air conditioner not totally working

I have a '97 Cavalier and I just noticed today that my air conditioner isn't functioning properly. When I turn it on, I can hear it start to hummmm, as it should and always has, so it does turn on, but no air comes out on blower level 1 or 2. You have to turn the blower to the 3rd or 4th position before it works. Then, on levels 3 and 4, it works fine, blowing lots of cold air. But on leves 1 and 2 almost NOTHING comes out! It's like this for the "air conditioner" mode as well as the "recirculation of inside air" mode. Any ideas? I thought maybe I need more refrigerant, or whatever it's called, but it seems to be the blower.

Blower switch is going.

It sounds like your blower relay is bad. It's located on the passenger side under the glove box. You will have to remove the panel and you'll see the blower motor and teh switch is on the other side if it (closest the firewall). Once you remove it you'll see the traces are probably corroded and they'll be a break in the trace on the board. It only has two screws holding it in place ,but the one closest to the firewall is a pain to get out. I had to cut away some of the insulation to get a socket onto it. One way to check it is with a ohm meter to make sure you don't have continuity on the relay. If you disconnect the relay plug you blower should only work on high. Hope this helps...

While waiting for a response on here, I called a couple car places and they said that it's most likely the blower motor resister block...is that the same thing that you mentioned? I was told it was on the passenger side to the left of the kick panel, so it sounds like you might be talking about the same thing. When I look there, I can see two screws in that general area, but they're on the center part (not sure what to call it), like under and behind the radio (as opposed to the glovebox) and near the floor...does that make sense? The reason I'm trying to clarify is just cuz I want to make sure it IS in that center part to the left of where your feet go, NOT behind the kick panel. I hope that makes sense. In my car, the area in question (with the two screws) is black. Please respond with clarification if you can. Thanks.


It sounds like your blower relay is bad. It's located on the passenger side under the glove box. You will have to remove the panel and you'll see the blower motor and teh switch is on the other side if it (closest the firewall). Once you remove it you'll see the traces are probably corroded and they'll be a break in the trace on the board. It only has two screws holding it in place ,but the one closest to the firewall is a pain to get out. I had to cut away some of the insulation to get a socket onto it. One way to check it is with a ohm meter to make sure you don't have continuity on the relay. If you disconnect the relay plug you blower should only work on high. Hope this helps...