Turn Left and Blower Turns ON!!!

I'm experiencing problems with the blower on my 2000 Saturn SL100. It has been acting up and mysteriously kicks on when I turn left - then when I straighten out the wheel it stops again.

This only works then the car is in motion. Turning the wheel while in park does not work. Can anyone tell me why this might be happening and how I may fix it?

Reply to
carnovice
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Not enough info!!! You got to tell us more. When it comes on does it come on "high" only?

Reply to
blah blah

Sorry. I'm new at this.

It doesn't matter what setting that it is on. When turning left, the blower will blow according to the setting on the control panel.

Sometimes, it will continue working for 4-5 minutes and then go off again. When it goes off, I can hear a humming sound as if it is trying to run. Turn a left, and it kicks on again.

This weekend, it completely quit. There was no sound and no air no matter what. Then today I got up and it was miraculously working again.

Reply to
carnovice

Oops. . . when I say, "working again" I mean that it will run intermittently if I turn left.

Reply to
carnovice

I'm still not completely filled in here... So you're saying that that your blower usually does not work at all any other time?

It sounds like the last resistor in line for your "Blower Motor Resistor Card" is hanging loose and reattatching itself when you turn left. If you put it on High your resistor card gets bypassed. So if you cannot get "low, med, & med high" to work and "High" does work it will likely be your resistor card.

Reply to
blah blah

The blower never works correctly. It either works when I turn left - or it doesn't work at all. It is a crap shoot.

It will work on 1, 2, and 3, in addition to 4. So it is not bypassing anything. I'm just bamboozled. It's like some connection is loose. I just don't know where to start looking.

Also, if I turn left without giving it gas, it does nothing. If I give it gas when I make a left, it kicks in. Once I straighten out the wheel - it may or may not stay on. And if it does stay on, it will run for only a few minutes.

Reply to
carnovice

You say it "either works when you turn left or it doesnt work at all" then you say "it will work on 1, 2, 3, and 4"...

Which is it? I'm not talking about when you are making a left turn and I dont think you understood what I ment by "bypassing".

My big question is: When 1, 2, and 3 "WONT WORK" will "4" work???

Possible problems:

  1. If 4 (the highest setting) works (sitting still) and 1, 2, & 3 dont work that means you may have a bad blower resistor card.

-Theory: The last resistor in line may be burnt and flopping around making and loosing contact.

or

  1. If 4 doesnt work at all (sitting still) then it sounds like you "may" have a bad blower motor.

-Theory: The motor does sit on its side and the left and right shifting may be causing it to make and loose good contact with the brushes.

Reply to
blah blah

My (possibly incorrect) understanding is that the OP is saying that the blower really does not work most of the time at all, regardless of the fan position switch. But, occasionally, when they turn left the fan will start to blow at whatever speed the position switch is set, and then when the turn is completed it does not work again.

My guess is a loose ground connection, or more possibly, an intermittent connection in the blower feed or ground wiring. Seems that this could easily be reproduced once you get access to the wiring and using a simple DVM or continuity tester you should be able to narrow down to a defective wiring segment or a loose connector.

I personally do not think this sounds like a defective blower resistor block based on my understanding of the problem description.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Shuman

YES! YES! I HAVE FINALLY BEEN UNDERSTOOD! I APLOGIZE IF MY THOUGHTS DID NOT FLOW SMOOTHLY. Bob is correct in his restatement of my problems. THANKS!

So, I suppose I'll need to take this to the dealer for an auotopsy? Any home remedies out there?

Reply to
carnovice

YES! YES! I HAVE FINALLY BEEN UNDERSTOOD! I APLOGIZE IF MY THOUGHTS DID NOT FLOW SMOOTHLY. Bob is correct in his restatement of my problems. THANKS!

So, I suppose I'll need to take this to the dealer for an autopsy? Any home remedies out there?

Reply to
carnovice

Oh.

I bet the motor is worn out.

The brushes in DC motors wear out. (motors with brushes are cheaper than brushless motors - guess which ones car makers use?)

I bet that as you turn left, the brush is pushed against the commutator and it starts spinning. As you turn right, the brush is pushed away.

I'd check out the motor.

Reply to
Kirk Kohnen

So, where can I find a diagram showing me where the blower motor is located?

Reply to
carnovice

In a service manual. It might help if I knew what car you were talking about seeing as how this thread has disappeared... As far as I remember about this subject its roughly accessed by removing your glove box.

Reply to
blah blah

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