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

Hank3 said:
My wife's Protege sedan does this. If her lights flickers off, I move the dial slightly past 2 until the light flickers on and then move it back to 2.
Click to expand...

I played with this a lot more yesterday and the A/C light would come on consistently when the wiper was just above 2 (moving towards 3). Last year I disassembled the switch and took some pictures:

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4544180&postcount=65

and the thing is, there is nothing new to contact in that position. I think maybe what is happening is that in that spot the wiper is still making slight contact with 2, but perhaps just nicking it, resulting in a high resistance junction. The fan speed doesn't slow down noticeably but it is just enough of a difference that the controller lets the A/C compressor come on. If that is what is going on it is not a good thing, since a significant amount of power might be dissipated in the switch, possibly melting it. When switching between positions normally it would only sit there a fraction of a second, not enough to get hot, but holding it there is probably a bad idea.

Anybody know what the resistor values on the blower are supposed to be? Also what the corresponding currents through the blower should be? Those are things we should be able to measure, which would at least tell us if there is any problem with that part of the system.
 
Successful soldering repair

Much thanks to all the posters on this topic. I just soldered the connections, and so far (30 minutes), so good.

My only hiccup was pulling the wires out of the white harness. I ended up ripping the thing apart in order to remove them. I'm sure there is a better/easier way, so please post how other people have done it.

The whole thing took me 3 hours, but I spent a good hour on tearing the harness apart. Nothing was really difficult except getting the guts to pull off the bezel (it was a bit sticky).

Pasadena Commut, great tip on tying string to the metal hooks. Saved my butt.

Special thanks to Weborific for getting this started!
 
all i did was remove the plug from the switch, then i pulled the connector out of the plug and cut the female connector off (i did this to all the connectors), and put a new one it. that was in july and still running great
 
I just did this and it works fine for me now! I pulled each connector out and considered just clamping them down a little tighter and putting them back in the plug, but decided to just solder them all to it like you did... why not, right??
I actually tried to fix this one other time (before I came across this) by pulling it all out and inspecting the whole control module, but in the process I broke the threads off the fan control switch (which was WAY too easy to do) and then it just hung there not working at all... So I went to the junkyard and they had to order one for $50 from another junkyard. What a mess. Then it turned out to have amber lights when I needed them to be green but I decided to just live with it. SO, then THIS time, when I pulled it out, I noticed that the threads had (once again) been broken off and I just glued it back in place when I was done and pulled off the amber colored film from the inside and let my green bulbs shine once again! Now I'm a happy camper again and my car is happy as a clam. Thanks for all the advice! Good luck guys!
Entire project time: 30 minutes
 
So weird issue.....position 3 only works on a cold start. Once the car warms up, 3 no longer works. All other speeds work fine tho.
 
has a permanent fix been found for this yet? or do I have to get a new AC control unit. my ac works only on fan speed 1. I can get it to work between 3 and 4 if I play with it.
 
MAceves said:
has a permanent fix been found for this yet? or do I have to get a new AC control unit. my ac works only on fan speed 1. I can get it to work between 3 and 4 if I play with it.
Click to expand...

The only 100% permanent solution is to buy the updated control unit. The methods here work for some while not working for others. The soldering trick didnt fix fan speed 3 for me, so I bought the updated control unit off ebay for $60. I have not been able to install it yet due to the cold weather
 
Tzar177 said:
The only 100% permanent solution is to buy the updated control unit. The methods here work for some while not working for others. The soldering trick didnt fix fan speed 3 for me, so I bought the updated control unit off ebay for $60. I have not been able to install it yet due to the cold weather
Click to expand...

Do you have a link or part # to search for?
 
How do you disconnect the wires from the control unit?


These are the steps I got up to, then couldn't figure out how to remove the control unit.

1. Remove front bezel
2. Remove screws for control unit
3. Remove glove box to access rear of center console

I cant reach around and feel behind the control unit from the glove box. Is there another way to access?
 
mnkyboy said:
How?
Click to expand...

The two control cables run out to either side where they end in a loop which slides over a plastic post on a white rotating control wheel. To pull the control unit out you must first remove the loop from that post. Be careful, if you snap off that post it would be bad news. There is also on each cable, a few inches from the end, a black clip that holds the cable in place - you will need to disengage the cable from that clip. You should be able to see all of this clearly once you get your head up under the dash (for the passenger side, after taking out the glove box.)

Key point. It is crucial that the cables be routed correctly. If the cables are misrouted they may be able to attach to the wheels, but rotating the control will not easily rotate the wheel. To help with that, tie about 5 ft. of string onto each loop before pulling the unit out. That way the string will show you the path it took through the center console.
 
pasadena_commut said:
The two control cables run out to either side where they end in a loop which slides over a plastic post on a white rotating control wheel. To pull the control unit out you must first remove the loop from that post. Be careful, if you snap off that post it would be bad news. There is also on each cable, a few inches from the end, a black clip that holds the cable in place - you will need to disengage the cable from that clip. You should be able to see all of this clearly once you get your head up under the dash (for the passenger side, after taking out the glove box.)

Key point. It is crucial that the cables be routed correctly. If the cables are misrouted they may be able to attach to the wheels, but rotating the control will not easily rotate the wheel. To help with that, tie about 5 ft. of string onto each loop before pulling the unit out. That way the string will show you the path it took through the center console.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a big PITA with the cable routing, especially if this fix doesnt really fix the issue... :(
 
mnkyboy said:
Thanks for the info. Sounds like a big PITA with the cable routing, especially if this fix doesnt really fix the issue... :(
Click to expand...

The cable routing isn't difficult. The problem is that if one simply yanks the unit out, when it comes time to reinstall there will be more than one way to route the cables to their targets, and some of those won't work right. Similarly, if the cable comes out of the black clamp near its end it also won't work right, even though it is connected correctly at both ends and follows (nominally) the right path. If the cable is misrouted or not clamped when the control dial is rotated the cable will flex behind the console, as opposed to the metal part of the cable sliding within its sheath.
 
I just installed the updated unit and ALL fan speeds work flawlessly. Light remains solid the entire time
 
Tzar177 said:
I just installed the updated unit and ALL fan speeds work flawlessly. Light remains solid the entire time
Click to expand...

I don't suppose you had a peak inside to see what they changed?

I forget what the replacement unit costs, but if the only difference is a couple of different valued resistors it would be good to know, since then we could fix the units we have now for pennies instead of $$$ for the replacement.
 
pasadena_commut said:
I don't suppose you had a peak inside to see what they changed?

I forget what the replacement unit costs, but if the only difference is a couple of different valued resistors it would be good to know, since then we could fix the units we have now for pennies instead of $$$ for the replacement.
Click to expand...

I believe they changed the voltage requirements on the circuit board of the unit
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
The dreaded A/C Issue!
Replies
6
Views
3K
BenjiHoggi
BenjiHoggi
S
  • Solved
Fan Speed 1 and 2 not working
Replies
3
Views
2K
theice
T
M
    • Like
AC light flicker -- FIXED
Replies
8
Views
5K
BenjiHoggi
BenjiHoggi

Latest posts

Back