No heat blower on 96 Escort 1.8 ?

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:16:09 -0500, Andrew wrote:

I used to have a '91 Escort, 1.9L, in the US. (maybe the US and Canada markets are the same, but apparently the UK market is radically different). Assuming the '96 and '91 are more-or-less the same, see below :-).

Get a small hex nut driver. Underneath the glove box you'll see a rectangular module with two connectors on it. Unplug the connectors and remove the module (it has two hex-head screws). This is the speed control module; the coils you see on the side opposite the connectors are simple resistors that limit the amount of current supplied to the blower motor.

I suppose you could jumper the blower's connector with one of the fan speed contacts in the other connector (and be sure the speed switch is set to the same speed) to verify that the rest of the system works, but the resistor module isn't. I never did this on mine, but I guess it wouldn't hurt (at the very least as long as you don't leave it running for a long time).

I had a nice 3 or 4 year adventure with mine. First I'd smell a burning smell only on speed 3 (it had 4 speeds). Later that speed died, but the rest were fine. My dad and I pulled the module out and found that one corner of the connector was burned off. We cut out that contact and spliced in a new one and taped the connector back together. We also cleaned off the contact in the resistor module. That was fine for a while, until speed 4 died. Same deal. Later, right after installing the new battery and alternator, none of the speeds worked. I went to a junk yard and got a replacement. Shortly after getting that one, during the rain, I noticed a puddle on the passenger floor mat. I guess a gasket in the intake area there was leaking, and the water collection was causing the contacts to corrode and that was my whole problem. To avoid a repeat, I unscrewed the module and left it dangling (so it wouldn't sit in a puddle of water) and just didn't run it for long at a high speed since by dangling it was lacking the cooling it would otherwise have had. In that state, my dad used the car for a while and burned out the thermal fuse on the module. He then bypassed it by wrapping a bare copper wire around it. When I sold the car, I didn't want the dead fuse in it, so I again tried the original module (the contacts on it had been cleaned a few more times). That worked and, AFAIK, is still working in the car. I also saw no more water leakage, even though I didn't touch any of the gaskets.

So, that's what I would check on your car :-).

As for the weather changing, last winter I drove an '88 Pontiac 6000 Safari Wagon my dad had and wasn't using (my "new" 2WD pickup wouldn't be so good in the snow). The heater in that car didn't work when the outside air was cold, but sorta worked when the air wasn't so cold. Just wear a good jacket, hat and gloves and you'll be alright :-). At least if the heater works, but not the blower, you still get some hot air wafting through the vents. (that pontiac's blower worked, so I had as much cold air as I wanted)

-D

Bloody hell!! Thanks for that Derrick. I looked under the glove compartment like you said and there it was. Before I started unscrewing, thought it may be a good idea to move the wires a bit and see if the problem was as easy as that. It was !!! :-)

The warm winds are blowing again and as it's my first winter in Canada, I feel a bit more relaxed.

Thanks again for replying

Andrew

One more thing.

If you want your

site revamping for free(as you saved me loads of time on my car), just email me and we'll sortsomething out. I design websites using Dreamweaver MX in my spare time. Thanks again for your help

Andrew