Hello all,
Turned a/c on, in my 96 civic ex; but fan did not turn on...Tried fan without a/c, still nothing.
Not sure, if there's a fuse or something simple to check, so I appreciate your feedback, on troubleshooting!

 

fan as in blower motor? fan as in condenser fan? fan as in radiator fan?

 

Fan, as in the one that is turned on, off and controlled here...

 

Check these two fuses:

 

Locate the blower motor under the dash all the way on the right side. The 2 wire plug with the large blue-white and blue-yellow wires should be visible. Turn on the key and set the blower switch to 4. With the plug still plugged into the motor, measure the voltage from each of the wires to ground.

No power on the blue-white wire: blown 40A fuse under the hood, lack of power from the 7.5A fuse 17, or bad relay under the hood.
Power on the blue white wire, also 12 volts on the blue-black wire: Bad blower switch, resistor, or wiring on the ground side of the circuit. If you jump the blue-black wire to ground the motor should take off at full speed.
Power on the blue white wire, zero volts on the blue-black wire: Motor is bad.

 

 

You can test whether the blower motor is bad by running power and ground wires directly from the battery to the the blower motor. If the motor does not run, replace it. If it runs, use a multimeter to do the tests suggested by mk.

 

 

Voltage is measured relative to ground.

Set meter to measure DC voltage.

Touch red (+) meter probe to wire or pin where you wish to measure voltage.

Touch black (-) meter probe to a metal part of the chassis or to the ground (-) post of the battery.

 

 

Yes, or don't disconnect battery terminals and connect wires to the battery terminals.

You need two wires (power and ground) sufficiently long to extend from the battery posts to the disconnected terminals of the blower motor.

 

 

Starting to heat up, so I took the car into the auto AC guy, who replaced compressor, etc. last summer. I told him fan not turning on and he went right for the blower motor under glove box. He tapped on it a few times with a screwdriver and bingo...Fan turned on. He said buy a blower motor for like $40 and throw it in...It’s like 2 screws and a plug. In the meantime, fan is turning on and I have AC. 😎

That said, CEL just started coming on and AZ free scan showed code P1509, idle air control valve circuit failure. What are the chances that the faulty blower motor had any cause and/or affect on the idle air control valve?

 

Yes if you tap the blower and it starts to run (for a while) it is worn out and replacing it should fix the problem.

As for the IACV, it's not related. IACV can be tested with an ohm meter.

 

Thanks!
As for blower motors with wheel, Im looking at:
TYC, $28.79 with Limited Lifetime warranty
vs.
4 Seasons, $33.79 or $27.79 w/o wheel both with 12 Months / 12,000 Miles warranty.

As well as, blower motor resistors: WVE/Airtex/Wells, $13.23 with 3 year / 36,000 miles warranty
vs.
4 Seasons, $17.08 with 120 days warranty.

Thoughts?

 

I would pull the motor / wheel assembly, see how badly the wheel has been eaten by mice, check that you can loosen the nut or clamp and remove the wheel in one piece, then decide from there.

It doesn't seem that you need a new resistor. When the motor does spin, does it work on all speeds?

Also DO NOT test run the motor plugged into the car but not mounted with a wheel in the case, the resistor WILL burn out.

 

Yeah, cleaning the blower motor helps too.

 

i've had good luck with 4 seasons motors and airtex icm fwiw.
havent done any tyc but the blower gets a red heart on rockauto too
so all those brands are solid choices.

 

Thanks!
I’ll check out motor / wheel assembly as you described and see where I’m at.

Yes, when the motor does spin, it works on all speeds.

A bit confused about what you mean about test run that will make resister burn out.

 

Thanks!
The faulty motor or wheel...
Or both?

 

Great, thanks, appreciate your feedback!
The blower gets a red heart on...That’s what she said. 😉

 

Just found out my condenser fan was replaced before, and with the same part. Looks like its time to find another source. It was a TYC and it lasted only 3 yrs.

 

Appreciate the info...I guess sometimes a better warranty does not mean a better part.