blower motor issues in minnesota

[tlane276]

I have a 96 Ford Taurus and the blower motor doesn't work. I just replaced the relay from under the hood to no avail. I believe I see the motor under the right dash, kind of in the glovebox. It looks pretty easy to take out and replace. Am I right in thinking this or am I in for a mess. If I remove it, is it just as easy to replace? Please reply asap as I live in Minnesota and it's beginning to get cold here.

[shorod]

Check to see if you are getting voltage to the motor and have a good ground to the blower motor. On your blower motor there are probably two wires going to a plug near the motor (instead of using one power wire and chassis ground). Put a test light across these terminals and adjust the blower motor speeds.

I suggest a test light rather than a high input impedance digital multimeter (DMM) because the DMM input impedance could be high enough to mask a bad connection. The test light may draw enough current that it won't light if you have a corroded connection somewhere, the DMM may still show battery voltage in the same situation though.

If you have no voltage to the motor, replacing the motor won't do you any good.

You could have a melted contact at the switch, an open to the blower motor relay, opens in the blower motor resistor (although high speed would likely still work), a bad fuse, etc.

-Rod