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Heater/blower fan stopped working


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I did a search and came up with mostly results from 80s subarus.

 

The fan doesn't work in any of the 4 positions. When I turn the fan from off to 1/2/3/4 I can hear an audible click (I assume the blower relay) coming from under the dash somewhere. I read from the loyal posts the resistor can fail, but when it does position 4 still works (which it does not in my case).

 

about 1 in 30 trips the fan starts working completely normally. I'm guessing my blower motor has seized up. What do you guys think?

 

I'm guessing the way to diagnose this is find the electrical leads running into the blower motor and probe for voltage. I stuck my head under there and can't see where the wires go. Anyone know where they are?

 

tia,

Derek

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Years back, I had a similar problem with 91 Leggie. I thought the blower motor was shot, so I bought one from a yard. Upon installation, I found existing blower was bound up with old tree leaves and crud. Once I cleaned out the mess, the old unit worked just fine.

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would be helpful to know what car you have...1st gen legacy's have issues with the controls needing re-soldering...

 

other than that - pull your glove box out for better access to the blower motor & wiring.

 

 

doh, should've put that in the OP

 

1995 subaru legacy

 

edit: also checked fuse box by left drivers foot and under hood and everything looks good

Edited by destey
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I'm with rooster2 on checking to see if anything is binding up the blower. I lived in a rural area a few years ago and had trouble with the blower not working in any speed setting on our Brat. Pulling the blower assembly, I found that a mouse had built its nest in the fan portion; cleaned out the nest, and everything was just fine.

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The trouble may be due to a bad blower relay (the click you hear). Though the relay seems to work, the contacts that supply power to the motor may be bad. Another possibility is the motor may have some bad brushes internally. By connecting power directly to the motor you will be able to see if the motor is the trouble or not. Tapping the relay can sometimes show up the bad contacts inside it.

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  • 2 months later...

I am actually having this exact same problem, with my 95 subary legacy wagon. I hope it is just a bad relay.

I can hear the vents moving to the defroster position and everything too. But just nothing works! I am going to a friends that has some things that we can test with though. Hopefully it will work out.

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I have one of these already pulled to put on Ebay. Tested while still in the car at all speeds.

 

I could probably do 25.00 shipped w/paypal.

 

With all the snow today I may take pics and list some items.

 

Like virtually brand new OEM Subaru headlights from the same car. Had just been repaired from an accident and the tranny went. Actualy the college kid drove it "while it made a noise" until the rear driveshaft came out of the tranny and beat up the tranny, exhaust, and floor. Not worth fixing. I've already started to part it. So if you need anything speak up. Otherwise it's all Ebay bound.

Edited by davebugs
clean up
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would be helpful to know what car you have...1st gen legacy's have issues with the controls needing re-soldering...

 

other than that - pull your glove box out for better access to the blower motor & wiring.

 

The plug where the power for the blower motor also plugs into the bottom right corner of the fuse box right where your left foot can stomp on it if you're wearing big snow boots... I just had to fix that on my '90 legacy -- the wire was all mangled going into the plug... hopefully it's fixed now.. if not, then maybe it's actually up in the controls, but it would go on and off as you moved your feet around...

 

Z

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  • 6 years later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I had similar issues with my 1992 legacy.  Heater blower intermittently not working.  Turned out to be a dodgy plug connector to the fuse box.  In my case, when the blower wasn't working, neither were my brake lights.  I swapped out the plug from a parts car and all has been fine ever since.  Was a few years ago.

 

Mike V.

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  • 5 years later...

I have the exact same issue with our 1995 Subaru Lagacy wagon. Audible click when I turn fan from off to position 1. But no fan. If I understand correctly from earlier posts, it could be the relay, or  it could be the motor? If it was a fuse I don’t think I would hear the click.  Where is the relay located?

 

thanks all

Edited by Sunnyside
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4 hours ago, Sunnyside said:

I have the exact same issue with our 1995 Subaru Lagacy wagon. Audible click when I turn fan from off to position 1. But no fan. If I understand correctly from earlier posts, it could be the relay, or  it could be the motor? If it was a fuse I don’t think I would hear the click.  Where is the relay located?

 

thanks all

does it blow on High?

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3 hours ago, Sunnyside said:

No it does not work on high. You can hear a click behind the steering wheel in dash area when you turn blower from OFF to low setting. 
 

I wish it worked on high!

You'll need to pull the glovebox out to get access to the blower motor. Disconnect the wires and test for power on all the settings as they mentioned above. If there's power then pull the motor and replace it. They aren't outrageously expensive and it's reasonably easy to do with basic tools.

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18 hours ago, Sunnyside said:

Needs to fit a 95 Subaru Legacy 

I just bought a new one without the fan cage and just swapped the fan cage over. It was less than $40 new, and it's common enough they had it in stock. New or Used, it shouldn't be a difficult part to find.

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