Heater fan problem - help please!

[Netrover]

Hi guys!

Wondered if anyone else has had this problem and can tell me how to sort it.

I've got a 1997 Galant VR4 which has a problem with the heater fan. Symptoms are:

First time I noticed it, the fan just stopped blowing.
All heater controls were on, showing that the fan speed was at 3 bars, but no air was blowing through the vents.
About 30 minutes later it just came back on again and air was flowing normally.
This happened about 5 or six times over a few weeks.
Now the fan never comes back on despite all controls being on.

I have tried turning the unit off and then on again - no change.
When I turn the temperature right up I can feel hot air coming through the vents when I am going about 80kmh. Its just the speed of the car forcing air through the system.
Speeding up or slowing down the fan makes no difference.

Any suggestions really appreciated.

[GalantOnly]

If you've got a multimeter... Take the connector off the fan and measure if there's any voltage between those two wires, while the fan is turned on on the A/C display. If there is any voltage - you'll need a new fan. If there's not - it will be another electrical fault (maybe grilled relay)... 1 min job

[Netrover]

Thanks Alex.

What is the easiest way to access the fan? Is it from under the hood, or from under the dash?

[GalantOnly]

Under the dash on the passenger side, of course...

[taylor]

I had the resistor back fry itself in mine. its the white plug you can see on the very left of the image above check that. its what steps down the voltage to the fan to slow it down.

the plastic on the resistor pack and plug was melted in my case so was quite noticeable.

[Davezj]

yes my guess would be the resistor pack fail., i had the same issue with a jeep grand cherokee and that cost £125 from Jeep.
i have one for sale.
if you do find it is the resistor pack give me a shout and can sort you out.

or if you find out it is some other part of the heating system i have all the parts available.

Cheers dave

[taylor]

yes my guess would be the resistor pack fail., i had the same issue with a jeep grand cherokee and that cost £125 from Jeep.
i have one for sale.
if you do find it is the resistor pack give me a shout and can sort you out.

or if you find out it is some other part of the heating system i have all the parts available.

Cheers dave

I think the cost of shipping the fan unit to NZ will be more expensive than the unit itself. I know Scot here in chch has a few bis floating around. But ive stolen his resistor pack in saying that.

Oh and

[Netrover]

Hey thanks guys - really appreciate all the advice.

I'll take to it on the weekend and see what I can find.

[GalantOnly]

The resistor packs is only on manual A/C, not auto clima in Galants... There's a metal power transistor instead on VR-4's, but it's located in the same place in the cooling unit housing as resistor packs. If the power transistor is faulty, the fan will only operate either on the highest level, or nothing at all. If the fan is not working in any conditions, then there's something else is broken

[taylor]

are you sure. mine was working intermittently when i was having troubles with the above resistor/transformer. replacing the unit still gave me issues, it wasnt untill i put new contacts on the wires that it worked again properly

[apeman69]

Daft and obvious as this may seem but, when you're looking at it, make sure everything's plugged in and a connector hasn't just worked loose causing the intermittent fan running. I got caught out with this scenario recently.

[GalantOnly]

are you sure. mine was working intermittently when i was having troubles with the above resistor/transformer. replacing the unit still gave me issues, it wasnt untill i put new contacts on the wires that it worked again properly

Absolutely sure But I might be wrong
But you can bypass the transistor by connecting the black/white and the black wires together in the connector on pic in post nr.9 (while the connector is taken off)