2002 S6 HVAC Blower Motor Issue?

[998S]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to know if anyone else out there had similar symptoms as I did and what they found out the cause to be. When the AC is turned on, it blows cold air but with the fan controls to the max, it barely blows out (thus insufficiently cooling the interior of the car). Is this the blower motor going out? If so, will I have to replace the blower motor and the control module?

Thank you in advance!

[JBX]

Clean and oil the motor. There are youtube vids on how to do it.

While you have the fan motor out, use a mirror and a flashlight and make sure your evaporator coil is not clogged with debris. And while you have the motor in your hand, run it through the fan speeds to see if it falters at high speed.

--jb

[998S]

I'll try that out. Thank you!!!

[998S]

Clean and oil the motor. There are youtube vids on how to do it.

While you have the fan motor out, use a mirror and a flashlight and make sure your evaporator coil is not clogged with debris. And while you have the motor in your hand, run it through the fan speeds to see if it falters at high speed.

--jb

Servicing the existing blower motor and trying another unit didn't work either. Does anyone else have any other suggestions or advice?

Thank you!

[ImAudiHeree]

You try replacing the control unit underneath the radio? They are known to poop out over time.

[998S]

You try replacing the control unit underneath the radio? They are known to poop out over time.

Are you referring to the blower motor resistor? If so, I haven't replaced it yet but did take it apart to check the circuit board for any broken traces and unluckily did not find anything wrong with it physically. Could be internally inside the circuit board but I'll rule that out once I get a difference blower motor resistor next week...

Does anyone think it might be the climate control unit? The one underneath the radio?

[rollerton]

Are you referring to the blower motor resistor? If so, I haven't replaced it yet but did take it apart to check the circuit board for any broken traces and unluckily did not find anything wrong with it physically. Could be internally inside the circuit board but I'll rule that out once I get a difference blower motor resistor next week...

My first thought was the resistor. If it works on some speeds but not all then the blower is probably fine. The resistor is what modulate the speed of the fan itself.

[998S]

My first thought was the resistor. If it works on some speeds but not all then the blower is probably fine. The resistor is what modulate the speed of the fan itself.

At first, it was just really slow speeds but now, it's completely dead.

[998S]

HVAC still down, anybody else have other suggestions? I've tried a new blower motor and a new blower resister, no luck =(

[998S]

The strange thing is, the solar sunroof is still activating the blower when it is in the sun.

[ImAudiHeree]

Yes i was talking about the climate control unit, not the resistor.

[998S]

Yes i was talking about the climate control unit, not the resistor.

Ok. I'm going to try that next and hope that it works. I was lucky enough to find a brand new one from Ebay last week!

[998S]

Ok. I'm going to try that next and hope that it works. I was lucky enough to find a brand new one from Ebay last week!

A new climate control didn't work either. I think I'm at my wits' end and will be taking it to a mechanic now...

[998S]

Just in case anyone else has the same symptoms and issues, $525.00 later, the shop diagnosed that the blower motor was not getting power from the fuse box. They overlaid a direct connection from the fuse box to the blower motor and now everything works fine now.

[rollerton]

Just in case anyone else has the same symptoms and issues, $525.00 later, the shop diagnosed that the blower motor was not getting power from the fuse box. They overlaid a direct connection from the fuse box to the blower motor and now everything works fine now.

Did they say WHY it wasn't getting power? Did they look into it? I mean, it's power/ relay/ ground. There's a fuse obviously. But the wiring from fuse box to relay to blower is pretty short and would be pretty rare to have that wire just break.
Also, you said at first that it does blow, but very little on high, that means it had power and the circuit was intact.

I'm glad you got it fixed and I don't want to keep you up at night, but that explanation feels fishy going by the symptoms...

BTW! I have solar sunroof too! Pretty sure the Solar Sunroof is a fairly 'stand alone' system. I have heard it will run the blower without the battery even in the car, so wouldn't expect it to ever have an influence on any other components.

[998S]

Did they say WHY it wasn't getting power? Did they look into it? I mean, it's power/ relay/ ground. There's a fuse obviously. But the wiring from fuse box to relay to blower is pretty short and would be pretty rare to have that wire just break.
Also, you said at first that it does blow, but very little on high, that means it had power and the circuit was intact.

I'm glad you got it fixed and I don't want to keep you up at night, but that explanation feels fishy going by the symptoms...

BTW! I have solar sunroof too! Pretty sure the Solar Sunroof is a fairly 'stand alone' system. I have heard it will run the blower without the battery even in the car, so wouldn't expect it to ever have an influence on any other components.

They just said that the line between the fuse box and the blower motor was most likely broken. They didn't go into any details and I didn't ask either. I was just sick of it not working after all the minor diagnostics I performed. I also chose the cheaper option. The more expensive option consisted of them removing the dashboard and routing a new wire back into the factory harness. I declined and went with the cheaper option.

When the issue first arose, it was definitely blowing cold air but at very low volumes and not enough to cool the interior cabin on a hot day, at the highest fan setting. Then eventually, it just completed died and nothing came out of the vents. The blower was definitely working when the car was off and was powered by the solar sunroof, therefore I agree with you that it's a standalone circuit.

Although I had to shed a big chunk of change to get it fixed, I appreciate the input! Thanks!