How to replace fan blower resistor on GMC Safari / Chevy Astro (aka GM Engineering)

[Bencrx91]

Take a look, I created a procedure out of it (lol).

http://www.benoitcloutier.com/BAGNOL...esistor_EN.pdf


Ciao,
Ben

[Britwrench]

Excellent!!!!!!!! Ever thought of writing repair manuals for manufacturers?

Never going to happen though, most of the current ones are unreadable, so why change a tradition?

[tatra]

very good writeup...........tech. eng. man. writers are probably putting a hit on you now.........don't mess with tradition.......

[Old Donn]

You're a little late, Ben. I thought had to do this job a few years back. As you mentioned, the resistor's a dealer only item and the price had gone up to $75 if memory serves. Went thru all the steps up to replacing the resistor. Turned out it was OK, the blower motor was bad. The blower's encased in a rubber boot. Had to cut out the front with a razor knife to access. That noise you thought was thunder was me shouting curses toward the GM Tech Center.

[Torque1st]

One thing to remember. The blower resistor may fail again if there is no airflow over it when tested.

[AWalker42]

Question: I ran into the same problem with my 2002 Safari and now have replaced the fan blower resistor for the 2nd time. Before the first failure, I smelled a burnt wiring smell . . . same for the 2nd failure. I did not encounter such problems until about 9 months ago. The van is now 8 years old. Why does the resistor continue to fail?? (and it now seems to fail more frequently)

[Red Green]

Your blower motor is going bad causing the resistor to fail.

[jethro29]

i would test your blower motor for a high current draw,that's probably what's burning up your resistors.

[Radio Flyer]

Look at the connector. If the terminals are loose, it will cause resistance. My terminals were burned. the pigtail cost just as much as the resistor. It also comes with all one color wire for even more fun!

[Lotek]

The problem is usually the connection at the resistor, I always replace the resistor and the connector at the same time. The telltale is that the connector has turned yellowish brown near the orange and/or black wires. If it were my vehicle and wiggling the connector made it work, I would be tempted to replace the connector only, cleaning the contacts in the resistor until they were shiny. Customer cars get both, since I can't be sure how long it will last, and the new resistor is an improved type. I believe the connector is available through the aftermarket much cheaper than from GM, it is a Delco pigtail, don't have the number handy. Blower motor failure is rare on these since it mounts sideways. Truck and some passenger car motors can fail because they are vertical and water can collect in the motor if the evaporator drain is restricted. If If the blower motor gets noisy, before removing it, reach into the fan opening from the inside of the dash (with it turned off) and feel around inside the squirrel cage fan to make sure there isn't any trash in there. You wouldn't believe some of the crap I have pulled out of blower motors... napkins, rubber gloves, other...rubber products, 1/2 a mouse...

[kidashley25]

it is located under the dash behind the glove box. there are 2 bolts hold it in place. remove the wire connecter and the 2 bolts and slide it out.

__________________________________________________ _________________
BLOWER MOTOR ASSEMBLY -- With fan blade; A high quality, direct fit OE replacement blower motor assembly.

[Hlidskjalf]

Thanks for the write up. Any insight as to why some of my astros only blow on defogger? I had the issue with bad fan resistor, but now a couple of my astros only blow through the defogger.

Ideas?

[MattT]

Originally Posted by Hlidskjalf

Thanks for the write up. Any insight as to why some of my astros only blow on defogger? I had the issue with bad fan resistor, but now a couple of my astros only blow through the defogger.

Ideas?

First thing I'd check is the body vacuum. Had a Jeep Grand Cherokee stuck on defrost couple weeks back. Body vacuum line had fell off the intake. Easy $20

[Lotek]

Originally Posted by Hlidskjalf

Thanks for the write up. Any insight as to why some of my astros only blow on defogger? I had the issue with bad fan resistor, but now a couple of my astros only blow through the defogger.

Ideas?

There is a plastic tube that connects to the pcv fitting on the left side of the intake manifold about half way back, the other end snakes in front of the throttle body over to a tee fitting near the A/C accumulator. A temporary fix is to use some vacuum hose to reconnect where it is broken, but the pipe is about $20 from the dealer and will last a lot longer than hose. I do it from the front, but it is a lot easier to remove the doghouse and get the engine side that way.

[Hlidskjalf]

Thanks, I had a look at the vacuum hoses. I have a few Astros and it seems the resistor and vacuum hoses all broke at the same time.

One truck had a clog in the vacuum line and the other crumbled when I grabbed it. I thought I was going to have to leave my arm inside there with that tight squeeze, lol.

Are those fan resistors dealer only items? The one in my 05' seems to look like the updated version. Did it come like that or was it previously replaced?

[rocklobster]

Hey guys digging up an old thread here and I think that I have the same problem on my 2003 Astro. Thanks for the tutorial BTW Bencrx91!

A few weeks ago I had a burning smell in the van and outside while driving with the fan on. Currently I am rebuilding the alternator and have the battery disconnected, yesterday I reconnected the battery and the fan started blowing on high without the ignition on, I played with the fan control switch and it controlled the headlights!

Finally I researched this topic and found the common problem of the relay. I pulled mine and it dosent look burnt it just looks as though the green coating on the exposed circuit board is peeling off. I am continuing to diagnose the issue by checking off the easy things first before I buy a new relay.

The question I have is should there be 12v at the wiring connection for the fan relay when the ignition is off?