Astra heater blow intermittent

Maybe a faulty switch failing as it heats up, or a self-resetting thermal fuse near the motor or resistor pack?

Or simply a poor connection somewhere. The problem here is that the causes of intermittent faults are not easy to find.

Rob Graham

As has been suggested, it might have some form of protection for the resistor pack that provides the different speeds; perhaps it's something like a bi-metal that has reset?

If so, was the air intake to the heater blocked by snow/ice? Or does it have a pollen filter due for replacement?

Chris

Thus spake Chris Whelan ( snipped-for-privacy@prejudicentlworld.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

The filters were replaced in August as part of the annual service. There were no blockages from ice or snow - there was in fact very little lying snow at the time of the problem; all the problems were caused by ice on the roads. Never seen anything like it before.

I haven't actually used the car since then - too much snow in the meantime - but I'll try out the blower this morning to see what happens (the car's in my garage so is completely dry and frost free).

Thanks to all for your responses.

Thus spake snipped-for-privacy@denturessussex.ac.uk ( snipped-for-privacy@denturessussex.ac.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:

Blower working fine today.

Mystified. :-{

Vauxhall blowers often used to get 'stiff' through dampness getting into the bearings. if you can find access to it then see if it spins freely, and lube the bearings if stiff, if it is nice and free then the next suspect is the speed resistor assembly, which sometimes burn out due to not changing the pollen filter.

Thus spake Mrcheerful ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.co.uk) unto the assembled multitudes:

Well, it seems to be related to temperature but I'm not sure. As I said before, it seems to work (or not) intermittently. Yesterday lunchtime the blower did not start working immediately but after a few seconds while I fiddled with the control, the fan started up, and stayed working thereafter. It was fine for the journey home too. And this morning it worked OK.

You could be right about 'stiffness'. There is no *audible* sign of any problem; I can't hear any sounds of roughness or bearing noise. It just seems like there's an intermittent conenction, but then again once the fan starts working it stays working without interruption, which is inconsistent with a loose connection. And, the speed control works fine on all settings.

Thanks for your help.