2003 Ford Taurus Sedan- Battery light and heater fan stopped blowing

[ChristinaB]

For about a week, the battery light has started coming on when using the rear defrost. When I turn it off, no problem. I've also notice the lights dimming, so I figured I just need to replace the battery even though we replaced the battery 15 months ago. Then tonight, the fan on the heater stopped blowing. I checked the antifreeze, it was low, and added some. The heater still won't kick on. It makes all the normal sounds when it is getting ready to blow but then no air comes out. Could this be related to the battery being low on juice? Any other suggestions?

[tripletdaddy]

Have your altenator checked. Your rear defrost pulls a decent amount of power. Not sure on fan problem. Alt should charge battery around 13.5 to 14.5v and battery voltage after sitting should be near 12.5v. Have parts shop test alt and bat.

[ChristinaB]

It ended up that everything was because the voltage regulator in the alternator was bad. That caused the fuse to blow on the fan. We had just replaced the alternator 4 months ago, so it must have been bad. Thanks goodness it didn't cause more damage.

[vetteee5]

replace the blower moter,on 2003 taurus, mine also went bad just about this time last year,,mine was full of water,,and after doing some checking around,,found this to be the case on alot of them,ford knows of the problem and i belive they come out with a kit to fix this

[ChristinaB]

Thanks for the insight! Any chance it could be the resistoror?

[shorod]

Does the blower work on any of the speeds, especially high speed? If it doesn't work on high speed, the problem is at least more than the resistor. The blower motor resistor is bypassed on the high speed setting.

I agree with the suggestions above, definitely have the charging system checked out, sounds like your alternator is not keeping up, or the draw on your system is too high for the system. During the check, suggest to the tester that you want to start turning on some loads to see how the system keeps up.

Also, vetteee5 is correct, there is a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) on the water leak, search the forum for further information on it.

-Rod