This is what the systems with automatic temperature control have instead of a resistor. You can tell you have the ATC system by looking at the display -- the ATC system lets you set areas of the vehicle to specific temperatures (like 72 degrees), and has, next to the power button in mine, a rocker switch that says "auto hi"-- the key being the word auto. After searching the site and the net, I found a couple of links that were very useful.

1. This one has some conversation about the difference between the resistor and the control module

http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sho...er-Fan-on-High

2. This one has a listing from one of the repair manuals on step-by-step repair on the resistor and control module. Note that it doesn't list what year it is for, but I think, based on what I saw, that the part and the fix are basically the same from 2001 through 2007, but check to make sure.

http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sho...e-time?p=19212


3. This one shows pictures and gives a step-by-step how-to for replacement. It also goes through the details of checking the wiring to make sure the problem is the control module, and not something else further upstream.

http://www.sparkys-answers.com/2008/...untry-van.html


I bought my part at Autozone, total cost was $102 with Iowa tax included. O'Reillys had a BWD (their brand) part for $71, but when I compared them, the original that I took out of my van had two electrical connection places, one with 2 prongs, and one with 4 prongs. The O'Reilly part had one with 2 prongs (same as mine), but the other one only had 3 prongs. I took the cap off the old part, and it looks like the 4th prong is wired in, so I went with the Autozone, which was an identical replacement and has a lifetime warranty. The O'Reilly part probably would have worked (I forgot to look to see if the actual 4 prong connector has 3 or 4 wires -- bet it has 3, and I spent $30 more than I needed), and now the power button turns the blower on and off, and the rotary switch increases and decreases the fan speed, just the way it is supposed to.

From what I can tell, based on past experience, I just saved about $400 doing this myself, with actual repair time being about 10 minutes. The $400 is based on what the dealer probably would have charged -- $200/part, $100 for diagnostics, $200 for actual fix (just a guess, based on what I've had happen at dealers before).

mooresmsr

 

Good info. Thanks for passing it on. Ya you may have blown a few bucks on the module but as you point out, your wallet is a whole lot fatter regardless. Good job!