Footwell blower fuse upgrade

[scarceller]

That looks right to me. The White/Green wire is the suply (+12V) side of the blower. I do not see how the blower could work if the fuse holder was spliced in series into that wire and you don't have a fuse installed? Also, that holder looks like someone added it, that's a modern style fuse, not sure if Porsche used those style fuses?

Maybe the fuse holder is internally shorted or the wire job is really poor.

Also, I have a 84 Carrera and do NOT have those fuses on my footwell blowers.

[Barrpete]

The top pic is the footwell blower. The connector will have the green/white & brown wires inside the black plastic sleeve. If that fuse holder is spliced into that green/white wire the blower should not run without a fuse in place. If it does I would check the splice to see if there is bare wire touching somewhere.

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Very bizarre.....

Perhaps I'll remove the fuse holder and see if the blower doesn't function ... then I'll add the new one.

And just to be sure ... this blows air for the footwell heater .... as dumb as that question is.....

That blower pulls heat from the exchangers into the cabin at the foot well. Put your hand on the blower it will be very easy to tell that the blower works. Also the heat system in these cars is complicated and it could be the blower is not getting power at all. Simply wire 12 volts directly to the blower to be sure it works. These blowers are known to freeze up and it would be wise to be sure the blower works with 12 volts hard wired. Do this by disconnecting the connector from the blower.

You also can simply test for 12volts at the harness when the rotary switch between the seats is set to hi (pos #3) and you must also pull up the orange heat levers to activate the heat system.

[Barrpete]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Very bizarre.....

Perhaps I'll remove the fuse holder and see if the blower doesn't function ... then I'll add the new one.

And just to be sure ... this blows air for the footwell heater .... as dumb as that question is.....

Yes it blows hot air. While you have it open I would turn the heat on and verify that the blower operates. I think that the blower in the engine bay will also force hot air through the same ductwork.

Sal, it looks like we are on the same page but you're faster on the draw!

[KatoKato]

Originally Posted by Barrpete

Yes it blows hot air. While you have it open I would turn the heat on and verify that the blower operates. I think that the blower in the engine bay will also force hot air through the same ductwork

Just checked and the blower on the passenger side DOES NOT operate. The driver's side does and there is a fuse in place. I always thought it was odd that the driver's side was louder when the heat was on it's highest setting. I do find that there is more heat on the driver's side but there is still decent flow on the passenger side.

Drivers side pic:




There is a brown wire there that is cut. Is this normal?


Now the question is - should I put a fuse into the passenger side blower and see what happens??? Or just leave it as is??? (I'm happy with how the heater works as is)

Perhaps someone has modded the system in the past to work this way and I shouldn't mess with it....

Cheers,
Kato

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Just checked and the blower on the passenger side does not operate. Driver's side does and there is a fuse in place

There is a brown wire there that is cut. Is this normal?


I always thought it was odd that the driver's side was louder when the heat was on it's highest setting. I do find that there is more heat on the driver's side but there is still decent flow on the passenger side.


Now the question is - should I put a fuse into the passenger side blower and see what happens??? Or just leave it as is??? (I'm happy with how the heating / fresh air blowers work as is)

Perhaps someone has modded the system in the past to work this way and I shouldn't mess with it....

Cheers,
Kato

You could simply put the fuse in and see what happens. But the fact that it is missing is a RED flag. I would remove that blower from the car and bench test it with 12 volt source first. As I mentioned these blowers often freeze up and for this reason a bench test would be wise. Also while on the bench try to spin the squirle cauge by hand before you apply power. If it does not spin by hand DO NOT apply power.

The fact that the driver blower works is a very GOOD sign and indicates the rest of the heat system is working. You are way ahead of the game knowing this.

[Mysterytrain]

Hey all...ok, my take on this is that the PO used the blue wires to connect both footwell blower together. Then the single fuse blew..so he bypassed the fuse with a metal slug down inside the fuse holder or spliced wires to bypass the empty fuse holder. Its kinda hard to tell from the pictures but the blue wires don't look OEM nor do the cut brown wires.

[Barrpete]

Originally Posted by scarceller

You could simply put the fuse in and see what happens. But the fact that it is missing is a RED flag. I would remove that blower from the car and bench test it with 12 volt source first. As I mentioned these blowers often freeze up and for this reason a bench test would be wise. Also while on the bench try to spin the squirle cauge by hand before you apply power. If it does not spin by hand DO NOT apply power.

The fact that the driver blower works is a very GOOD sign and indicates the rest of the heat system is working. You are way ahead of the game knowing this.

