Heater output

[kmohr3]

I've only had my 2002 Intrigue for about a month. As it's getting colder here I've noticed that the heater in my Ford Focus seems to come up to heat a little faster than the Intrigue. Maybe just my imagination? I would think a bigger motor/cooling system might have better heat output.

[kmohr3]

Hey everybody, where does your temp guage run normally? mine usually runs at about 1/3 or maybe a little higher - maybe a little under half - appreciate the feedback.

[paulkramer]

Yup - same here.

[Burnout524]

Mine runs about a half.

As for the heater, I've noticed the opposite. My car's heater warms up relatively quickly. But unfortunatelly, there is a squeek in the blower motor (??) when the HVAC unit is on the slowest two settings. An annoyance, but as long as it's providing heat, I won't worry about it too much.

[jmlangeveld]

Originally Posted by Burnout524

Mine runs about a half.

As for the heater, I've noticed the opposite. My car's heater warms up relatively quickly. But unfortunatelly, there is a squeek in the blower motor (??) when the HVAC unit is on the slowest two settings. An annoyance, but as long as it's providing heat, I won't worry about it too much.

Yes, my Intrigue has that same "squeak". Does anyone know a simple fix for this? Would this entail replacing the entire blower motor?

[Burnout524]

Originally Posted by jmlangeveld

Yes, my Intrigue has that same "squeak". Does anyone know a simple fix for this? Would this entail replacing the entire blower motor?

I hope I don't have to replace the whole thing, about $73 USD on gmpartsdirect.com. I asked on the forums at www.modernolds.net and someone said that they tapped the bottom of the blower motor with a hammer and the squeek hasn't come back. Unfortunatelly I don't quite know where the blower motor is. Maybe later on I'll pop the hood and try and look for it.

[kmohr3]

Blower motor is inside the car on the passenger side. You have to take the lower kick panel off, then you should see it.

[paulkramer]

I just noticed this morning that my blower motor (had the front defroster on) changes speed - all by itself! And, no, I'm not referring to the Climate Control kind of fan speed change. This just goes up and down, up and down - sort of like the flickering headlight thing.

Maybe is caused by the alternator too.

[panzer dragoon]

[paulkramer] usually when the headlights are flickering the whole electrical system is flickering also (that would include your HVAC blower motor, dash lights, headlights, etc).

Older cars that had mechanical voltage regulators would do the same thing, but not as bad as the Intrigue. Once solid-state electronic (1960's) voltage regulators came out the flickering should have been a thing of the past.

My flickering has been more noticible now that it's been getting darker and I thought the problem had went away. Once I drive the car for 5-10 minutes at night mine goes mostly away (condition greatly improves). Don't notice it during the day much either.

If your blower fan speeds starts to go out from low speed (first)to high speeds (last) try replacing these resistors. Thats what my dad did and now the flickering is gone. Only try this if most of the lower fans speeds don't work anymore. This is something maybe to watch for. I plan on working on my alternator this summer once I buy the service manual set.

[illinoiswronski]

A blower motor that starts to make noise is most likely just a sign of age. The motor and the fan uses a bearing and as they get older there will be some slop in there. I notice the same with ceiling fans inside the house.

I have had two other GM cars where the blower motor was mounted under the hood. Once the motor started to make noise it meant that it was about to die completely and leave you with no fan at all. That was a different design though with the thing under the hood exposed to the elements. The only good thing about that setup was the replacement motor was about $20 and could be changed out in about 30 minutes by the average back yard grease monkey.

Regarding the resistors used to control fan speed, the one time that I have seen this happen it was accompanied by a horrible burning smell as the resistor burned itself up.