I have been having an issue with my in cabin blower over the past few months - it started off as a seldom, intermittent issue where I start my car and the blower control will be set to high, but the fan wouldn’t be on, then would kick in after a minute or so. The initial blast of air would have a distinct electrical “smoke” odor to it. Either I would have no blower, or the blower would work but I would only have half the blower settings - meaning I would turn down the dial and the blower would shut off at the halfway mark. This issue became more prevalent the last few weeks - no blower for the first minute, then kick in with the “smell”. So I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new resistor for the blower which my friend helped me replace over the weekend - and guess what - the problem is not fixed- still occurring. My friend and I replaced the blower motor this spring with a brand new, limited lifetime warranty unit, so I thought no way the motor would be going bad this soon. SO my friend simply said - kick the underside of the dash(where the blower is) when the blower doesn’t work and see if that causes it to start up - no effect. I kicked it hard 3 times and nothing. When the blower motor went out originally, the fan kicked in immediately after the first kick - but nothing occurred this time - it kicked in after a minute - same distinct smell. Even with the new resistor installed I only have half the speeds - no fan until I am at the halfway mark, so my friend thinks it may be the control unit itself, but what about the smell? I tried messing with the switch to see if it was working - I turn the switch to off - the engine idles normally, then as soon as it flip the dial up a notch, the engine reacts like a load has been added to it, so I’m assuming that the switch is supplying power to the blower motor and resistor even though the blower isn’t responding. I cannot afford to take my car into a mechanic only to have them spend unknown time doing diagnostics - unless I got a bad resistor from the parts store, so I’m hoping someone here may have had the same issue. Again - the issue is no blower for about 1 minute upon start up - kicking the fan housing does nothing - blower motor is less than a year old, new resistor just installed, and I have only half the fan speeds even with the new resistor plus a distinct “burnt” smell when the blower finally kicks in (goes away after a few seconds). Any help is appreciated!
Oh yeah, I have a 1992 Honda Accord with A/C and the controls are push button, dial type, not lever type.
It is most likely the blower motor or possibly a connection to it.
The switch basically switches in resistors in series with the motor. In its highest setting, there are no resistors in line so the problem isn’t the resistor pack (which is actually far more common than the blower motor).
if it works on 1 speed but not all of them i would look at the resister block first then the switch.
You might be having a problem with the blower relay. See if it gets real warm after it is turned on which would be a sign of trouble. Make sure the fan isn’t getting jammed and preventing the motor from turning. You could also try applying power directly to the motor to make sure the trouble isn’t with it.
Its the blower motor, it is binding. You have a lifetime warranty so just take it back. I think you will find that when you remove it, it is hard to turn.
Here’s a bit more info - I live in Wisconsin and the last few days, it’s been a tad “cold” out(about the 50’s in the morning) and when this issue occurred, it would only happen in the morning when first starting the car to go to work. The last 2 days, it was cold in the morning, cold in the afternoon, so the fan would act up in the morning and in the afternoon when I head home. Today, it was warm in the afternoon and the fan was working immediately upon starting up. I already replaced the resistor and the blower spins freely(my friend spun the blades when the duct assembly was out of the car - said he didn’t feel resistance). If the blower motor was binding, a swift kick to the underside of the assembly would get it running again - temporarily, but kicking it does not help this time around. New resistor - still only half the fan speeds.
I would say blower relay, but it could be your ignition switch or corroded fuse connection.
You might be able to swap the blower relay with another one in the car to see if that makes a difference.