Solution To Flickering Fan Speed 2 Or 3 A/C PART 2

Either way will work

wazosk8 said:

Hi, I know, I am bringing up an old post....please don't kill me!

I am new here, I have been on ClubMazdaProtege for several years now. I have been reading a lot on this AC flickering problem on other posts on Mazda247.

I just wan't to know, If I change my HVAC with the revised version (The good one), will it fix the problem? (http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/archi...123745623.html) Or is the problem still present even with the good module?

Click to expand...

I soldered mine directly to the module, works fine for me has worked for past 3 years

hurleyblink said:

I soldered mine directly to the module, works fine for me has worked for past 3 years

Click to expand...

Yeah I posted on another thread, I think my problem is more related to the HVAC module rather than the switch. I will try making the HVAC module Fix. Hope it works, but of what i've hear, it's magic and works everytime!

I soldered my wires to my fan switch last night, now I have all fan speeds except the light flickers between 2 & 3. I know my connections are good and solid, my guess the contacts on my switch are worn or pitted and either need to be cleaned or the switch needs to be replaced. My suggestion to anyone b4 doing this mod would be to replace the switch then solder the connections. If your a/c light turns off for any or some of your fan speeds your wiring could be to blame but that doesn't mean it'll fix all of your problems by soldering the connections. New switch+solder=

CheeseHelmet said:

If anyone's interested, I came up with a rather simple solution to this problem, full how-to here: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123819018

Click to expand...

I've gone 3 or 4 summers now in SW FL without A/C on #2 and only sometimes on #3. Last night, me and a buddy (who also has a 2002 P5 with the flickering #2) fixed our cars with the solution that CheeseHelmet posted last year. So far, everything works just as it did when new. No flickering, not even when switching between fan speeds. A thousand thank yous CheeseHelmet!

rjmhotrod said:

I've gone 3 or 4 summers now in SW FL without A/C on #2 and only sometimes on #3. Last night, me and a buddy (who also has a 2002 P5 with the flickering #2) fixed our cars with the solution that CheeseHelmet posted last year. So far, everything works just as it did when new. No flickering, not even when switching between fan speeds. A thousand thank yous CheeseHelmet!

Click to expand...

+1 million. Have thoroughly enjoyed having non-flickering AC this summer.

Hank3 said:

+1 million. Have thoroughly enjoyed having non-flickering AC this summer.

Click to expand...

no love for the Ghetto fix? It's still working.

L0w_N_sl0w said:

I soldered my wires to my fan switch last night, now I have all fan speeds except the light flickers between 2 & 3. I know my connections are good and solid, my guess the contacts on my switch are worn or pitted and either need to be cleaned or the switch needs to be replaced. My suggestion to anyone b4 doing this mod would be to replace the switch then solder the connections. If your a/c light turns off for any or some of your fan speeds your wiring could be to blame but that doesn't mean it'll fix all of your problems by soldering the connections. New switch+solder=

Click to expand...

Heading in the correct direction. This is my 3rd Protg and they all have had the same issue. I have worked F-15 avionics for over 18 years now and I'm all about getting my tron on. The terminal connections could be part of the problem in some cases and the contacts inside of the switch might even get worn a bit. But the main issues is the wires themselves. Pull everything apart and grab a exacto knife and split each wire back about a inch and you will see that all the copper wire has corroded.

Quick fix but you will be back in there is just to use a wire brush to remove the green corrosion, then use some rosin of solder with flux built in and tin all the wires one at a time then tape them up.

The correct thing to do is to cut the wires back to good copper add new wire (I added two extra inches to provide more slack) by soldering it to the old wires you just cut. Slide on some heat shrink tubes, crimp on the new terminals that you can get at Radio Shack then use your heat gun and shrink the heat shrink. Put her back together and problem solved. I have not had a issue in the past 4 years now and have even fixed a few friends at work in the parking lot during lunch time. No flickering and no burnt socket and now all the wires are cool to the touch.

This worked for me. For someone who has barely any auto knowledge this was a great explanation! Thank you, now I can enjoy my AC.

Hello I am reading the solutions and before I hot glue and all I was thinking of Hotwire it to see if it will work. Mine only works on like 3.5 setting but when I hit wire it it acts the same as when it's hook up just the same as it was. Could someone help out? Plz

Well then!

The issue is outstanding in most Mazdas.

I'm having the exact same issue, so I'll learn how to do some soldering (or more likely buy out a friend who knows better to do it) and post back when I've completed the project in my little '02 Mazda Protege5.

So I'm another lost soul with AC issues..... I discovered this how-to after years of unsuccessful searching of anyone knowing what I was talking about..... Ran out to my car, pulled the connectors out of the (MELTED) white boot, crimped/solder/RTVed them to the switch....

I HAVE AC AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(thank you thank you thank you for this fix... it worked for me.)

I'm no genius but it seems to me the problem stems from the fact that the relay is between the ignition and the blower motor and that there's no relay between the blower motor and the fan speed switch. That's a high amperage motor so all the current it pulls runs through that fan speed switch. Position #2 is the most commonly used speed, in my case anyway, so it seems logical for failure to occur in the #2 position. #3 would fail next because who drives around in summer heat with the A/C blowing in position #1? (or heat in the winter) Not me. When #2 failed I simply moved to #3. Then it fails. I'm 10 years into owning this car and just now experiencing this issue.

