92 Z24 power issue

[Jason1079]

I have a 92 Cavalier Z24 3.1L. I just installed a new blower motor for the heater/AC, hooked everything up (was listening to the radio while doing this) turned on the ignition, switched the controls for the blower on and got no response. I checked the fuses all were intact except the cig lighter fuse which I replaced, still no response so I thought I might have had the wires hooked up backwards on the blower motor. I switched those and attempted to test again, I got a small whine out of the motor then I noticed a puff of smoke coming from the front of the engine, the radio and all instrument panel lights went out now I only have power going to the interior dome light and the doof buzzer, no response from radio instrument clusters or the ignition switch; starter does not turn over or anything. I've checked the wiring that I can get to, checked the fuses and nothings burnt out or broken but i can't figure out the issue. Any help to resolve this would be greatly appreciated Thanks!

[Moppie]

Sounds like something has gone pop somewhere.

How did you identify there was a problem with the blower motor and that it need replacing?

The problem may have been else where in the system.


And, have you checked the engine bay for a main fuse and relays?
Sounds like that is what popped.

[Jason1079]

blower motor had been going out for a while bearings have been screaming then one day no more scream no more air flow ie motor fried, as stated before replaced motor and i'm thinking there may be an in-line fuse or something that's popped problem is I can't find one nor do i know where else to look, there is power going to the starter, starter is fine took that out and tested it spun right up no problems, there is obviously some power getting inside the vehicle as the interior light works fine and that dammed door buzzer won't stop dinging at me, headlights also still work. I put the key in the ignition it gives me the fast ding and when I turn the ignition on it goes to the slow ding so there's something ok in the ignition switch itself I'm guessing, there's a loss of power somewhere though between point A and B for everything else in the car. Anymore suggestions?

[Moppie]

You need to find the main fuse and relay.

Most cars have two fuse boxes, one inside the car under the dash, and one in the engine bay.
The one in the engine bay will have a collection of large fuses in it.
Chances are, one of those has blown.

[Jason1079]

I thought the same thing because my malibu has two boxes but i can't locate a second one in the engine compartment I see several relays around the outside of the engine compartment but no actual fuse box like you would expect to find. I tried checking the Ohm across each of the fusible links coming off the starter to no avail they all checked out good so the problem isnt there it has to be further up those wires or somewhere else

[Tech II]

If you switched the wires to the blower motor, you sent a power line directly to ground and either took out a fuse or fuseable link, or even melted a wire completely.....

When the blower didn't work, the first thing you should have done was attach a test light to the harness connector to see if you had power....chances are you had a problem with the resistor block....

[Jason1079]

I agree going to chalk that mistake up to having too many things going on at one time, was also in the middle of trying to get my fathers riding lawn mower put back together and a few other misc tasks, going to check today along the front of the engine to see if I can locate any kind of burnt wires or fuses or something because the smoke I saw did come from the front of the car so I'm thinking the main problem is somewhere in that area.