1996 Camry a/c fan problem. - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Bobber · 08-25-2010, 03:57 PM

Hello,

I have a 1996 Camry, which I bought 3 years ago when it only had 47K miles. I've had an intermittent ac issue which entails the fan not blowing for periods of time ranging from 30 minutes to 1 or 2 days before it starts working again. Many months can go by before the problem reoccurs. It has happened recently for the first time in many months, once after freeway driving about 4 hours with the a/c on. After a half hour or so it came back on. Yesterday it would not work after starting the car in the morning and it hasn't worked since-2 days later. I'm getting the sense it may not kick back in but could be wrong. Also wondering if very hot weather may be a contributing factor. Checked the fuses for breaks and corrosion and they seem to be fine. Any advice would be appreciated.

73sport · 08-25-2010, 04:13 PM

Are you talking about the blower fan for the interior or the engine radiator fans?

I suspect you're saying the cabin fan, as otherwise you may have mentioned the car is overheating but there was no mention of that.

When it works do all fan speeds work? Have you tried rapidly changing blower speed settings?

You might want to download and read the AC.pdf from camrystuff.com on the Gen3/3.5 it has lots of diagnostic tips. Let us know so we go the right direction. . .

Edit: I suspect the Heater Main relay, followed by the switch, followed by the A/C amplifier. . .

BamZipPow · 08-25-2010, 04:32 PM

I would even suspect the blower motor (brushes) and the power connector to the motor. It doesn't take much to pull that down and test it.

73sport · 08-26-2010, 11:35 AM

hmm . . .

Thanks for the Thanks, always nice to see but is it the cabin fan at fault?

Bobber · 08-26-2010, 04:03 PM

It's the cabin fan. As I was driving home from work last night it kicked back in and is working again. Could the motor brushes be dirty or the relay, and if so, can it be checked if the unit is working? I may be asking the wrong questions so any clues you have would be appreciated.

73sport · 08-26-2010, 05:32 PM

So this car has under 100,xxx miles on it? Is it humid where you live? Strange it would have this kind of problem. . .

Weak links to me would be the relay although I believe its sealed.

Thoughts:
the next time it does not come on, remove the relay and/or tap on the relay and see if that fixes it. Hint, its not obvious where it is! Its under the kick panel near the RS below the glove box. Remove a big black plastic nut and pull the cover! The fuse and relay are both 40 AMP. And just because the relay clicks, does not mean the contacts make an electrical connection!

In your spare time, you could pull the blower motor and connect it directly to the battery using test leads (do observe the polarity). It should start and run every time the connections are solid.

FWIW:
Not easy to find the spec but the blower resistor values are:
B 5 BLOWER RESISTOR
6–2 : APPROX. 1.12 ohms
2–3 : APPROX. 0.5 ohms
3–1 : APPROX. 0.2 ohms

Bobber · 09-10-2010, 01:00 PM

Just wanted to update on the cabin fan issue. The blower was replaced and at least for the time being seems to have solved the problem. Hopefully will continue to be fine for the foreseeable future. Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations.