Arty Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 '95 Legacy Outback The blower for my car seems to go on and off when it wants. One second it will be working fine, the next it doesn't work at all. The blower motor itself is brand new, and I know that's not the problem. At first, I was able to just wiggle some random wires under the dash and have it come back on, but that doesn't seem to work anymore. Anyone have any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olnick Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Most cars have a "resistor block" that controls the blower speed, usually in 4 steps. They can burn out, or maybe the connections have corroded. Should be in the wiring just before the blower itself. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessekrs123 Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I had this problem with my Legacy a few months back. An easy way to trace the problem is to look for power. With your air system on, check for power to the blower motor, if power is getting to the motor, but it doesn't spin, the blower motor is bad. If there is no power to the blower motor then... Check power to the blower motor resistor. If power is getting to the resistor but your blower motor still fails to spin, then your blower motor resistor is bad. If there is no power to the blower motor resistor then... Check power to the blower motor relay. If there is power into the blower motor relay, but no power to either the blower motor resistor or the blower motor itself, then the relay is bad. From my experience, it is rare that the blower motor and blower motor resistor go bad, so I would point my finger at the relay. A relay that is going bad will cause intermittent problems. On my 1993 Legacy, the blower motor relay is located underneath the driver's side dash panel, where all the wires and junk are. If your car is anything like mine it will be on the left side close to the fender. The blower motor relay is just a white color, and it looks similar to the fuel pump relay which is green. The relay will be on a bracket, I just yanked it off the bracket for easier access because it is a tight fit in there. Get a new relay from the dealer. In my experience, the relays are cheaper at the dealer than at the parts stores for some reason. Replace the relay and check your fuses. (I blew my blower motor fuses after I crossed some 12v wires and blower relay wires with my test light) So check blower motor > blower motor resistor > blower motor relay. My guess is it is your relay. Do the tests, develop a conclusion and report back here and we can furthermore help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Thanks for the replies. I hope it's the relay, as I really don't want to have to ever mess with the blower motor again... that thing was a royal pain. When I turn the knob I hear clicks at the A/C compressor, so that tells me it's at least getting that far. Like I said, for a long time I could just wiggle random wires under the dash and get it going again, but I think it just kicked the bucket last night. The wires I moved around are also located in the exact area that the relay was described as being in, so I'm probably going to look at that first. It'll probably be a few days at the very earliest, but I'll keep you all updated. Thanks again!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zundfolge Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 If you don' have one already, a basic digital multimeter will prove very helpful. Even a dumb test light would be better than nothing... I always keep alligator clips, paper clips and t-pins around to help securely probe electrical connections with a meter. Is the motor getting ~12volts? If not, then probe backward from there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I also suspect the relay is at fault. You could most likely tap on it and make the blower turn on if the relay is at fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted September 1, 2011 Author Share Posted September 1, 2011 Ok, guys... I looked all over the place and was unable to locate anything that looked like it could be the relay for the blower. I found light relays a and so on, but I just couldn't find anything else. Can someone PLEASE help me?? It's 100 degrees here now and I'm dying :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessekrs123 Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Here is where it is in my Legacy. Probably not too different from yours. This is the actual relay. The white/neutral color. It will be on a bracket, it is easy if you just break it off of the bracket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 Here is where it is in my Legacy. Probably not too different from yours. This is the actual relay. The white/neutral color. It will be on a bracket, it is easy if you just break it off of the bracket. Oh wow, ok. I did see a small portion of that while looking around, but it's far more buried in my car. THANK YOU for the picture. BIG TIME. Also- it's interesting to see you're rocking the rubber-less clutch pedal as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 I don't suppose anyone has the part number for the relay for a '95 on hand, do they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Try tapping on the relay to see if that gets the blower going. If it does then you know for sure the problem is with the relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessekrs123 Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Oh wow, ok. I did see a small portion of that while looking around, but it's far more buried in my car. THANK YOU for the picture. BIG TIME. Also- it's interesting to see you're rocking the rubber-less clutch pedal as well. Haha yes, the rubber was originally on the clutch but I moved it to the brake. I like to slide my foot off the clutch when I let it out. The part number for my first gen 1994 should be the same for your second gen 1995. I'm pretty sure that part number is 82501GA240, it just says "RELAY" on my invoice but the date matches up to around the time I got it so I'm pretty sure that is the right one. It costs $35. You might be able to get it cheaper at a local parts store or something, because I got mine for $24 because I'm very familiar with my dealer. It was like $28 at Advanced Auto Parts so I just got mine from the dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legwagon Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 had kinda the same problem and couldnt trace it anywhere...... i think it was the ignition circuit where it ties in somewhere...... it would work on 1 and sometimes 4..... then it gave out.... replaced the blower motor, resister, and control assy. ended up putting it on a 30 amp circuit..... mounted a switch on the kick panel..... its pretty nice lol..... except no speed other than high.... HA.