1999 Breeze Blower Problems

[VanillaGorilla1]

Hey guys,

I'm currently trying to figure out a problem with my girlfriend's '99 Breeze. A month ago, the heater/blower stopped working in all positions except high. I replaced the blower motor resistor and the problem was fixed for a couple of days and then the resistor must have failed because it went back to only working on high again. Long story short, she kept using the car with heat on high. Then, last night, I believe a fuse blew because she lost heat, radio stopped working, and turn signals stopped working. I am heading to her place tonight to try to fix it. I know I will need to replace the blown fuse and the blower motor resistor again.

Here's the question: Can anyone give me an idea of what I need to do to fix this problem? I suspect the blower motor is drawing too much current or the dash fan-speed selector is bad. Something caused that fuse to blow and something caused that blower motor resistor to go bad a second time.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!
Mike

[brcidd]

It would be good to know why the blower resistor is failing- the last one I did had the thermal overload fuse blown- this is the little element soldered in series between the legs of the resistor- you can do a simple continuity check on it to determine if it is failed- it probably failed due to too much current- from a worn out blower motor- if blower squeals- or spins hard, or is hot to touch- you can bet it is pulling some big amps- takes a big amp meter to check it- most VOM's don't support anything over 10 amps- so don't blow your VOM on this- use a 10 amp inline fuse if necessary.

[Airjer_]

I wouldn't hesitate to replace the blower as well.

[VanillaGorilla1]

Guys, thanks for the help. You'll never guess what the problem was. When my girlfriend told me that the radio, turn signals, and blower stopped working all at once, I thought "must be a fuse". Then as I started to check fuses, I quickly realized that each of the components is on a separate fuse, so my first theory went out the window. I asked her to recreate the problem. She started the car up and sure enough, none of the three components worked. I scratched my head ... then I tried to duplicate the problem myself and realized that when I turned the key to start and then released it, it did not spring back to the "run" position. Instead, it hung between "start" and "run". So, this problem is with her ignition switch and it simply is not springing back to make the electrical connection for "run" mode. So I'll be replacing that, but for now, I've instructed her to simply manually twist the key back to the run position after starting.

As for the blower motor, I pulled it with the thought of replacing it but found that there was junk in the fan which was probably causing a higher current draw which can pop the resistor (what the resistor is designed to do). So, I removed the junk from the fan and I'll bet that if I replace the resistor again, everything SHOULD work fine. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Again, thanks for the input!
Mike