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Old 10-30-2002, 05:41 PM   #1
Marquis
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Member#: 64
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Lansing, MI
Vehicle:
1999 Impreza 2.5RS
Rally Blue Pearl

Unhappy Heater fan won't turn on

For some reason my heater fan no longer turns on. Yes, I've tried the obvious (the two fuses marked "heater fan" in the manual). Strangely, the rear defroster seems to no longer work as well (that fuse is good too).

Any ideas?
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Old 10-31-2002, 10:56 AM   #2
vvk
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Location: Holland, PA
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1998 Impreza 2.5RS
BDP

Default instrument cluster

Is your instrument cluster working? Check its fuse, too. I had this happen to me once, when I accidentally shorted the heater fan circuit.
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Old 10-31-2002, 12:56 PM   #3
ciper
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Have you tried different speeds? Sometimes the resistor will burn out for a specific speed while the others still work.
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Old 11-01-2002, 03:50 AM   #4
Bimmer
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Time to bust out the wiring diagram and the test light... Electrical work's easy, just don't be intimidated. If you don't have the wiring diagram or a test light, buy them now. The wiring diagram is maybe $20.- (20 minutes of your professional mechanic's time), a test light is >$2 at Radio Shack. Both will pay for themselves over and over again.

Getting at the heater fan motor's a PITA, I bet, but the rear defroster's a piece of cake...
Switch it on and see if you've got current back there by connecting the test light to the connectors at the opposite sides of the window. If the test light comes on, then the grid's bad, and you're screwed, because there's no good fix except replacing the rear window. If it doesn't, start figuring out why... check the fuse (again), replace your perfectly fine fuse with another one, then check the relay, check the switch, so on so on, you get the idea.
The heater fan motor's bound to be more difficult, because you'll have to figure out some way to get at it... better to just figure out where the wires are and see if you've got current to the motor, could be it's burned out. More likely, it's not getting power because you've got a bad fuse/relay/switch somewhere.

Good luck,

Ben
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Old 11-01-2002, 06:28 PM   #5
avk
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Could it be a blown SBF? They protect groups of circuits, however I don't know if the blower and the defroster are on the same SBF, or even what could make one blow and leave the regular fuse intact.
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Old 11-02-2002, 11:44 AM   #6
Marquis
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Rally Blue Pearl

Default

Quote:
Is your instrument cluster working?
Yes, it's working fine.


Quote:
Have you tried different speeds?
Yeah, none of them work. And boy is it starting to get cold here in Michigan...


I think Bimmer's right. I'm just going to have to hunt down the particular electrical gremlin. I've checked all the appropriate relays and fuses (replaced the fuses even though they test fine), and my next step is to tear apart the dash and whip out the DMM. I just thought I'd see if anybody had run across anything particularly common that would cause this.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.
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Old 11-02-2002, 08:42 PM   #7
avk
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FWIW, I've looked at the schematic and it appears that the relay coils for both the fan motor and the defroster are fed through the same 10A fuse #15.
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Old 11-03-2002, 03:48 PM   #8
Bimmer
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Hmmm... if the heater fan and the rear defroster are on the same circuit, then I'd definitely start looking at what's wrong with the rear defroster first, just because it's way more accessible, and the two problems are probably somehow related. Getting into the dash is a major PITA, I bet... Good luck,

Ben
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Old 11-03-2002, 06:38 PM   #9
avk
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Just to be clear, the main circuits are powered through different fuses, but the two relays seem to use the same one.
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Old 11-04-2002, 06:09 PM   #10
Marquis
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Rally Blue Pearl

Default

Wow, avk, that's a revelation. I still haven't found the time to debug this problem(lousy prior commitments, I'm cold! ), but that could be the solution right there.

Thanks a bunch, especially if that fixes my problem. It's easier than tearing dashes apart!
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Old 11-08-2002, 11:21 AM   #11
mofoporn
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This same problem just happened to me today!!!! Last night the heater fan was working perfect, when I went to start my car this morning, it didnt work at all. Marquis, did you fix the problem, if so, what did you do? I checked all the fuses and what not..... let me know what you did!

Thanks
Kurt
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Old 11-10-2002, 11:53 AM   #12
Marquis
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I checked fuse 15, and tragically it was just fine. I'm still looking for the source of the problem, but with my schedule I haven't yet had the time to really diagnose it.
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Old 11-10-2002, 04:39 PM   #13
avk
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Default

Marquis:
The schematic I looked at was from Chilton, maybe they got the fuse number wrong? But you must have gone through all of them by now.
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Old 11-11-2002, 06:25 PM   #14
Marquis
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1999 Impreza 2.5RS
Rally Blue Pearl

Default

Quote:
But you must have gone through all of them by now.
Actually, not really {hangs head in shame}. You'd be surprised at how lazy you can be when you're working crazy hours.

