Heater not blowing, help

[Tracy0821]

I have a heater problem. When I turn my heat on I get nothing at all. Yesterday I got nothing for 20 minutes of driving and I turned it off and on. Then it turned on. Well today it was off again. I played with the buttons and turned it off and on. Its still not on. Nothing. What could this be. I have a ford taurus 2003

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Does your 2003 Taurus have the electronic climate control, or the manual controls?

When you say you get nothing when you turn the heater on, do you mean the blower fan doesn't blow any air out, or it still blows, it's just not heated air?

It sounds like a bad connection, either electrical or vacuum depending on your answers to the above questions.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Also, if it's the auto climate control version, then what temperature do you have it set at?

[Tracy0821]

Manual controls. It doesnt blow any air out. Today it was on for an hour. I stopped the car went in to a store and came out to find it wasnt working again.

Originally Posted by shorod

Welcome to the forum!

Does your 2003 Taurus have the electronic climate control, or the manual controls?

When you say you get nothing when you turn the heater on, do you mean the blower fan doesn't blow any air out, or it still blows, it's just not heated air?

It sounds like a bad connection, either electrical or vacuum depending on your answers to the above questions.

-Rod

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

I would first look at the ignition switch. If the blk/lt grn wire (ign 2) doesn't get any power then the heater will not work. You could double check this by finding what else is on the ign 2 circuit and seeing if those things stop working too. Could also be a bad relay or corrosion at one of its contacts.

[shorod]

Does the blower motor work on high speed reliably?

I'd suggest you start by looking at the connectors for the blower motor resistor block. This block limits the amount of current to the blower motor, thus controlling the speed. The "excess" current generates heat, and the connector has a large amount of current flowing anytime the blower motor is running. Even a slightly corroded or loose connection can cause a lot of heat to be generated by the bad connection, and that can cause the connector to melt eventually.

If you have a loose connection at the resistor connection, it may heat enough after 20 or so minutes to open and hence the blower motor stops working. If this is the case, you will want to correct it before the connector melts.

-Rod

[jrngmn]

I have the same problem, where is the blower motor resistor block located?

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Tracy according to the service manual it says you should check these things:

• Open/short circuit (includes corroded fuse)
• Blower motor going bad
• Blower motor speed control
• Function switch
• Blower motor relay

You could try cleaning the switch(s) listed above and all associated fuses and relays. Next I would test for power at the motor and work your way back in the circuit. The relay could also be dirty/corroded inside. You'd have to disassemble it if it's dirty. If the coil section is bad you'll need to replace it. They didn't mention it in the service manual but it could also be a bad ground at the relay and/or the motor. If the motor isn't getting any voltage (and the ground is good) then you'll need to do resistance checks with a voltmeter.

Originally Posted by jrngmn

where is the blower motor resistor block located?

Ordinarily you'd want to start a new thread But since you're here already what year car, and which heater system do you have? If it's the 'Auto' climate control system then you can simply put it in self diagnosis mode and it will tell what's wrong

[jrngmn]

sorry it's a 1999 and it has the 3 knobs, not the auto feature. I pulled out the resistor block and it had some small debris on it. I'll try tracing back from the blower motor.

[shorod]

Well, if you haven't already put the resistor block back in, you can start by checking for voltage to the block. You'll want to install the resistor block before testing for voltage at the blower motor.

-Rod

[jrngmn]

Originally Posted by shorod

Well, if you haven't already put the resistor block back in, you can start by checking for voltage to the block. You'll want to install the resistor block before testing for voltage at the blower motor.

-Rod

Well After taking the blower out and testing it on a bench it worked. No way to get a resistor block so I replaced the relay under the hood, it worked for about 1 hour sounded like it was getting slower and quit again. This sure sounds like the resistor block. Am I off base here, or should I order one from the dealer.

[shorod]

If the blower motor has a faulty connection in it, it could run for awhile, but as it warms up, things start to expand and go open circuit. Next time it fails, I'd suggest you use a meter or test light on the motor and see if you still have voltage to the blower. If you do, I'd suspect the blower motor to be the issue. If not, then perform the same check at the resistor block, and on down the line until you find where there is no voltage.

-Rod

[jrngmn]

Originally Posted by shorod

If the blower motor has a faulty connection in it, it could run for awhile, but as it warms up, things start to expand and go open circuit. Next time it fails, I'd suggest you use a meter or test light on the motor and see if you still have voltage to the blower. If you do, I'd suspect the blower motor to be the issue. If not, then perform the same check at the resistor block, and on down the line until you find where there is no voltage.

-Rod

Thanks for your help I am electrically challenged. The relay was bad, would motor going open blow the relay?

[truomega]

dont know if this helps any but my work truck is a chevy astro. For some reason, the blower motor kept cutting off on me and they i wacked it a few times and it came back on. Seems it was stuck so i sprayed some wd-40 and it solved that problem. Then later down the line, the motor for no reason at all would cyle on to full blast and no matter what i would do (lower the fan speed, change the vent position) the blower would keep at it on full blast. Even when i turned the car off and pulled th ekey out it still ran. Was very weird so the mechanic at the company swaped out the resistor block and problem was solved. Good luck to u.

[MyTaurus8AChevy]

Originally Posted by jrngmn

would motor going open blow the relay?

What do you mean by "motor going open"?