Blower Motor stopped working

[NYChevoo]

Not sure what going on here but let me explain what happened. Starting out the day I had the a/c on and the fan switch on "high" setting. Sometime during the course of the day I noticed that the blower wasnt functioning on #4 setting eventhough it was set there. When I got home I shut down the car and pulled the 20 amp fuse in the panel located on the left side of the dashboard. That wasnt burnt. I then popped the hood, and checked the fuseblock and felt the relay which felt a little on the hot side to the touch, and I also checked the 30 amp fuse and that fuse wasnt burnt. I got back in the car and restarted it, hit the a/c switch, then turned on the blower. Nothing at all. At that point I went inside to take care of some stuff and left it alone. Later tonight I went out, started the car and the blower came on but still not at top speed. I let the blower run for like 20 minutes or so, and shut off the switch. Turned it back on and nothing. At about 12am I went out and checked it again, came on, not top speed, shut it down immediately, and turned it back on. Nothing after 1 minute of running. No fuses blown, maybe bad relay? Bad blower motor? Really sucks because about 2 months ago I had the a/c recharged and its freezy cold which is awesome!

[Petrified.Rabbit]

Blower resistor is a common gm problem.

The aveo even though a daewoo, seems to have the same design.

It's relatively cheap and most likely easy to fix, if it's like most gms.

[NYChevoo]

Ok Petrified Rabbit if its the resistor where is it located? Is it on the fan motor itself?

[Petrified.Rabbit]

the resistor is #3, it looks like it is held by 2 screws in the fan housing (see the little square with two holes in the lower housing picture.)

so from the angle, its the "furthest" thing under the dash on the passenger side.. right behind the actual fan blower.

[NYChevoo]

Thanks Petrified Rabbit for the diagram. I really appreciate it. I'll pull it out tonight and get a new one installed.

[NYChevoo]

Ok so I went out to my garage this evening and decided to get a start on getting the resistor out. Just for kicks I turned on the key to the pre-start position and turned on the blower motor and nothing. I gave the blower motor an easy tap with a mag-lite mini flashlight and lo and behold the blower motor came on and was blowing at top speed again. When I turn it on the lowest speed or position 1 i hear sort of a faint sound that sounds like when we were young and used to insert a playing card in our bicycle wheels. You know that sound. You think maybe while I'm there I should just put in a new blower motor? When I turn the switch off the blower motor doesnt come back on until I give it a slight tap again. Dead spot in the blower?

[Petrified.Rabbit]

from my understanding of the system, and the fact the resistor is in the same housing you are hitting, i would think it is still the resistor.

What i gathered is the fan itself doesnt have "speeds" but goes different speeds based on how much power its gets so to speak, so the resistor is what controls the different speeds. If the motor spins at any speed setting, then it is fine, its just not getting the juice from the resistor in all the switch positions.

I would replace the $20-30 resistor and see if that fixes the problem. the card in a bicycle thing almost sounds like something might have fallen in there, but all the same time if you be the broken resistor making noise.

[NYChevoo]

Definitely based on your advice I'm going to replace that resistor asap. I think I'm going to order it from gmpartsdirect.com. They seem to have the lowest price on it which in all actuality brings it up to the price everyone else has it when you include shipping.

[Pontiac1976]

The resistor have all ways been the main problem on cars, first bad connection's rust or corrosion bad plug there kicked pushed or been bent from stuff pushing up on it age. Now if the switch is shorting or the resistor and it left in for a long time it will start to burn out or wear the blower motor because if the ground is good connections the motors will last a long time in most cases. Now the Ac/ blower motors do work a little harder.
So they do wear a little faster, but if you can keep the plugs clean @ the connection corrosion at minable and the grounds good, corrosion out as soon as you see them getting bad your electric parts will last a longer time depending on heat hours of uses. Oh this all so means try to keep small parts out of the vents bigger dirt and ojects out of them too. Good Luck

[NYChevoo]

Much appreciated Pontiac1976. I believe I should do a quick run thru on the state of the connections just to be sure. I dont know? Six years heat all winter, a/c all summer constant use? I was just getting used to the fact that stuff will wear out eventually. I realized this because I just had a left wheel bearing and a right side ball joint done. I cant complain though. 114,000 miles and no real problems. Its been, and still is a great car!