2003 chevy astro blower motor

[LAWLESS11]

Hi Old Master, Need help finding the other end of vacuum line on 2003 Astro. facing front end of vehicle, found line running from left, passenger side, to right over air intake going back & down toward driver side, rubber tube with broken smaller hard plastic tube inside just hanging. Where is the other end? can i get to it from the outside of vehicle or do i need to remove the doghouse? Thanks in advance for your assistance and photo if available.

[old_master]

Originally Posted by LAWLESS11

Hi Old Master, Need help finding the other end of vacuum line on 2003 Astro. facing front end of vehicle, found line running from left, passenger side, to right over air intake going back & down toward driver side, rubber tube with broken smaller hard plastic tube inside just hanging. Where is the other end? can i get to it from the outside of vehicle or do i need to remove the doghouse? Thanks in advance for your assistance and photo if available.

You'll need to remove the engine cover, (dog house) to access the vacuum fitting, (driver side of engine). If the fitting is broken, try a boneyard, dealer or auto parts store. The black plastic housing, (#3) must be turned ~1/4 turn to remove it from the plenum. The vacuum line goes to #4:

[LAWLESS11]

Thank you so much for the quick reply and the photo IS worth a thousand words. I appreciate you so much!

[old_master]

The image is actually a 1996 or newer 4.3L in a Blazer, so your 03 Astro 4.3L black plastic housing may look slightly different, but the function is the same.

[LAWLESS11]

Good to know, thanks again.

[LAWLESS11]

Mission accomplished. Thanks again for your help!

[old_master]

Glad we could help, thanks for posting back!

[golfbum301]

This is golfbum, I tried your fix for the now power on the high setting. I installed the
relay as described it did not work. I check the power on the two orange wires. The large on had battery voltage the small one did not. I check ohm on the small one it
was about 5. Any ideas.
golfbum

[TaxBully]

I know this is in response to a old thread, but my 2002 Safari van with rear air has this issue. And are very knowledgeable with this issue and how things really work
I have had to replace the resistor several times since I purchased with 5,000 miles, it now has 166,000. Each time, also had to replace the socket as the large orange socket was burnt. So if possible I would like to remove that problem.

Does this relay bypass only the high fan? if no, is there a way to ONLY bypass the High? as that is the highest amp draw which causes burnt connections, especially when there is a grounding or motor failure problem.

I would figure you disable the resistor completely, since you remove the 12v source (large Orange wire) in your relay application. unless it back feeds on the red wire from the fan.

[old_master]

The mod will bypass the OEM high speed blower relay.

[Spectt]

I have the same "high setting" issue with my A/C. We replaced the connector to the resistor because of all the burns we had seen on it. All wires soldered&heat shrinked and everything.
Also, replaced the blower motor and the fan resistor .
Our mechanic had stated that there is no power going to the "thick" wire. Ive seen everyone say to check if theres power going to it and there is not.
How do we even solve this issue without bypassing , or jerry rigging anything. I am not too good with mechanic work, nor electrical issues. But its really hot out now and our astro is our work horse and we need it fixed asap. Thanks

[AlwaysLearnin]

Originally Posted by old_master

First, make sure the small orange wire at the resistor/relay has battery voltage with the key on, mode switch on heat, and the blower switch in the high position.

How to bypass the OEM high blower relay

You’ll need a relay, some 14 gauge wire, a few terminals, a soldering gun, rosin core solder, electrical tape, and about 15 minutes of time.
Most auto parts stores carry the terminals, and relays that are rated at 40 amps that look similar to this for around $5 USD:

Mount the relay to a secure spot under the hood near the heater blower motor so that it will not interfere with anything. On the Astro Safari, there is a flat spot on the firewall just above the blower motor that works well. The terminals should be facing down so water will not enter the relay. There are 5 terminals on the relay, only 4 of them will be used to bypass the high blower relay.
To make the wire harness for the relay, you’ll need four 14 gauge pieces of wire about 18” long. On one end of each wire, solder on a female spade terminal.


On one of the 4 wires, solder an eyelet terminal on:


You should now have three 18” wires with a female spade terminal on one end of each wire. You should also have one 18” wire with a female spade terminal on one end, and an eyelet terminal on the other end.
Attach the eyelet terminal to body ground, near the relay, using a screw. Connect the other end to the relay terminal #86. There are 2 orange wires going to the original blower resistor/relay. Cut both of them close to the electrical connector. Using one of the 18” wires, solder it to the larger orange wire and connect it to relay terminal #30. Using another 18” wire, solder it to the smaller orange wire and connect it to relay terminal #85. Using the last 18” wire, connect it to relay terminal #87. At the blower motor there is a purple wire, don’t cut the wire, strip a section long enough to solder the wire from relay terminal #87.

Neatly tie up the wires so they don’t interfere with anything, and you’re done.

Any questions, just ask.

Old Master, is there any way to reactivate the pics for this helpful mod?...I'm unable to see them. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.

[CargoJoe]

Very old thread.
Hi,
I'm new to this forum and saw a post about what I'm working on, a 99 Astro with a blower motor problem where the high speed doesn't work and there's a burnt large power wire going to the resister
12 volts on the large wire to the resister relay
12 volts to the small orange wire
I saw that someone here posted a work around where they were adding a relay to bypass the resister...But that doesn't make sense to me how it is wired. If you disable the resister, then you only have the high setting and none of the others.
If I'm not missing something, wouldn't it be better to keep all the wires going to the resister relay except the large power wire and use it as a signal wire for the bigger relay and then use the red wire from the battery that was cut to the relay...
That way you could keep all the speeds and be able to handle the larger load of the fan motor when it is on high.
Please correct me if I am wrong, as I am looking for an alternative, but like I said I want the other speeds to work too...

[CargoJoe]

Never mind, I wrote this late at night and realized what I want to do in this case won't work. Any other ideas using a relay though would be appreciated.