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Ha! *** this problem is solved -- this is, I guess, a sort of FAQ now ***
I tried to fit all the keywords I could into the subject line. Sorry if it made it unintelligible. This car has standard AC -- no ACC...
So, after owning 5 900s, I decided to buy a 9000. They are sort of a different beast, and I must say I'm not looking forward to replacing the clutch when and if the car makes it that far.
My immediate problems were speedo sensor (fixed) sticky sunroof (fixed), low transmission oil level (filled and checking with gas fill up), rear brakes (fixed), switchpack all sticky and not working (remove by unscrewing and removing shift boot frame and push up on the front and dismantle and clean and reassemble) -- then this crazy fan problem.
I swear the fan worked. Then it started getting really weak. And there was always a little hot air mixed in with the fresh air. Sometimes the air would blow strong, but it was usually pretty anemic. And there was this high pitched whistling which was proportional to fan speed in pitch.
Then the fan stopped working all together. I was pretty sure that I needed to dive in and replace the darn thing, along with the heater core. But I decided to see what I could see and test what I could test and see where that got me.
So I got in there, pulled out the resistor pack and tested it. Looks good. I shone my flashlight into the hole that the resistor pack sits in, just to see what things looked like in there, as there was some black powder on the resistor pack.
Hmm, thought I, as I saw this big piece of foam loose inside the cab blower assembly. Hmm.
So I decided to pull the foam out. Unfortunately only a little bit came. I looked around the garage and found an aluminum arrow. You know, an arrow, as in bow and arrow. I took the tip off and was able to stick the arrow shaft into the resistor pack hole, and I was able to lever the foam into a position where I could pull it out with a pair of tongs. Yep, I got a good grip, finally, and got it out.
The foam in question is roughly triangular in shape, and, at least in my case, appeared to, at one time, have some glue that stuck it to the inside of the cab blower. The glue wasn't working anymore and the foam was scraping the 'hamster wheel' and getting pulled into the cold/hot selector valve.
The heater blower still didn't work, so I disconnected the blower motor electrical connection and sure enough, one of the conductors was corroded and the grey plastic plug was a little melted. I just sprayed a bunch of electrical contact cleaner in there, cleaned it up, squeezed the male prongs a little to make them deliberately out-of-round, stuck the connector back together and cable-tied it tight.
Since then the fan has been 100%. Quiet, forceful, and 100% working. No problems.
So: Please do yourself a favor and check that stuff out before you go digging all the way down to the frame to remove that cab blower. This car has about 160K miles, I think the cab blower should be good for quite a bit longer. I would have felt really stupid if I had done the job, paid dealer price for the blower, then realized when I was taking it out that that stupid foam was the whole problem all along.
PS: My mechanic suggested that there might have been a foam problem when I brought the car to him for the rear brakes. (I'm lazy). I didn't quite understand what he meant, but I sure do now.
Best wishes,
Rolf
posted by 208.42.1...
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