+1. You have to wonder why the fuse is missing. Could be that it was starting to squeal & the PO opted to disable rather than replace it. As for the clipped wires that isn't 'normal' something has either been disabled or rewired. Not necessarily a problem though.

[DCinVA]

That reminds me.... I gotta add this to my project list.

86 Carrerra (no footwell blower fuses)

[KatoKato]

I think I remove and test the unit. Just to be sure.

That blue wire leads to my fuel pump kill switch....but I do suspect that the PO has done something unusual to these blowers.

Thanks all and I'll report what I find.

[KatoKato]

Update:

Pulled the unit out and tested it. I think the PO removed the fuse because it was noisy. The fan blade was rubbing against the bottom of the casing.

So I took it apart, cleaned/lubed the motor, and sanded away 0.5mm or so for fan clearance. Put it together and now it runs like it's new! Sweet!

Thanks for everyone's help.

Cheers,
Kato

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Update:

Pulled the unit out and tested it. I think the PO removed the fuse because it was noisy. The fan blade was rubbing against the bottom of the casing.

So I took it apart, cleaned/lubed the motor, and sanded away 0.5mm or so for fan clearance. Put it together and now it runs like it's new! Sweet!

Thanks for everyone's help.

Cheers,
Kato

Not so fast. The real reason the squirle cauge is rubbing is because it has slid down on the shaft. What? That's what I said! It's true! Since the fan sits with the cauge at the top the intense heat going past it heats the cauge and it starts to soften and slips down. If it slips down far enough it melts to the housing below, this happended in my Car.

So how to fix it? Pry the fan off the shaft - (it can be done) then re-set it with epoxy onto the shaft leaving a few mm of gap from the housing.

Your quick fix will work but not for long trust me.

Here's an old thread with the details of this problem:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=113997

[KatoKato]

Originally Posted by scarceller

Not so fast. The real reason the squirle cauge is rubbing is because it has slid down on the shaft. What? That's what I said! It's true! Since the fan sits with the cauge at the top the intense heat going past it heats the cauge and it starts to soften and slips down. If it slips down far enough it melts to the housing below, this happended in my Car.

So how to fix it? Pry the fan off the shaft - (it can be done) then re-set it with epoxy onto the shaft leaving a few mm of gap from the housing.

Your quick fix will work but not for long trust me.

Here's an old thread with the details of this problem:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=113997

Ahhh crap! Oh well - they are easy to remove and easy to disassemble. Will do this tomorrow....I might as well work on the driver's side as well.

Cheers,
Kato

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Ahhh crap! Oh well - they are easy to remove and easy to disassemble. Will do this tomorrow....I might as well work on the driver's side as well.

Cheers,
Kato

Your fix will work for a while.

And while at it put a little silcone grease on the bushings.

[KatoKato]

Is there another way to try and set the fan other than using epoxy?

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Is there another way to try and set the fan other than using epoxy?

Others have simply cleaned the shaft and fan and put it back together with a spacer of some sort to keep the fan from touching the housing. Maybe a few plastic washers?

[KatoKato]

Originally Posted by scarceller

Others have simply cleaned the shaft and fan and put it back together with a spacer of some sort to keep the fan from touching the housing. Maybe a few plastic washers?

Yes that would do it. What about keeping the fan from contacting below? From what I've read in the thread you posted above these things can fuse either above or below....

[scarceller]

Originally Posted by KatoKato

Yes that would do it. What about keeping the fan from contacting below? From what I've read in the thread you posted above these things can fuse either above or below....

I've only seen the fan fuse to the motor side housing. Not sure much could be done in the other direction? Guess you could put a dab of epoxy (after you re-assemble) at the end of the shaft to be sure the fan does not slide off - just a thought.

[Cujo911]

[QUOTE=Barrpete;4056894]I looked when I did the install & couldn't find any. It really is pretty easy though. Just remove the kick panels & unplug the harness from the fan. The wires are wrapped in a plastic sleeve that you'll need to cut back far enough to have room for the splice. There should be a brown wire which is the ground & a green with white stripe that is the hot. /QUOTE]


Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I’ve done a search for a couple of days and this is the only thread that details the inline 10A fuse for the footwell blowers that I’ve found.

I have an ‘86 as well and the footwell blowers are the only things left that I need to attend to. I have size 14 gauge fuse holders (w/ the red wires) but before I cut into the OEM wht/grn wiring, I was wondering if there is a cleaner way to do this. I have the heat shrink solder as well as the crimp type connectors.

Edit: I used the 3M fuse holders. No additional connectors or soldering. Just cut the grn/wht wire once and snap both ends closed over the butt ends.

http:www.crowbarelectricalparts.com/3m-scotchlok-fuse-holder/