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AC switch question Pages: 12

pippo on Tue October 27, 2009 3:11 PM User is offline

Hi guys,

Car is 87 sunbird with AFTERMARKET ac. After 21 yrs, I am questioning why the shop rigged my switch (in cab, on dash) this way: turn it ON to 1st position and ac kicks on, all fine, on LOW. Click switch to 2nd position and no change in speed one can hear of blower. Turn it to 3rd position and blasts to HIGH.

Sheesh, it goes from low, to low, to high. Does this sound right? Any way for me to investigate how to make the 2nd position from low to medium? Do I have to yank dashboard out, cuz if so, probably not worth it for now.......

Thanks, Men.

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Edited: Tue October 27, 2009 at 3:12 PM by pippo

JACK ADAMS on Tue October 27, 2009 6:32 PM User is offline

With most aftermarket a/c systems they use a different blower than the OEM heater blower. If this is the case you will need to check the color of the wires. Should be a Yellow wire for Low blower, Red wire for Med blower and orange wire for the Hi blower. Make sure that you have power on all three speeds at the switch. You may also need to check and see if you have what they call a blower resister or if the motor is a three speed fan.


The more info you can provide, the better the chances of us helping you out.

pippo on Tue October 27, 2009 7:12 PM User is offline

Thanks v much, Jack. I will get into that switch panel maybe tomorrow and report back.

Joe

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pippo on Wed October 28, 2009 3:37 PM User is offline

OK...took the switch apart, and found the following (hope I can explain well without a picture):

Back of switch has tot of 9 wires.

On left (drive) side, vertical, from top to bottom, is Yellow, Orange, Yellow, orange (to 4 copper"pins")
On right (pass) side, again, same sequence as above, white, red/blk, Tan, Red, Blk (tot of FIVE pins).

Hope this provides some clues, Jack (or any other member here). Im gonna try to crawl at the motor, if possible,as some are very well buried.

Thanks!!
Joe

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JACK ADAMS on Wed October 28, 2009 3:58 PM User is offline

Check and see if the OEM heater blower has all the speeds. Did you have a chance to check the blower motor for the aftermarket air side? See how many wires are on it.

Get back with us as soon as you find out what you have.

pippo on Thu October 29, 2009 5:29 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
Check and see if the OEM heater blower has all the speeds. Did you have a chance to check the blower motor for the aftermarket air side? See how many wires are on it.



Get back with us as soon as you find out what you have.

OK, Jack, just checked and OEM blower has all 3 speeds working, though, it appears to not be as powerful on high as the aftermarket HIGH position.

Also, the ac blower motor is very accessible, and has 4 wires to it: Or, Yel, Br, and Red.

Thanks!

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JACK ADAMS on Fri October 30, 2009 1:03 PM User is offline

Take a test light to see if you have power at the aftermarket blower motor wires, all three speeds. The brown wire should be the ground. I’m thinking this may be an old ARA unit buy the way you are describing this system.

pippo on Fri October 30, 2009 3:08 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
Take a test light to see if you have power at the aftermarket blower motor wires, all three speeds. The brown wire should be the ground. I’m thinking this may be an old ARA unit buy the way you are describing this system.

Got it, Jack. After I go do this errand, I will get to it! Got my fingers crossed! (its still HOT down here)

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pippo on Sat October 31, 2009 12:44 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
Take a test light to see if you have power at the aftermarket blower motor wires, all three speeds. The brown wire should be the ground. I’m thinking this may be an old ARA unit buy the way you are describing this system.

OK, Jack, heres what I got: Red, Yel, and Or colors have power on all 3 speeds. Brown must be ground, as no light comes on the test light. Only thing I noticed is on the 2 low speeds Orange has a very faint light, which gets bright when switch is on High.

So what do we do next? Thanks for your coaching, Jack.

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JACK ADAMS on Mon November 02, 2009 10:10 AM User is offline

You will need to replace the blower motor as it has a short between the med and low speed coils. Is it a Single shaft or a Dual shaft blower?

pippo on Mon November 02, 2009 3:21 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
You will need to replace the blower motor as it has a short between the med and low speed coils. Is it a Single shaft or a Dual shaft blower?

Hmmm, interesting. Dont know about the single/dual. I will check asap. Anything to look for? What is a dual shaft? I cant picture a motor with 2 shafts.

Also, pls explain a bit about why the motor is bad, I mean, it runs, but why doesnt it run in medium? Does it have anything to do with the dim test light?

Thanks, jack v much for your support!

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JACK ADAMS on Mon November 02, 2009 3:29 PM User is offline

The blower motor will have one or two blower wheels, but I’m sure you have a single shaft motor. You will need to make sure though. The motors have three windings in it, the medium is shorted out and could be crossed to the low side windings thus causing you to have a dim light on that lead.

pippo on Tue November 03, 2009 8:16 AM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
The blower motor will have one or two blower wheels, but I’m sure you have a single shaft motor. You will need to make sure though. The motors have three windings in it, the medium is shorted out and could be crossed to the low side windings thus causing you to have a dim light on that lead.

Thanks, Jack. I looked at it and what I have is a motor in the middle with a shaft on either side of it, with 2 blowers, one on each end. Does that make it a double blower single shaft? Is it a standard set up?

I have an extra one in the attic, believe it or not Its from an Alfa 87 spider, probably Behr. could this work? How could I test it to be sure all 3 speeds function?

Im getting there..........

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pippo on Tue November 03, 2009 8:19 AM User is offline

Or maybe its better to spend for just a new motor, and pop it in with rest of the shafts/etc?

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JACK ADAMS on Fri November 06, 2009 5:40 PM User is offline

Look at the links I provided in the post above. This is one solid shaft but they call it a dual shaft blower motor because the motor will take two blower wheels. The wheels are removable and will need to be reused unless you break the trying to remove them off the shafts. You will also need to remember how they come off as they are directional. Not all motor are the same so you will need to remove yours and measure it to make sure the replacement is the same size.

Hope this helps and good luck..



Edited: Fri November 06, 2009 at 5:44 PM by JACK ADAMS

pippo on Sun November 08, 2009 12:34 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
Look at the links I provided in the post above. This is one solid shaft but they call it a dual shaft blower motor because the motor will take two blower wheels. The wheels are removable and will need to be reused unless you break the trying to remove them off the shafts. You will also need to remember how they come off as they are directional. Not all motor are the same so you will need to remove yours and measure it to make sure the replacement is the same size.



Hope this helps and good luck..

You sure have helped me, Jack. Youre a great coach! Now, I looked at your links as well as crawl under dash, and I have a DUAL shaft. I guess now theres no other way other than to somehow, upside down, unscrew the motor/blower wheels/shroud assembly from under dash, where it meets with the evaporator base, right?

Joe

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Edited: Sun November 08, 2009 at 12:35 PM by pippo

JACK ADAMS on Mon November 09, 2009 11:52 AM User is offline

Joe,

you may have to split the evaporator case to remove the blower motor in some cases. Hope this helps and good luck.


If you can take some pictures and post them, we may be able to walk you through the replacement.


Edited: Mon November 09, 2009 at 11:52 AM by JACK ADAMS

pippo on Sat November 14, 2009 9:14 AM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: JACK ADAMS
Joe,



you may have to split the evaporator case to remove the blower motor in some cases. Hope this helps and good luck.





If you can take some pictures and post them, we may be able to walk you through the replacement.

Sorry,Jack, didnt mean to delay but will try to do today. My trouble is that I have to be careful on taking this apart as my cars rad fan does not run without ac running, and its still warm here in FL. Once I yank, and put on bench, my car may not have functional fan and I need it daily. Then I need to size/match it, order, wait for ups, install, test........

Here it goes (holding breath)..........

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Edited: Sat November 14, 2009 at 9:15 AM by pippo

pippo on Sat April 17, 2010 1:06 PM User is offline

Wow, time flies. I did get the rad fan problem fixed. Now, with the heat back, time to tackle this (hey Jack, are you still there? LOL)

So, I got the motor/dual cage/housing on the bench. But Mna, I cant split the housing...seems like the stuck spot is around the dang motor, like maybe that rubber vibration jacket that wraps around the motor or something. How do you get it out, guys? Heat it with a hot gun/hair dryer? Last thing Im gonna do is crack that housing.

Thanks, Peoiple!sinew


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pippo on Sat April 17, 2010 1:09 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: pippo
Wow, time flies. I did get the rad fan problem fixed. Now, with the heat back, time to tackle this (hey Jack, are you still there? LOL)



So, I got the motor/dual cage/housing on the bench. But Man, I cant split the housing...seems like the stuck spot is around the dang motor, like maybe that rubber vibration jacket that wraps around the motor or something. How do you get it out, guys? Heat it with a hot gun/hair dryer? Last thing Im gonna do is crack that housing.



Thanks, People!



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pippo on Sun April 18, 2010 9:11 AM User is offline

Its a rainy day, guys, and inside garage work is all I can do....like opening up that case to remove the bad motor......any tips would be helpful! Thanks in advance


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TRB on Sun April 18, 2010 10:27 AM User is offlineView users profile

Aftermarket A/c, cut the glue joints and remove the retaining screws. Just be careful as you go.

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pippo on Sun April 18, 2010 12:32 PM User is offline

Quote
Originally posted by: TRB
Aftermarket A/c, cut the glue joints and remove the retaining screws. Just be careful as you go.

I did it, TRB! Thanks, Man. Even on a rainy day, its good to get something done in the garage! Now, I did measure carefully, and the diameter is 3.0#, the length is 3.0# (3.25" base of shaft to base of shaft), and the shaft diameter is 5/16" (the fully round diameter). The shaft does have a machined "flat" side to it though, I did not include this in my diameter measurement.

Is the motor on the abobe link (few posts ago) pictured at AC Kits (for about $31 or so??) the right one?

Thans!

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pippo on Sun April 18, 2010 12:47 PM User is offline

OK, just checked that link to the universal motor, and it appears to match. 3" diameter is 1.5" radius, and circumference =2 Pi r=about 9.5". Only thing, my shaft tip to tip is 97/8" and that one slightly over 10", but I dont believe that is a problem, right TRB?

Give me the OK and its order time on Monday morning!!

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pippo on Wed April 28, 2010 4:33 PM User is offline

it worked!! Cooool....(no pun). All 3 speeds working! I know, I know, you guys that do this maybe every day, have done maybe 3-400 of these are saying "whats he so excited about". But, Man, I like a challenge, especially if I had not done it before.

Thanks to all here who offered help, and thanks AC Kits!

Pip

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