glad you got it figured out. grounds don't get enough respect sometimes, imho. they really do matter...
tony

 

I'm not familiar with the whole of the HVAC piping, never having needed to replace a blower motor or resistor pack on these cars. I'm wondering about something, though.

I replaced a blower motor on my first car (1999 Chevy Cavalier. Laugh it up). The old one's squirrel cage was clogged up with pine needles, leaves, and various nastiness, the car was not equipped with a cabin air filter. If air flows through the CAF slot before getting to the blower motor on our cars, maybe stuff is clogged, causing no airflow to the resistor pack? Would cleaning the blower motor/piping, then installing a CAF help?

 

1979 Ford Pinto here.. Exploding Gas Tank and all! (Face Palm.)

Blowing the register piping out w/ compressed air (keep the PSI dialed down) couldn't hurt, but set it to floor registers first, keep all doors open, and be prepared for the resulting dust cloud that appears.. Ask me how I know. *And need to be careful w/ the top center registers, there's a screen/filter behind them, best to have the registers set to center when cleaning, so there's some airflow / back-pressure through them when cleaning.

re: cabin filter, the '00 here doesn't have one, it looks like there's a slot provisioned for it, but after seeing the resistor pack (it's a flat plate, and substantial), I didn't persue it, the cabin filter would probably just provide additional bedding material for the critters trying to move in here. :wink:

Dunno what the age of the battery in Mark's vehicle is, it simply may have been a hiccup due to cold weather -> an older battery. 'Tis the season for battery issues.

If Mark is cool about MacGuyver'ing the resistor pack every so often, that works too.

Even after cleaning all ground points in the engine compartment (at least the ones I could readily identify), I still see some momentary voltage drop in the interior lamp / headlights when operating the power windows or by hitting the brake .. With a good alternator and battery. (I'm sure there's one or two I missed, somewhere.)

I just make it a habit to shut down everything dark before turning the car off, and let it warm up a minute or so in the morning, before turning heat, etc. on, with these cold temps. here.. (With 15+ year old wiring, showing the Camry some luv can't hurt.)

If I could only teach the ladies to do the same.. Sigh.

 

Giving this some more thought you should check that there is air flow over the speed control resisters.

Usually when the fan is turned on some air flow is directed to the resister pack to cool the resisters. If that airflow is blocked those resisters will get over heated and high heat increases resistance which will lead to burnout.

I'm not convinced this is a ground problem. High resistance in the ground wire will cause that wire to heat. As well high resistance there will slow the motor, adding to the resistance in the resister pack. OP has not said the motor is turning slower.

 

Giving this some more thought you should check that there is air flow over the speed control resisters.

Usually when the fan is turned on some air flow is directed to the resister pack to cool the resisters. If that airflow is blocked those resisters will get over heated and high heat increases resistance which will lead to burnout.

I'm not convinced this is a ground problem. High resistance in the ground wire will cause that wire to heat. As well high resistance there will slow the motor, adding to the resistance in the resister pack. OP has not said the motor is turning slower.

That's an excellent point - since the only part that is failing is interior to the blower housing.. And depends on airflow for cooling.

Drop the blower motor & check the squirrel cage for critters first? Dunno - they like to try to move in the vehicles for the Winter months here.

 

If I had to guess, given that you have replaced the blower motor, the resistor pack keeps failing, and the (+) side of the circuit seems to be working ok (blower switch, wiring, fuses) - agree that the blower motor ground wire (-) is suspect and/or compromised.

A 'quick fix' would be to source both a donor replacement blower resistor connector, and blower motor connector from a pick-n-pull, restore the blower resistor connector back to factory (solder / use shrink wrap tubing / make it a durable repair),

then remove the blower motor ground wire for the donor motor connector, and run a bypass: route the blower motor ground connector to a good ground point on the side dash frame on the passenger side.

Remove the other wire(s) from the original connector, install in the donor motor connector, so you don't have to splice them / cut any factory wiring.

( IIRC, there is a ground point bolt already there on that side, either under the passenger kick panel, or somewhere above the kick panel on that side.. It's been awhile since I climbed under the dash panel.)

Running a new (clean) ground to the blower motor may help - if the (original) issue that caused this was severe enough to melt the resistor pack connector, chances are good the motor ground wire was affected / charred inside: either immediately at the motor ground spade connector, or for some distance below it.

* Using a DVOM meter w/ resistance test would help, but best way I've found to check would be to slit the insulation sheath open, expose the blower motor ground wiring @ the spade lug connector -> a few inches below, and visually inspect to verify.. Any (dark brown/black) charring of wire, or (green) corrosion present, would be a telltale indicator the wire was compromised. * But I would have a bypass wire made up and ready to go ( a "Plan B" ), before doing any kind of post-mortem, on the original wire.

