heater problem

mazdaownz · Post by **mazdaownz** » January 11th, 2005, 1:48 pm

For about a year now i have gone without heat and AC, the thing is I know the heat works but the fan does not go, and as much fun as it is to pull over and roll down the windows till the glass is defogged in 4 degree weather, i would rather just get it fixed. Does anyone know what the problem might be and how i could fix it.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Teal_93 · Post by **Teal_93** » January 11th, 2005, 4:47 pm

Have you checked your fuses, in the fuse box down by the kick panel & the fuse boxes under the hood?

neutral · Post by **neutral** » January 11th, 2005, 6:09 pm

Agree w/fuse check. Did your blower motor make noise before it stopped working altogether or was it sudden? A bad blower will often make whining or whistling type noises for quite awhile as it goes bad.

mazdaownz · Post by **mazdaownz** » January 11th, 2005, 11:24 pm

No, one day i just went out to warm up my car and the heater wouldn't work. I thought it might be a fuse but i have checked every one of them and they all look fine to me, but there is one big one under the hood that i cant tell if it is good or not because it is covered all around and there is really no way to check if it is blown or not(at least none i know of)

Teal_93 · Post by **Teal_93** » January 11th, 2005, 11:28 pm

Yes the ones under the hood are tough to tell, but there is a little window on the top of the fuse. If you look you should be able to tell if it is blown or not.

If nothing works then I would look at replacing that fuse or take out the one that is in there & test it. That will tell you if it is blown or not.

Hope this helps

mazdaownz · Post by **mazdaownz** » January 11th, 2005, 11:36 pm

no i've seen those ones and those are easy to tell, but what i am looking at is a big fuse with a blue top(it looks like it might come out.

Teal_93 · Post by **Teal_93** » January 11th, 2005, 11:39 pm

Where is the fuse that you are looking at? Is it in 1 of the fuse boxes under the hood on the drivers side fender or somewhere else?

Grants · Post by **Grants** » January 12th, 2005, 12:53 am

The heater blower fuse is in the cabin.

If thats ok (just replace it anyway to make sure), you'll have to start poking around under the dash at the motor and switch.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » January 12th, 2005, 11:44 am

hmmm heater core (blower) well if your ac doesnt work wither...its most likely the fuse and / or blower.

MikeUK · Post by **MikeUK** » January 13th, 2005, 4:44 pm

Dont do what I did with my last car. I checked all the fuses and they were fine, so I went out and ordered a new heater blower.
It was a european car (RENAULT CLIO) and every thing was well packed in, I had to take loads of the car apart to fit the new blower. Just as im taking the old one out hey presto it started working, Turns out it was just lose some lose wire's. Bugger knows how they came lose, but thats life.

Always do your homework before you go spending cash.

mazdaownz · Post by **mazdaownz** » January 15th, 2005, 2:04 am

Okay heres the deal, i went through and checked all the fuses again but i also did replace the heater blower fuse with one from my stepdad's old mx-3 fuse. But it still is not working, could it be that i just need a whole new heater blower or is there something i might have missed?

Thunderstorm · Post by **Thunderstorm** » January 15th, 2005, 5:27 pm

Most curious...!
I have exactly the same problem.

I bought an 1998 MX-3 1.6i DOHC with a genuine 33,000 miles on the clock November 2004.
It was in excellent condition mechanically - apart from a dead rear wiper unit (it was only the fuse - previous owner didn't bother) and more disturbingly a dead heater motor!

Checked all the fuses but no joy.
Finally had it checked out by a mechanic friend of mine who established that the heater motor was infact alive and kicking.

He jury rigged it so that i can use it through the winter (but it by-passes the ignition system; and i always have to turn it off or run my battery down after engine shut-down).

I need to go back and have a dedicated electrician check out the fault properly. It appears to be something in the wiring. Behind the dash.
Could be a loose connection.
It could have been a mistake made when the CD-Player was being put in before I got the car.

So make sure you establish that the heater motor is still alive.
It could be a simple wiring job. Perhaps a loose connection.

Thunderstorm

Post by **MX-3.com** » January 15th, 2005, 6:25 pm

IS the problem that you guys are experiencing, the blower settigns don;t work at a certain level?

for example it works at setting 1, and 2, but not 3 and 4.
or it doesn't work in any of the settings?

If the blower settigns are acting up, it may be the Resistor. See page t-G-042 of the online shop manual for more information.

Thunderstorm · Post by **Thunderstorm** » January 16th, 2005, 6:12 pm

Thanks Jeff, but no, in my case it isn't the resistor.
The Heater motor has been jury rigged and works according to whatever speed I select.

It works exactly as it is supposed to despite the by-pass.
It's winter in London right now and we have had a few frosty mornings on the outskirts. Last week I had to defrost the iced up front screen using the heater motor on setting 4. It did it's job quite well and within 3 minutes I was able to shift the dislodged ice from the windscreen using the wipers. (Temp was only -1, but i digress...sorry).

Anyway, the motor works correspondingly to whatever speed you set it to. As far as I can see, the heater motor is in perfect condition.

I wonder whether the solitary "relay fuse" unit located deeper in the drivers side footwell - and upwards under the dashboard might be the culprit. It has a (red?) button on it, for re-initializing the relay if it trips. I wonder if it is up the creek? Or perhaps some connection between there and the heater motor itself.
Naturally I don't want to take it to a London Mazda Dealer who will happily scalp me - just to fix what might be a very simple, yet not obvious problem. Mazda are the very last resort.
My car is technically one of the last MX-3's made, so i'm kinda stumped that I have this problem at all.
The MX-3 is otherwise flawless - this particular version comes with disc brakes all round!
And the 1.6i DOHC IS powerful enough for me, considering my previous car had a 2.0i DOHC PGM-fi engine delivering 160bhp (1989 JDM Honda Accord 3rd Generation)

I suspect somehow the heater motor has become disconnected from the mains power bus of the car. It'll be something simple, but elusive.
If i do find out what it is, I will post the answer right here.

Thanks for the suggestion Jeff.

Thunderstorm