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arty Posted September 9, 2011 Author Share Posted September 9, 2011 Ok, time for an update- The relay seems to be fine. I can hear it click when I turn the knob and the compressor kicks on as well. So I guess it must be the resistor block. I don't have a multimeter, so does anyone have a solid picture of where this thing is? If so, I'll just grab one out of the junk yard and slap it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 (edited) Even though you can hear the relay click the switch contacts can still be bad. Unless you verify that power is getting past the relay contacts you are pretty much wasting your time. You can listen for the sound and feel the vibration on the relay when you turn it on. I think the location of it is above the fuse panel but I'm not real sure. Edited September 9, 2011 by Cougar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxgap Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Just went thru the same type problem with my 90 Legacy. The problem with mine was similar, grab the wires and shake them, on came the blower. I had just replace my blower motor also. Out it came again and I found the wires connecting to the motor were slightly melted into the connector and not making good contact to the motor. I cut the connector off and soldered 2 new wires and teminals the same size as the ones on the motor. Put the thing back in and NO problems since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2gunslim Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Wow, that little bugger is hard to get at if you're not fairly flexible. It would be a snap if I could figure out how to get the lower portion of the "dash surround" out of the way. Doing it with one hand and no light is really fun! Well, it's in there and functions proper. I hope that fixes the intermittent problem. By the way the Car Quest p/n for that relay is: 56-1692. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtharris Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 I don't know if there's another/more current thread on this, but I have an issue with the blower motor on my 1999 Subaru Outback. Steps I've taken so far to test.... I removed the blower motor/fan. Hooked it up directly to battery (power and ground) and it runs smoothly and at a high speed. I removed the control module from the dash and disconnected the 3 connector plugs. Checked the ground connection for each connector and those were all good. No signs of anything shorted or burned. Tested the ohms on the switch and it seems ok with sequentially lower values from hi, med hi, med hi, and lo. Removed the connector at the resistor. I tested it with an ohm meter and got the following resistance values at 200 ohm setting on my meter. 1.8 for Med Hi, 1.5 for medium low, and 0.6 for Lo. It seems to be ok, but I have no idea what the specs should be. Can't find them anywhere. There is no power to the plug to the fan motor with the ignition switch in the on position and the control switch in any position with everything reconnected except the plug to the blower motor. I have a wiring diagram in a Haynes manual. It looks like power is supplied to the motor via a relay and ground via the the resistor. If that's true, it appears that the relay must be bad since there is no power to the motor, and the switch and resistor seem to be ok. Thoughts from anyone? Thanks 99 hvac wiring.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvu Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 4 hours ago, rbtharris said: I have a wiring diagram in a Haynes manual. It looks like power is supplied to the motor via a relay and ground via the the resistor. If that's true, it appears that the relay must be bad since there is no power to the motor, and the switch and resistor seem to be ok. Not sure on 99's, I had a similar issue on an 03 and it did turn out to be the relay. For the 03 it was next to the fuse box on the drivers side, had to remove lower dash to access it. It was a cylindrical relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbtharris Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Thanks NVU. I went ahead and ordered a relay. Since I'm not getting power to the blower connector, I think that's the problem. Fuses are good. I don't want to go to the trouble of getting to the relay just to test it. It's 20 years old, so might as well replace it. This isn't a daily driver, so no rush to fix it. There were a lot of posts that stated that the power goes through the resistor, but that's not what the wiring diagram shows. It's also not the way the control on the ignition system works. Power to the coil is always hot. Control is via the ground side (crank sensor, computer, ignitor). It looks like the control of the fan works the same way. Power should go to the fan when the relay closes. Control works from settings of the switch and the resistor, which are on the ground side. If I'm reading the wiring diagram correctly. I could easily be wrong on this. I'd rather work on mechanical problems any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Check out the LoadPro. Great electrical testing tool. Dan has many videos on You Tube. Your multimeter can lie to you unless you are checking the circuit under load. Larry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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