r/Cartalk 18h ago

Blower motor not working no Heating

Post image

My blower motor in my 1997 Buick Lesabre hasn’t been working for a year now and I can’t figure out why, after taking a look in the engine and doing all that, I stuck a wire from the battery to the cord connected to the blower motor and it fired up immediately, but when i turn it on from the control panel nothing happens, i opened up the fuse box and noticed that I am missing two relays, is this the problem? I have circled the two I am missing

(UPDATE) I attempted to swap the horn relay for the blower relay and noticed that there is no cords behind the blower motor relay or the blower speed relay, if anyone has any ideas on this please let me know

6 Upvotes

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u/Effective-Gift6223 12h ago edited 11h ago

You said it hasn't been working for a year. Was it working before that, and stopped, or did you just get the car a year ago and it already wasn't working then?

If it just suddenly stopped, but it worked before, why would it be the missing relays? Did you or someone else remove them? Unless your car has been vandalized, or you removed them, if it worked a year ago without them, that's not the problem.

You said you "looked at the engine and all that", what do you mean "all that"? Why were you looking at the car's engine for the problem?

Since the blower started right up when you touched the blower wire to the battery, there's a problem between the blower and the battery.

There must be a switch or a different relay that isn't working, or lost connection. Could it be a wire chewed by mice?

If you have an OBD scannner, see if that shows anything. If it's a '97, it should have a port.

Edited to add: Did you try it on all speeds? Was there any response at any speed?

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u/Smart_Dig632 9h ago

Already wasn’t working when I got it, when I say I checked the engine and all that I mean I checked the things related to the heating in the engine such as changing the thermostat, adding more coolant, checking the blower motor, etc

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u/Effective-Gift6223 9h ago

Thermostat and coolant wouldn't affect whether the blower is working. It started working when you connected it to your battery, but otherwise it doesn't work.

Was it noisy when it came on? It it's loud, you might just need a new blower motor, and blower motor resistor. They do wear out, and your car is pretty old. It's likely to need these parts replaced.

Check YouTube for videos about replacing the blower motor and blower motor resistor specifically on your car's year, make & model.

Another thing to try is turning on the blower switch, and tapping on the bottom of the blower motor and see if it starts turning. You can usually teach under the dash under the glove box, and tap on it there. You might need to remove the glove box to do this. YouTube can show the procedure. If there aren't any videos for your specific car, look for a similar model. With most cars the procedure will be similar.

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u/Effective-Gift6223 9h ago

Also, check for loose wires under/behind the fuse/relay box. Since it hasn't worked the whole time you've had the car, those missing relays could be the problem.

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u/Sbass32 18h ago

You could try feeding it power to see if it works if it works you need to look at the heater control module. If its a newer car you might need to plug into the odp2 port and have a chat with the bcm or some such unit. If it's none of that you have a relationship or wiring issues.

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u/Effective-Gift6223 12h ago

The OP already said it worked when they fed it power. Also said it's a 1997 Buick. Did you read the post at all, or only the title?

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u/Sbass32 10h ago

It was late I was the ER with my Mother. Her BP went screaming high. Nice of you to post some useful insight lmao. What er my shit works so at the end of my day so no worries. Do they pay a lot of money for correcting the internet? Asking for a friend.

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u/Effective-Gift6223 9h ago

Do they pay a lot of money for correcting the internet? Asking for a friend.

If they did, some of us could get rich.

Sorry your mom is having health problems. I hope she gets better soon.

If you don't have time to read the post, you probably don't have time to waste on a reply with no idea what they need to know.