Blower Motor Resistor Replacement (with pics)

[PashaDNN]

I knew I had to change the blower motor resistor because on my '02 Sebring LX the 1-2-3 options on my fan didn't work, and 4 did. So I did a little bit of researching (mainly on this forum and a few other Chrysler pages) and went straight to the dealership.

The part cost less than CDN$10 and took me no longer than an hour to install (the reason it took me a whole hour was because I was working with a complete lack of tools.) Those two bolts that hold in the resistor took me longer than anything.


This is what you should be looking for:

To get to this, I reccomend moving your passenger seat all the way back (as well as tilted all the way back).. under my glove-box there was a foam'ish covering being pretty much held on by one bolt, remove it.

Now you should have access to your blower motor resistor and a whole bunch of other fun, colorful wires.. lol, something like this:


Just remove the two bolts holding in the resistor, it should slide right out. But this is where i encountered quite the obstacle.. I'm > 6ft tall and getting to the 2nd bolt was hell, as it's conveniently hidden 'on the other side' of the resistor.. out of reach from anyone with big arms/shoudlers/hands.. Anyway, replace the old with the new (in the same slot of course):

<-new / old->
put bolts back on, foam'ish cover back on, and you're done!
(see where the bolts go on my old resistor? note how chewed up it is, i was having a field day trying to get the f**ker off.)

I'm gonna sleep off the back-ache and i'll be back fixing the sucker before too long.

Enjoy!

[Angella]

hehe - I guess being a five foot tall female has it's advantages - for once!

[Mojoman]

The one i changed actually looks different than the one you show, but it did not work either. Maybe the new part is bad also. I did a continuity test on the switch, it was OK. From the schematic I have i do not see any thing else in between the switch and the resistor block.

[Angella]

Mine is also like the one in the pic... I wonder when they changed them? I have an early '01.

[hotweiss]

Wow, this is exactly what I'm looking for. I have the exact same model...

My dealer charged me $52 for the part!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[runwaypaul]

Hello:
Thanks for the great detail on changing the fan/heater switch on Sebring 2002. The photos should help out. I will be doing it on Saturday and will let you know how it worked out.
THanks again Paul S. Hudson, NY

[Floridalon]

I have replaced the block twice on a 99 Sebring convert, and... its still bad (only high speed works) Did as all others have and found nothing. I went to the local Radio Shack to try to buy the (what I thought was a Zenior Diode) and found out it was a thermo type sensor. Meaning, when the current draw over the network (resistor block) gets too high, which causes heat in the little diode thingy, thus causing heat generation (that is why they put this thing next to the blower) and opens the circuit. I went online to find replacement part,not resistor block, and had zero luck. The block cost $38 bucks a pop, now times 3. I will continue to monitor, and maybe someone will come up with another solution. Thank You all in advance....lon

[dan0011]

To update the price is in the $30s now. It was over $60 for awhile. Chrylser redesigned it so they jacked up the price. It was around $5 before the redesign.

Now to try and fix my other problem. The ABS and Brake light came on today, the milage and radio lights flickered, then the battery light came on. Battery is new and was replaced because it went dead. Im wondering if I have a short some where?

[bobvj]

Thanks for the great pictures. I just replaced the resistor on my 2001 Sebring. Just a couple of notes. The part has been changed to #5174124AA and it's about $35 or more. It doesn't look like the old one as others have noted. It is thicker which means it doesn't fit in the old slot. I was able to use a file and quickly enlarge the slot to accommodate the thicker one.

The hardest part for me was removing the wire connector from the back of the resistor. I first removed the red tab, and then lifted the locking tab. Sliding the two pieces apart was tough.

Since the new part looks much sturdier, I hope that it will now last indefinitely.

[becalla]

They upgraded the resistor card. The card now has small thorns coming off of it. It will not fit in the original slot. The dealer told me to simply cut away the slot in order to fit the new card in. Worked great for my 02 Stratus, and the dealer charged me $24.45 for the part and nothing for the advice.

[rswirtz]

I checked my passenger side as described in your post, but it must be different than the 97, any help finding those resistors on my car would be appreciated. Thanks

[kat0201]

Oh my gosh!! Thanks to you I have replaced my blower motor resistor with relative ease. The part cost $37.00. The two local dealers wanted $220.00 to fix this problem. Thank you soooo much. If you hadn't talked about widening the hole for the board I would have gone back to the dearler and forked out the extra cash. I feel empowered!!!!

[rockwell]

Originally Posted by kat0201

Oh my gosh!! Thanks to you I have replaced my blower motor resistor with relative ease. The part cost $37.00. The two local dealers wanted $220.00 to fix this problem. Thank you soooo much. If you hadn't talked about widening the hole for the board I would have gone back to the dearler and forked out the extra cash. I feel empowered!!!!

Glad I googled "Sebring service manual" and found y'all. Put me in the Guiness book: 6'1" and 230 something and was able to manage this. I first tipped car upside down in order to help visibility:-) One little timesaver, on the 2001 the screws have a 5/16" head. BTW, previous to this experience I refused to drive this car because I bumped my head on the ceiling and couldn't get the steering wheel up enough to slide into the driver's seat. My wife thought that was funny! Think I'll go mess up her mirrors while I'm thinking of it. Have an awesome day, and thanks for sharing!

[Kurt hant]

Hey Thanks for the pics VERY HELPFUL!!!! Have a '99 that had the same problem. 20 minutes work and $21.99 from the dealer now it works perfectly. I'm over six feet tall and it was still not much of a problem getting to it. Biggest headache was putting the sound absorbtion cover back on, Tried to finnesse it fo a few minutes and then did it my way with a hard shove went right in. Thaks again

[happyfamilyman]

I can only echo the thanks of the others. My 2002 had the same blower problem. Lots of other websites pegged the resistor solution, but none could identify where to find it. As my small contribution to this knowledge base, let me add that the bolts in question are 8mm. I spent quite a while jamming my 6'2" frame upside down under the dashboard trying to find the right socket for those hidden bolts. Thanks again for the time and money saving information.