Anyway, I guess I can go do that. I'll let everyone know if something turns up. I have Wednesday off, so later in the day I'm going to fix the problem whether it likes it or not.
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Old 11-12-2002, 07:22 PM   #15
mofoporn
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Default I FIXED IT!!!!!!

So I decided to take a crack at it and try to fix this problem myself. After checking every fuse, again, I busted out my "power meter" and was checking every wire that lead to the heater to see if there was a power problem. I took the fan out and made sure nothing in the fan was broken or what not..... everything was working perfect.

So, when I was putting everything back and when I was re-connecting the cable to the heater fan, I noticed that it clicked in... when I pulled it off, it pulled off very easy. That was it. A simple push of a plug.... so Marquis... check that out!!! Good luck, I hope that its is an easy fix on your car as it was on my car!!!!

Kurt
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Old 11-01-2003, 02:48 PM   #16
Tony
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2019 Outback
Blue

Impreza GC8 I fixed it too

Figure I'll add to this thread incase anyone else is searching through the archives for a solution.

I had the same problem with the heater fan. After checking the fuses, fan speed resistors and seeing that the fan motor was getting voltage I assumed it was the motor itself. I pull it out (it's under the glove box to the right, only three screws, one's in a tight spot). I tested it one more time with the motor in my hand and it worked!

I can only assume there are two possible solutions. The connection was a little corroded and the multiple times I plugged/unplugged it I cleaned the contact surfaces or there was a small twig snagging the blower wheel (there were several inside it when I pulled it out.

Hope it helps future members,

Tony
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Old 11-27-2003, 07:27 PM   #17
White2.5GT
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I'm having trouble with this right now, I hope that this helps...it's giving me ideas anyways. Thanks

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Old 06-20-2004, 06:51 PM   #18
Zaskar
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MY05 GD

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My fan doesn't turn on! The two 15A fuses are busted. So I replaced them and started the fan again. after a few seconds, they busted again without any movement from the fan. So it looks like jamed. I dismounted it and checked with a 12V source. The source's protection came on so it seems that I have a problem with the electrical motor. It doesn't turn freely. In fact, it turns about a third of a turn then it stops. You have to apply a good torque on it to pass this blocking zone.

Anyway, I'll check with the dealer tomorrow... I'll keep you updated!
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Old 06-22-2004, 09:58 AM   #19
Zaskar
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So! I went to the srap yard and bought a used blower motor. I replaced the partially jammed one by a a used one that turns freely. Then, I replaced the two 15A fuses. The fan didn't worked except in fourth speed. I then looked at the motor resistor and a contact was unwelded. It appears that when the old motor jammed, the weld blew just as the two 15A fuses. I welded it back, reinstalled it and tada, everything's just fine
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Old 04-07-2005, 03:05 PM   #20
b2sotm
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2000 OBS
Silver

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I found this thread when I was having problems with my heater fan (2000 OBS) and it was a big help. I thought I would add my experiences to the thread in case others run into the same problems (also take a look in the electrical section for discussions of the same problem).

Over the past few months my fan stopped running at 1, then at 2, then 3 etc you get the drift. One day it just died. The fuses were fine, so I followed advice here and on other threads on slowly dying fans, figured I needed a new resistor pack, and picked one up at the dealer.

Installation is pretty easy. I pulled the glove box (one plastic screw on the side near the passenger door, five black screws when you open the box [two on each side and one center], I also found it helped to remove one black screw underneath the box on the passenger side this will allow you to pull the whole glove box assembly), two silver screws hold in the resistor pack.

After pulling everything apart, I replaced the pack rehooked up the cable, turned the key, switched on the fan and nothing happened. Great. So, turn everything off and go to the next step I went to the fan motor and tried pulling the connector and reinserting the cable here. Nothing. Next step I pulled the fan motor, it comes out easily with three screws. I cleaned out a few leaf stems, made sure it all turned, and rehooked the cable and tried the fan again just holding the motor in my hand. Success!!

So bottom line: it could be the resistor pack was fine and I just didn't have the cable in tight enough for the fan motor and unplugging and plugging it a few times gave me a better connection, or the leaf stems in the motor housing were enough to screw things up. Anyway this is a pretty easy fix. What ending up taking me the longest was putting the glove box back in.

Hope this is useful.
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