more heat questions

[TFI]

where is my fresh air blower relay? what wires can i touch together, and where are they, so i can make my fresh air blower move air? where does the air come from that it would be moving?

-jim-

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The fresh air blower relay is, I believe, one of the ones on top of the fuse panel. Exactly which one seems to vary from year to year, and I don't have any good info on the exact layouts for any particular year.

Best bet is to dig into the wiring diagram for your year (Haynes has B&W, color is available for download elsewhere on this website). Check which wires come from the fresh air blower. You may wind up having to short several wires together to force the blower to run, though.

The fresh air comes from the grille just in front of the windshield. The blower itself sits underneath that grille, just aft of the gas tank.

--DD

[JP Noonan]

Before shorting out wires. I would pull the control unit with the three levers on it out of the dash and clean the contacts. Even before that, you can make the contacts better by simply moving the levers back ond forth repeatedly to break off some of the corrosion.

The levers control where the air goes. Can't remember off the top of my head but one is for fan speed, one for amount of fresh air mixed with heated air, and one if for where the air goes windsheild/dash/floor.

[scriabin]

Just to spice up the usual advice, here's some of the unusual. My fresh air fan was dead as a result of a problem with the three lever dash assembly. Each lever's contact slides along plastic until reaching the contact embedded in that plastic. I about lost my mind trying to figure out the electrical explanation--it turned out the plastic around the static contact that the lever contact slides onto had melted to create a raised nib just before the static contact so that CONTACT was never made even when the lever was in the ON position.
My solution was to shave off the melted plastic nib that was preventing proper contact. It was an unlikely cause, but it's worth checking, should the usual attempted remedies fail.
--John

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

After a bit more poking: On the early (70-71) cars, the relay powers the fresh air blower and not much else. (Maybe nothing else?) In later cars, that same relay powers a bunch of things, including the cigarette lighter. So if you have power going to the lighter on a 72 or later car, the relay is working.

Some of the more common causes of blower failure are melted switch contacts, as previously mentioned, and jammed fans due to leaves and debris getting into the grille. The debris can trap water and rust the fan in place, or it can just jam up the fan. Either way will overheat the motor, and may burn the contacts in the switch as well.

Good luck!

--DD

[TFI]

how do i get to the fresh air blower fan and motor set up so i can make sure it is not rusted together? the gas tank is empty, i have had it out before no problem. how do i get to the fresh air blower assembly from there?
-jim-

[This message has been edited by TFI (edited 12-29-1999).]

[JP Noonan]

Remove the tank, then remove the wiper arms, then all the nuts under the wiper arms. There is a rubber isolator that attaches the motor to the firewall (I ripped mine the first time) there is a nut on the firewall behind the air vent controls, something like a 8-10mm. That should be all that is holding it on there besides all the hoses and control wires, just make sure to mark them as you remove them.

If you pull the motor housing apart be carefull not to crack the plastic. The clips that hold the two halves together are very strong and tend to break the little tabs off.

[rich]

My blower was fried. I lucked out and got a good one in a parts car I bought. The housing is tough to get out but careful work will pay off.

[Conrad W Peden]

JP, I just pulled the fan out of my 73 without moving the wipers. If anything you have to move the fan to remove the wipers.

Anyways TFI, have you ever changed the gas lines in your car or did the PO do it?

If not, this could be a learning experience.

If you look into your trunk (front) you will see behind the gas tank the 'Black Box'. The fan housing is attached to the bottom if the box that says B-E-H-R on it. Removal of this requires removal of the gas tank.

I figure the reason most of these dash switches don't work is because they are sitting under the ash-tray, and its basically open under there. When I looked at the switches on my 72 they looked like a green and brown fungus farm.

Isn't there something about using ashes to make acid or something like that? I seem to vaguely recall it from high school chemistry.

[rich]

Hey Jim, I had an idea for a heater for your 2.2 turbo. how about adding a generic oil cooler. The oil would hold the consistant tempeture you mentioned when I suggested using the rear mounted radiator. You could build a heater box around it and attach the ducts to the original heat run channels. Just a thought. Good luck

[JP Noonan]

Conrad, you are right. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just take everything apart that I can.

Started when I was young, dad had to have the play pen welded together because I kept taking it apart