I own a 1999 Toyota Camry (gold in color), and the heater/ac blower control has 5 settings. “Off - Lo - Med - Med - Hi.” The Lo and 1st Med. settings I never felt much air, but the 2nd Med. and Hi worked fine until recently. Now only the Hi setting works and I have to turn the heater/ac all the way to the Jet Blast Hi setting to get any air to come out of the vents at all. How did this happen? Anybody know how I can fix this?
Thank You.
Sounds like the blower (fan) resistor is bad. The resistor allows the fan to run at speeds other than high. The resistor is mounted in the ductwork, close to the blower motor. A new resistor should restore all fan speeds, and this is not an expensive part.
It may require a new blower too. Usually the resistor pack dies for a reason, and its the load on the other end(blower motor).
I agree. Those resistors tend to go out from slow to fast. High speed does not use a resistor. Note: It is often just the resistors, but in some cases the resistors go out because the motor is going bad and drawing more than the design current.
If I replace the blower motor, do I have to replace the resistors as well, or do they come with a new blower motor?
Is this hard to do?
They are two separate items. At the least you need the resistor. At the most, you need the blower and the resistor. I suggest that you replace just the resistor first. Then, if you find that there is still almost no airflow at the lowest setting, you will know that you probably need the blower motor too. In that case, use only the high setting till you get the blower replaced, or you will burn out the new resistors.
Is this hard to do?
It’s not hard to do, but sometimes it’s hard to reach the resistor. The resistor block itself is held in place by one or two screws, and there are two wires connected to it. It’ simple to replace if you can get to it.