Hope this helps.

 

Hi. The connector never melted. The blower motor resistor itself has been failing (blowing) once or twice a year. Running a new ground wire to the blower motor sounds like a good idea. I'll try that when I have time. Thanks

 

You really shouldn't have to be replacing the blower motor and/or the resistor every few years. I mean it is a wear and tear item but dammnnn

Something is going on electrical. If the car runs fine now, did the issue of the stalling occur when it was raining, cold, hot, etc?

 

extraordinary high current draw is usually due to bad grounds or bad wires. my 94 still has it's oem resistor in it, so your failure doesn't have to be due to age.
start measuring out your grounds everywhere. get a haynes or fsm and it shows locations of the grounding terminals.
tony

 

Yes

 

You mentioned you were soldering the blower motor resistor wiring to the part.

Is that because the (original) connector melted and/or failed at some point?

 

I should clarify. I'm not soldering the wiring...I'm soldering the resistor itself. It just has a big metal "pin" (don't know what else to call it?) that attaches to the body of the resistor...when it blows that pin just becomes separated from the body and can easily be soldered back on. So that's what I've been doing. It seems to blow maybe twice a year or so.

 

I replace the blower motor a few years ago because it died but I can replace it again it's a cheap item

 

Should have mentioned...the blower resistor blows about twice a year. I keep a spare one hand and cycle them in...resoldering the pin every time.

 

Have you replaced the Blower Motor at all ?

Blowing the resistor pack would indicate poor/bad ground to the motor, short in switch assembly or wiring -> to resistor pack, or issue w/ the Blower Motor itself (electrical) or assembly (binding fan cage, etc.)

 

If basic maintenance on terminals/connections doesn't help, depending on battery age, it may be nearing EOL -> time for replacement..

* But you might also want to consider replacing the blower resistor also - that part also seems to degrade (rust) w/ age & use - it was pretty spent on the camry here when replaced.

The one here wasn't quite as bad as this one, but close..

 

Thats the only time ive seem it happen. And of course its intermittent. I just started my car up now and its not happening.

 

So this only happens when using the fan on high? If you turn ALL your accessories on, lights on high beam, wipers, etc. this does not happen?

 

yep, test at the batt posts. 12.6 engine off, 14.2 engine running.
if less than 12vdc with engine off, then charge/replace the battery.
if less than 14.2 with engine running, then rebuild/replace alternator.
of course this assumes you have good clean connections at the battery cable ends and alternator connections and good cables internally.

lastly, if all else checks out, ensure your grounds are intact with voltage drop testing under load to ensure you have no more than about .3 vdc loss in the cables. this testing method is more accurate than ohming out the cables for resistance.
tony

 

Thanks. I'll check all that. Now that everyone mentions all this I do remember a couple of years ago I was having some issues where the lights would dim randomly. I ended up replacing the alternator...that was about 1.5 years ago. Have not experienced that issue again. I do recall cleaning and checking all ground connections and in fact I believe I ended up replacing both positive and negative battery cables as well. Anyway...I'll check all that out again...maybe a bad ground connection that I can tighten up. Thanks again

 

Yes, that could be it as well. I've had cars that had a failing alternator which allowed me to drain the battery enough to cause the car to stall/idle extremely low with my headlights on and caused my stereo system to keep randomly tunring off. All this while the 'CHARGE' indicator was not triggered.

 

How old is your battery? ... When you start the car, the battery is discharged to some extent, and takes a while to be recharged by the alternator. So, get a load test on the battery, clean and tighten the cable clamps, and check the voltage on the battery as it charges ... needs to be about 14 volts.

 

My '95 would stall out when I turned on headlights sometimes (like on the highway...at 70 MPH). I replaced the positive battery terminal with a brand-new one from the dealer, used new fasteners and used a Dremel and brass + nylon brushes to clean off all the rust. That fixed it.

Another time, same issue as yours, turned out to be a weak alternator. Have your alternator and battery tested at AutoZone or equivalent.

 

Welcome to TN!

This should help

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...th-generation-1992-1996-1997-2001/117043-idle-air-control-valve-camry-98-a.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...103-3rd-4th-generation-1992-1996-1997-2001/356544-diy-removal-cleaning-iac.html

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/107-camry-solara-lounge/128637-there-iac-cleaning-diy.html

 

Thanks. I thought someone might mention the IAC valve. I replaced mine probably a year and a half ago cuz I was having some idling issues..but not related to turning the fan on high. I can clean up the throttle body and IAC again and see if that helps.