heater motor issues??

[pro street rich]

Well here we go again..it got bitter cold and the other day no heater motor...Had the car towed in to Ford and they fixed it??? The next morning no heater again.. called Ford and the parts are on national back order with no plans to come up with the parts soon. I was told this might go on for up to TWO MONTHS.... No heat and sub zero temps just does not work for me..
Has anyone else had issues with their heater motors??? By the way this is a 2012 SHO..... Just looking for some input here.....Rich

 

[SHOdded]

Sorry to hear about the heater issues! Can you give us a bit more detail on how this problem is manifesting? Clicking in the dash, no heat only in passenger side, no heat even after engine reaches operating temperature, no airflow, etc.?

Could be a faulty thermostat (stuck open) or air in the system or low coolant, in addition to faulty electronics/HVAC control unit.

 

[pro street rich]

no blower

Sorry to hear about the heater issues! Can you give us a bit more detail on how this problem is manifesting? Clicking in the dash, no heat only in passenger side, no heat even after engine reaches operating temperature, no airflow, etc.?

Could be a faulty thermostat (stuck open) or air in the system or low coolant, in addition to faulty electronics/HVAC control unit.

No matter where you put the controlls or what temp the car is there is no blower.
Their first fix was to take out the blower motor and clean everything and then it worked. This lasted for a trip to the store and when I came back out there was nothing and the dealer was already closed for the day. Now I am going to drive it over to them on Thursday if it stopps snowing and give it to them to keep till this is fixed...
We have a lemon law here that states 30 days without and they buy it back or replace it with new.
I do like the wheels on the 14 so you know which way I will go...lol... Just fix this Ford and make me happpy...

 

[nynd]

Sounds like the blower motor resistor control. It's a small box like unit mounted at the underside of the HVAC case which you should be able to see if you drop the glovebox. If the blower motor is seizing, it usually causes the blower resistor to heat up and burn out. At times, you should have the blower on low (as that should be the default condition for safety - front defrost should work to keep windshield clean). Anyways, if the blower is fine, then they should check the blower resistor.

 

[pro street rich]

does not work

Sounds like the blower motor resistor control. It's a small box like unit mounted at the underside of the HVAC case which you should be able to see if you drop the glovebox. If the blower motor is seizing, it usually causes the blower resistor to heat up and burn out. At times, you should have the blower on low (as that should be the default condition for safety - front defrost should work to keep windshield clean). Anyways, if the blower is fine, then they should check the blower resistor.

I went out to try it and nothing, no movement at all. I am calling Ford roadside and they can take this thing in. I am done playing with it....Rich

 

[pro street rich]

well Ford has it now..

They got the sho and agreed that the heater motor is not working. They say there are parts on order but they are on back order. Now they have them on unit down which means they will come asap. Trouble is they have no clue as to how long it will take...So now I have a escape to drive around with...boy what fun....lol..Lets hope they are getting the correct parts the first time as they say it could be a couple different things that are wrong with this one....Rich

 

[sperold]

Usually the fan motor works or it doesn't, and it is the easiest thing in the world to test when out of the car, so it is hard to imagine what the issue is.
The back-order statements sound fishy.... what parts are they ordering anyways? And it is only going to be one thing that is wrong... the "couple of parts could be the cause" statement only shows you they cannot do the diagnosis properly.

 

[SHOrod]

I agree that a pretty simple bit of troubleshooting should allow the dealer to identify the issue. There are pretty much 5 components that could be the issue here: 1) power to the components, 2) blower motor, 3) blower motor relay, 4) HVAC module/signal, or 5) blower motor speed controller.

I've pasted in the wiring diagram from the 2011 model year Ford factory service manual, I assume the 2012 is quite similar. Note though that the signal from the HVAC module to the speed controller is a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal and would require an oscilloscope to confirm the integrity. A multimeter can get you close, but won't show you if it's a clean PWM signal or not. The speed controller is not a simple resistor control.


-Rod

 

[pro street rich]

here is the latest

I spent the morning at the dealer today. They spent more than a hour looking for a new motor for this car. Their is one out west someplaced that they are having fedexed in. They said it should be here mid week. If this does not fix it they said it will be a long wait for Ford to supply the other parts it may need..I guess I will wait and see what happens. Mean while I just keep looking out the window at the snow falling and the fwd car sitting in my yard to drive.....what fun????........Rich

 

[SHOrod]

Did the dealer try to power up the blower motor sitting on the bench to confirm it won't run?

The length of wire on the connector should be long enough they could also try to run the blower motor from the car in the event it runs on the bench. Rather than just waiting for the blower to show up, I'd ask them to install a current meter in series with the blower, test it on the bench and see if it runs. If so, and it doesn't draw a bunch of current when running (probably less than 10A), I don't think the blower will be the issue. I'd then ask them to install a test light in place of the blower motor and see if the HVAC system will light the test light night and bright when on high speed. If not, the issue is not the blower motor and they should spend more time digging while the blower motor is in transit.

-Rod

 

[pro street rich]

blower motor.

They went to look at it again today and found the blower motor frozen up. Something inside it went away and that is what they are going to replace.. I hope this takes care of the car.....Rich

 

[SHO_Fast]

First post on this forum and I just wanted to get on and say "Thanks", as well as pass along my recent experience.

Last Friday afternoon, I had left the house to run a couple of errands when I noticed that the car was didn't seem to be cooling off inside. After playing with the climate controls I realized the blower fan was not working. Period. Mind you it was 85+ and at 3:30 in the afternoon, the interior was sweltering. After the first stop I detoured to my local Ford dealer, only to be told that the techs go home in 25 minutes so they would have to schedule me for Monday. Not impressed. So while I was there in their lot, I checked the fuses and relay. All appeared to be OK and swapping relays made no difference.

So when I got home I dropped the glove box and pulled the cover under the dash. I put 12VDC on the blower motor and it worked fine. (Both backward and forward. Oops!) Having done some research, including this forum, I decided the blower motor resistor (old school name) was toast. NOBODY had one locally and everyone could have one anywhere from Monday AM to later in the week.

I went with a DIFFERENT Ford dealer who could have one at 8:00 AM Monday. I picked it up and within a half hour after getting home it was all buttoned up and working fine. While I was at it I changed the cabin air filter. At 85k it was surprisingly nasty. (This also has to be ordered, no one stocked this either)

I want to give a shout-out to everyone who posted here and especially to SHOrod who put up the schematic that confirmed that the resistor was about the only thing left in the circuit that could be the problem, based on my diagnostics so far.

Thanks to everyone for their help, and I hope my experience will be useful to someone else.

Have an SHO kinda day and happy motoring!
Fred

 

[SHOdded]

Great writeup with DIY skills and a happy ending, Fred This forum is quite helpful, and SHOrod is no exception, IME.

Strangely enough, one of the most knowledgeable folks on this forum regarding the Gen I/II is rubydist, also known as Fred!

 

[SHOrod]

Forums are, IMO, one of the best purposes of the Internet. Lots of good information sharing on a lot of different topics.

-Rod