OK, wife left for Hilton Head on Sat and I join her Wed for 4 days of vacation. In the meantime, lots of wrenching this weekend
. Replaced the front wheel bearing/hub assemblies on her 2002 Mountaineer yesterday along with changing the oil and rotating and balancing the tires. SO, today was all MINE....back to the A/C project.
Installed the Kuehl Variable Fan Speed Controller today. This is really a great upgrade, high quality unit, extremely well designed and excellent instructions. The install process was a little more involved that I had expected....took me all day, but I went slow and had other issues to deal with (rats nest of radio, sound processor and LCD screen wires).
Starting point. I removed the passenger seat to try and clean up some wiring but not necessary for the job. Note the orientation of the central lock control and the A/C controls (will be swapping them).
5.1 Sound Processor sandwiched between two floorboard panels
All I can say here OMG - how embarassing - the worlds visible supply of wiring, but now you know why this took me so long.
OK, down to business. Old bi-metallic switch comes out and new controller board installed.
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Then the center console comes apart to install the switch. This is where things slowed down for me. Pulling the units is challanging with wires attached that limit working room. Additionally, I had a tough time seperating the modules. As the instructions describe, there is a white plastic pin and or screws in the rear of the units that must come out. My white pin holding the defroster/hazard and a/c controls had to be drilled out - like it was glued or fused after 21 years. After much wrestling, I was able to swap the a/c controller and central lock module. This will give me better a/c control access and visibility below my LCD screen. Additionally, I will no longer accidentally hit the lock button when reaching for the DVD remote.
Drilled and installed LED indicator light
The old fan wiring harness remains in place. Plug disconnected at old fan switch in console accepts two spade connectors from the new switch along with one LED lead. Another LED lead goes to the thermo switch next door and a third goes to ground. At the evap inlet, where the circuit board is located, the old bi-metallic plug goes unused as the unit and the switch have a new plug connection. Finally, two wires from the circuit board unit are fed up through the same grommet as the thermo wire to the fan harness.
Instructions (8 pgs with photos) are excellent and should be followed step-by- step. After following the instructions, the new unit worked perfectly. I'm gonna like it!