Started up my 09 this morning and noticed the a/c didn't seem to be blowing. The fan was set on 2. 1 didn't work either, but 3 & 4 worked. I turned the dial to "Off" then 1, 2, and 3 stopped working and only 4 works now!

I was on my way in to work, so there wasn't much I could do to diagnose the problem while driving. I turned everything off a couple times at stop lights and tried all of the different climate control settings (which I didn't think would do anything anyway, but there was much else I could do while driving).

Anyone have any ideas?

 

There's a TSB about this: Blower Motor Resistor Inop

 

awesome! thanks!

 

I just repaired this same problem this weekend. I only replaced the resistor pack ($20.00) and not the whole blower motor ($200.00). I figured if the motor worked on high (the switch bypasses the resistors) without blowing the fuse, then maybe the resistor had a problem. Either way, I figured I'd gamble the $20.00 on it.
So far it has stayed running.
I figured one of the resistors burned up & was going to look into putting a higher wattage resistor in there. Looking at the bad unit, however, there looks like a type of fuse inside that has blown. There is a metal strip "soldered" between the terminal & the resistor. The "solder" has melted & the strip seperated from the terminal.

Anybody have any thoughts on soldering this back together so it wont seperate again? Any fuse action in this unit would be lost, but there is still a fuse on the circuit in the main fuse block.
This seems to be a fairly common problem, so I wonder if the "fuse" in the resistor is blowing too easily. Especially considering the fan still works on high without any apparent problem. I could always put an inline fuse holder in the line to the blower, if I was worried about it.

Any thoughts???

Jeff

 

Wouldn't all this be covered under warranty?

 

Unless your warranty is expired.

 

our warranty expired at 36,000, we are at a little over 50,000 now.

 

You still could be eligible for a goodwill extension of the warranty. Not worth worrying about if you are just replacing the resistor pack. That said, if you just replacing the resistor pack, you could have the same failure again. The cause is excess current from the blower motor, according to the TSB, so replacing the resistors will just result in another case of excess current melting the resistors.

That said, it could happen very slowly, so you might be safe for another 50k

 

Usually when something goes wrong with a motor to cause it to draw too much current, they usually draw WAY too much current.
I'm thinking the rating of the "fuse" inside the resistor pack is boarderline, so it blows with this motor. The next motor may draw a hair less current & "fix" the problem.

I would really like to know the current draw of motor installed vs a new motor. When I get a little time I plan to measure the current draw of the one thats in there. Hopefully that will tell me something, even though I wont have anything to compare it to.

Jeff

 

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that its startup current, which can be very high initially, doing the damage. The new motor could have been adjusted to have a lower startup current draw.

 

That may be the case, but it still sounds like replacing a working motor! The main fuse is not blowing, the wires aren't smoking, or any other indication of overcurrent. The real answer lies with knowing the currents involved.

I have to also say this doesn't sound like a random failure. There seems to be enough people on here, and I'm sure, many not on these forums, having this same problem.

Jeff

 

The TSB means that its not a random failure. And if it's a case of high startup current draw, you wouldn't expect to see problems with wires smoking or fuses blowing. The high current from startup exists for a fraction of a second. Wires take some time to heat up, and fuses are resistant to those kinds of spikes.

But the fact that the TSB recommends replacing the motor indicates that Honda's testing shows that there is some problem with the motor, and not just an insufficiently robust resistor pack.

 

Very true. My main worry is that they have not changed the motor at all. Since this is a TSB & not a recall, I assume that a significant number, but not a majority of cars are affected. Honda could put the same motor (design unchanged) back in & hope the car joins the majority. Or, they could fix the motor design so it wont happen anymore.

Without knowing if the new motor has been improved, I am hesatant to put down the money for a new one. Is there any way to know if they made improvements to the motor? would they change the part number? A revision number? How could I tell?

Jeff

 

Typically recalls are only justified if this posed a safety or significant functioning hazard. It could be a majority of cars, but not worth the expense of a recall. The miscalculating MPG indicator is a good example. It seemed to affect every car, but only got a TSB because it wasn't a huge deal.

Honestly, if I were in your shoes what I would do is just replace the switch. If it failed again, then I'd look into getting the motor replaced. I've only seen the TSB in reference to the 09, and not the 10, which to me is another indication that there's been an actual change in something.

 

Not that it affects me, but I would argue that this IS a safety hazard.

What happens if your windshield starts fogging up while you are on the interstate and the fan doesn't work!

 

This is on a 2010 brand new car with only 7000 miles on it. Took it in under warranty with level 4 fan blowing, but other 3 levels not working. They replaced the resister.
Within a day after 70 miles of driving, levels 1-3 were out again. This time, the dealership said they have to replace the motor.
I am now concerned about this being a repeated problem. That means I will only get 29,000 miles warranty on this new motor. If the motor costs $200 and the resister costs ??? then I am set up for at least one motor every 10,000 miles?? Way too costly.
Wonder what I can do to get them to put in a dependable motor.

 

I wonder if this is the reason the dash is hot...very hot, just below the radio where the air conditioner controls are located. After the fan was only working at level 4, this area was not hot. After the dealership replaced the resister, it was hot again. After the blower fan went out, it was not hot. Will get the new motor on Monday. If it gets hot after that motor is put in, this is a serious problem.
Only level 4 works on the blower fan on the 2010 Honda fit at this time.