I have a 2002 Taurus SE with a Duratec engine. It has about 102,000 miles on the vehicle. Over the last several months, I have noticed that the air flow from the fan motor has been reduced considerably. It does not matter whether I put the manual selector on heat or vent or defroster, the amount of air flow is very low. It’s interesting since I can hear the fan motor increase in velocity as I change the fan speed, so I believe that the fan is operating properly. The fan is not making any unusual noises and I do not have any other symptoms with this problem. I get plenty of heat, just no air flow. I thought it might be a plugged heater core, but the air flow is reduced even when I use the air conditioner.

Has anyone else encountered this type of problem? Any suggestions as to what it could be? Thanks in advance.

I do not know if this pertains to your problem but here in a country setting, critters have been known to build their nests in the ducting reducing air flow. You might want to pull your blower motor and see if the ducting is clogged.

Does the blower motor sound normal, or is it louder or quieter than normal? Maybe the squirrel cage is not spinning for some reason (probably causing quieter than normal operation) of there may be something stuck in the squirrel cage causing low flow (and probably louder than normal operation).

The option of rodents is possible as well, do you ever see bits of organic material flying from the vents?

Does the air flow that you are getting move correctly between the floor, panel, and defrost when you change that setting?

Pulling the blower motor probably isn't too difficult and would be a good place to start looking.

-Rod

Does the blower motor sound normal, or is it louder or quieter than normal? Maybe the squirrel cage is not spinning for some reason (probably causing quieter than normal operation) of there may be something stuck in the squirrel cage causing low flow (and probably louder than normal operation).

The option of rodents is possible as well, do you ever see bits of organic material flying from the vents?

Does the air flow that you are getting move correctly between the floor, panel, and defrost when you change that setting?

Pulling the blower motor probably isn't too difficult and would be a good place to start looking.

-Rod


Rod,

To answer your questions, I would have to say that the fan sounds totally normal. I would not even have noticed any difference except for the fact that when I put my hand by the heater and the vent I noticed that very little air was coming out. However, you can literally hear the air flow when the fan speed is increased, so I am sure the cage is spinning. The problem is the air appears to be going somewhere else. That's really the problem.

All the air flow (whatever flow is left), moves properly through the vents and nothing has ever come out of the vents. Also, no unusual smell or other problems.

Thanks for your questions.

If possible get under the dash and start checking linkages on the heater box for movement or lack of while adjusting the temp. and vent selections. Also and this is the real pain, check your vacuum resivoir for cracks, vacuum hose still attached, etc. The resivoir, according to my info, is located behind the right side inner fender splash shield, rear half.

Just some thoughts.

The same thing happened on my sis's '99 SHO. I found that the blower motor itself was loose in the housing and the screws to it were coming loose. Tightened it up and all was well.