I don't think the fan speed switch is heavy enough to handle sustained high current running through it so the connection points heat up, become damaged, and fail.

Mazda really should have put a relay between the fan switch and the blower.

What is the correct path for the longer cable? I've got it wrong, because its hard to turn the temperature to warm.

So mine does this too, but it wasn't the spade connectors. When I took the control unit apart (sorry didn't think to post pictures) I found a loose plastic nut that was connected to the rheostat (knob) control. When I tightened that up, I got #2 and #3 back again. The OP mentions the nut in post #11 (http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123710367-Solution-To-Flickering-Fan-Speed-2-Or-3-A-C-PART-2&p=3911995&viewfull=1#post3911995 - step 9) but mine had cracked, so the whole rheostat unit (attached picture #1 from first post) was loose, giving me no A/C on 2 or 3, but I could get A/C if I finely tuned the knob to somewhere between 2 and 3. I don't know how long mine will hold, but if it doesn't, I'll probably just get a new unit.

Wow...opened mine up, and this is my terminal/harness:



Do I need to replace it, or can I clean it like most of u? Has anyone else's looked this corroded & melted? Part #?

My #4 is starting to flicker. #2&3 were out already when I bought it a year ago.

Thanks!

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

JLiRD808 said:

Do I need to replace it, or can I clean it like most of u?

Click to expand...

What does the control unit side look like? Presumably pretty chewed up too.

If that was my car I would probably replace both sides of any connection that had heated up that much. I don't recall what the connectors on the control unit side look like, but that might mean unsoldering some fairly hefty electrical connectors. Assuming you can find the right spades and connectors. Most likely they are available somewhere on line but best of luck to you finding them. Probably the easiest route would be to pick up both the cable and another control unit at a junk yard. However, only go that route if you can inspect them first to verify they are not also burned.

Hi Folks,
I've had a P5 for a little over a year now with this issue. At first it flickered on 2, then 2 quit working completely. This didn't bother me much, so I didn't really bother trying to fix it. Then 3, and finally 4. Down here in the south it gets HOT in the summer and having a car where the AC only works on position 1 just doesn't fly. I tried to check connections and the connectors, blower resistor, etc to no avail. Everything checked out to spec. After looking at the wiring diagram discovered that the blower motor seems to get its power through the fan speed switch so i checked that next. Most of you folks do have the right idea that it IS a connection/high resistance problem, however what i found is that the connection issue is not the source, but a side effect of the root cause of the actual issue, which appears to be the fan switch itself. This is why many of you have found that pinching the contacts will offer temporary fix but not always a permanent fix. Here is what I did and it's working perfectly ever since.

I will say that I think there's several different actual issues here, this seems to be a pretty poorly designed system. But this may help some of you. Even if your AC is working fine and nothing is melted, i would really recommend checking this and doing it at the first sign of issue to prevent having to repair melted connectors.

First, remove the AC control panel from the dash. This has been covered so I won't go into detail here.

1. Then Remove all 3 selector switches. They just pop off. (pic1)
2. Remove the face of the AC control head by carefully prying up the 4 black locking tabs, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom. (pic2)
3. Once that is off, remove the 2 screws holding on the orange plastic panel behind the face. (pic3)
4. This will expose the little plastic nut holding on the fan selector switch and allow access to it. Be careful, this may be brittle and break easily.
5. Remove the fan switch by unscrewing this plastic nut. Then take the back cover off of the fan switch by carefully prying under the 3 little plastic tabs holding it on. (pic5)
6. This will expose the copper contacts. Be careful, there are 2 springs behind the copper plate that may fall out. Also on the back side of it (by the stalk where the knob attaches) there is another spring and a detent ball. Be careful not to lose any of these parts, they're important!
7. My contacts were covered with black dirt/debris/gunk from years of use. Use a bit of emory cloth or something similar to clean all of the contacts so they are nice and shiny and clean again. Do this for both the side on the stalk (held up by the springs) and the side with the connector contacts. (pic6)
8. Once all of the contacts are nice and clean and shiny, apply a bit of fresh dielectric grease and reassemble in reverse order.

Enjoy the cold AC in the hot summer heat

Took me all of about 20 minutes to do, start to finish. I believe this to be the root cause of the issue (at least for me), creating the excessive heat/resistance that is actually CAUSING the connector to melt and the contact to become weak in the connector contacts. This is why smashing the connector terminals a bit may improve it short term, it is getting more voltage to the switch. However, as time goes on it will eventually fail again because the actual failure point has not been addressed.




View attachment 213971
View attachment 213972
View attachment 213973
View attachment 213975
View attachment 213976

I just replaced the whole control switch and Im good....not sure for how long tho.

Bad on left, good on right:


My terminal is still jacked tho.... surprised just swapping the switch even worked. Not looking forward to splicing/spading it down the road:


Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

ive had a total of four 3rd gen proteges and i finally ran into this issue. on very hot days, it only wants to work on speed 1. after it cools down (usually later in the day or on subsequent drives), speed 2 will work but speed 3 may flicker. super annoying.

323 said:

ive had a total of four 3rd gen proteges and i finally ran into this issue. on very hot days, it only wants to work on speed 1. after it cools down (usually later in the day or on subsequent drives), speed 2 will work but speed 3 may flicker. super annoying.

Click to expand...

Lucky my 2 and 3 just doesn't work and 4 flickers. I have to turn it off and on off and on for it to stop flickering.
I have yet to do this because I've had other issues and no solder.