Blower motor resister bypass

talimaster · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:22 pm Post subject: Blower motor resister bypass

Hey all I have a 86 vanagon and just replaced the blower motor and once I got it all back together I found it only works on 3 not 1 or 2. I believe my resister is bad. Does anyone know how to bypass it and put in a new one outside the heater box? I do not want to get back in there...ever again.

thanks

rob

big swifty · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:50 pm Post subject:

I feel your pain. I relocated mine; here's some pics. Did mine during a complete refresh of the box. Suppose you could splice the wires closer to the switch. Good luck!

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
Evan
1987 Vanagon Syncro // Westfalia pop-top graft // Factory new ALH. 11mm IP. AFN 110 RC 2,3,4 // S7 turbo// Titan P502's
2013 Golf 4d TDI. No mods. Yet.
[1991 Jetta coupe TD. Giles Superpump. Custom tall 5 speed. SOLD

Captain Pike · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:13 pm Post subject:

The fan has 2 yellow power wires. 1 handles the full speed directly from the dash switch. The other is the resistor power. The presence of 2 wires almost suggests VW knew the resistor was sh1t and at least you would be left with full speed.
SO
If you have a replacement resistor you can install it WITHOUT removing the dash. If your replacement doesn't come with the switch socket then your in for more splicing.
Just reach behind the fan switch and pull it off so you can work. now splice the resistor solid yellow to the switch yellow. Don't sever the switch yellow ,just piggy back the resistor power on the full power line. Test for 3 speeds. Insulate all the exposed terminals('letric tape)and zip tie the resistor to something so it doesn't fall out.
There it's fixed and you don't remove the dash or crack the heater box.
Wow it looks like I have a spare front heater core with no leaks Wink

_________________
LEARN TO SELF RESCUE
59 Panel bus, 1966 Single cab. 73' 181. 73 Westy. 91' H6 Vanagon 3.3L.
.....................All Current.......................

RCB · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:35 pm Post subject:

Click and Clack were asked the same question on their show this morning but instead of it being a Vanagon it was a very early Datsun Wagon which they claim was about the best car ever built.

This gal had about 200,000 miles on it and the blower motor had just began working on full speed, first and second speed quit.

Replacing the resistor would fix it right up.

edgood1 · Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:41 pm Post subject:

I did this yesterday. I feel your pain...i never want to have to get in there again.

I relocated my resistor to the outside of the heater box. Make sure you tape up the leads on the resistor.. you don't want any loose grounds shorting on them.
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

peaceful warrior · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:32 pm Post subject:

May be a idiotic question, but I do not understand how KS's diagram would give you the three speeds if the resistor is spent. It seems to me that it would just be paralleling 12 volts to the motor, so how could that give you different speeds? The resistor is designed to drop the ohms, so the fan will spin slower. Maybe I am missing something here????

Has anyone attempted to replace the resistor with a modern resistor? I looked thru the Bentley and it has no specs on the resistor, so that would have to be known before hand.

Any thoughts?
_________________
"Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50338

peaceful warrior · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:35 pm Post subject:

crazyvwvanman · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:00 pm Post subject:

Both yellow wires go to the same place, the motor. That is why you can tap into the switch yellow wire for the bypass resistor, since it does not matter which yellow you use.

What you describe as far as voltage the same on all switch wires no matter which speed is on is exactly what you would see if the ground connection was bad.
That is probably why the fan does not work even though you have voltage to it. The brown wire must be connected to ground for the motor to run.

Mark

peaceful warrior · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:28 pm Post subject:

toomanyveedubs · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:44 pm Post subject:

I can't understand why people are relocating these if they take 20 years to fail??? Are they still going to own it 20 years from now!

Anyway, is the rear underseat heater the same resistor pack as the front?
My rear heater stopped working on Speed 1 & 2. Do I need to find another rear, or will either work?

crazyvwvanman · Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:55 pm Post subject:

The rear heater resistor is different. The rear resistor also has a thermal fuse attached that would disable speeds 1 and 2 if it blew, according to the wiring diagram.

Mark

crazyvwvanman · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:10 am Post subject:

Did you pull the ground wire off and then measure the voltage between it and the ground star for the various switch positions?

Mark

toomanyveedubs · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:35 am Post subject:

peaceful warrior · Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:08 am Post subject:

peaceful warrior · Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:04 pm Post subject:

Well, frankly I am embarrassed... Embarassed

I couldn't suss the problem out, so I pulled the dash again and the air box, split it again and found I had not hooked up the wires to the motor after bench testing......... Laughing

All is good now and the resistor is fine. Good lesson in that I can take the dash out in 30 minutes and put it back in in 1 hour.
_________________
"Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian

edgood1 · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:48 am Post subject:

this came up in another topic.

How hot does the resistor get, and does it really need to be in the airflow of the heater box?

I don't think it does, but others argued it did. I can't see how blowing hot air over it is going to cool it. That air can get really hot being so close to the heater core.

My argument was that the early jettas use the same blower and resistor and they aren't in the airflow path:

thoughts?
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia powered by Subaru
1963 Panel to Deluxe Bus project :::: (photo album)
'65 Westfalia

tencentlife · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 8:40 pm Post subject:

I don't think airflow is essential for it, but some space around it so it can radiate heat won't hurt.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

r39o · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 9:24 pm Post subject:

Why not use a US A1 resistor which is mounted in the airflow in a position inside the cab where it can be removed when needed? I did this in my hot rod 1979 GTI.

I suspect this is a standard generic US part but never looked as I had plenty of used ones at the time. It has not failed in the 17 years since building the car.
_________________
"Use the SEARCH, Luke" But first visit the Vanagon FAQ!

1990 Multivan EJ 22, Rancho trans 0.82 4th, Small Car front AC, CLKs w/ 215/65-16, homemade big brakes 303mm, Konis, Recaros, etc....

Click to see my ads for Cup holders, Subaru clutch fix and CLK wheels (no wheels currently)

WestyWonderland · Samba Member Joined: July 12, 2012 Posts: 51

Great thread on heater blower resistors. They're available new again, from VW Heritage and their outlets, for US$70 or so.

My rear blower (87 Syncro) was corroded so badly I had to hammer it out of the plastic case, snapping off a few chunks in the process. I replaced the motor with a front motor from Bus Depot. I can't recommend that method: the fan is fractionally larger in diameter so the case, already broken, had to be dremel'd out and hit with a heat gun to accept the BD front fan. Removing hte fan in both cases was difficult; a puller would have helped and been less damaging.

If I could do it again, I'd have the motor rebuilt by a shop.

As it turns out, the thermal cut off (fuse) was also blown, probably from overheating due to being corroded.

Here is the replacement spec:

Newark Electronics 09WX6683, THERMODISC G4A01167C Fuse, Thermal Cutoff, MICROTEMP Series, 10 A, 250 V, 167 °C (Lime color code), Axial Leaded, 152 °C.

$1.27 as of January 1, 2017.

When installing, use a heat sink and be careful not to damage the case when bending leads. Best to use two needle nose pliars or leave them straigh and solder to the stumps of the original!

Link:
[/url]http://www.newark.com/thermodisc/g4a01167c/fuse-thermal-167-c-10a-250v/dp/09WX6683?aa=true&vw=&categoryId=800000004761&eq=N%3D200308%2B422%2B2203%26amp%3BNs%3DP_STORE_MARKETING_RANK_NEWARK_US%257c0%257c%257cP_MAN_PART_NUM%257c0%26amp%3BNtpc%3D1%26amp%3BNtpr%3D1&searchView=table&iscrfnonsku=false[url][/url]


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

	Forum Index -> Vanagon	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time Page: 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2