Heater blower resistor change - help!

[FLAPPERJACK7]

I was wondering, what makes you know that it needs changing? My heater seems to have 2 settings, "off" and "the furnaces of Dante's Inferno". Is this a similar issue? Of course I could just take it to my dealer but they're currently denying all knowledge of why it is pulling to the left (or that in fact anyone in the country has ever experienced this problem!!!) so I don't want to tax them too much as they seem easily distracted and are making themseles out to be simpler folk than I suspect they actually are!

Sounds like faulty heater controls. It normally stores a fault.

[barkel610@hotma]

Thanks to Hearny and of course Wino the expert great photos made every thing clear I struggled to remove complete airbag but with the help of a trusty crowbar got it free I changed resistor but sadly still no fan and its not the fuse booked into garage tomorrow have just bought 07 fabia mk 2 tdi 8 diesel for the wife ther is a few things wrong with it think I bought a load of trouble anyway thanks lads for your help I will keep you posted ----- ps.this is a great Site well done Briskoda

Edited 16 February, 2015 by barkel610@hotma

[barkel610@hotma]

Hi just a quick up date to the above took car to garage showed them the new resistor installed blower still not working said they would check it out? also asked for a service?check all brakes including hand brake?also washers not working? droped car off at 8.30 am wife recieved phone call 4.0 pm collect car and could she pay cash £220 for service that they could not fix blower they will arrange for electrician to check blower and rebook appointment?.could not do brakes because ther was not a locking nut tool in boot or any where else?.washers still not working?skoa dealer wants £92 + to remove existing lock nuts ? hmm I wonder wher I went wrong

I will keep you posted

[FLAPPERJACK7]

£92+ vat ....where they wearing stripey shirts? If you have genuine locking wheel bolts then the dealer will have a master set they will match the pattern then either remove them or the intelligent thing would be to match the pattern and then order you a replacement locking wheel bolt key which will cost about £20.

[FLAPPERJACK7]

If you are getting a live and an earth at the motor it's got to be the motor that's faulty and iirc you have to take the dashboard out to replace the motor.

[Tech1e]

Yes the dash has to come out. But it's pretty easy to do.

[dylofpoke]

I just replaced my resistor pack with one from a scrapyard, having practiced by taking one out of a scrap car, the swap took less than 10 minutes.

This is the advantage of using scrapyards, by the time you work on a car that matters you've had practice doing the same thing on a car that's already broken.

[terelton]

Hi All

Found this really helpful, particularly the photos. My model is different in that there is no pipe visible but resistor housing is in same position. My heater housing is circular which added to my confusion trying to identify location for resistor.

 

However , even after double checking everything I have the airbag light on in the cluster. I switched it off at passenger door and didn't disconnect the battery. Has anyone found this . Is it just needing the code wiped or is something wrong . Just trying to avoid garage charges as otherwise it seems to have been a successful fix.

 

Thanks,

Terelton 

[nor]

Hi Re the thread of a resistor pack failing. I have a 2013 fabia Monte Carlo with the same problem. I have accessed the resistor contained within the ac filter housing under the dash but can't reach it to remove. Does anyone out there know how to get it out please

[foundsound]

Thanks for the pointers all, I've replaced my resistor pack without too much grief. Hardest part is getting the airbag out, but levering it up from the metal underside works.

 

This video was helpful too: 

 

[Oldfellah]

Thanks for all the helpful words and pictures here. Just done my Fabia resistor pack. Only tips to add would be:

1. I stuffed some rag into the apertures below the three Torx screws holding the airbag unit in place to prevent dropping them. Not having a magnetic bit I made a wire loop to pull each screw against the bit when removing and replacing, again to avoid dropping them.

2. Having removed the three Torx screws , use a nylon trim removal tool to prise up the cover from the top of the dashboard. (Like the screwdriver is shown being used in the above video - thanks foundsound - but a trim tool won't do any damage.) It's the cover lugs which are preventing the airbag unit from being pushed out from below, so that becomes very easy.

3. I wore gloves when delving into the resistor area as the adjacent metal frame is very sharp.

4. Skoda manual says to switch ignition on before reconnecting battery earth lead. This avoids having anyone in the car when the ignition is made live again in case the airbag goes off at that point. 

5. Test all the fan speeds now work before reassembling anything. (If the airbag is still disconnected you'll get an airbag error code which has to be erased. Check that does erase permanently before reinstalling the airbag.)

 

 

[MijIsTired]

All the blower & resistor info in various threads = just changed it, and the ice blasters are now producing a gentle breeze, and we can have a conversation at the same time. Bloody marvellous. 

 

However, what comes out does not necessarily want to go back. Anyone got any top tips about how to get the sodding airbag cover to clip back in? I've lined it up, I've tried every angle, corners first, anything else first, and shoved torches every which way to see what's causing the most resistance, poked at the various lugs and clips to ease them under the lip but no, something just will not go. 

 

And please don't say 'just give it a shove', as the angle of the windscreen plus my lack of physical bulk = I can't deploy the little weight I have in the right place. 

 

Anyone..? 

At least the rest of it went OK. To add some more 'things I discovered while deep in the dashboard of a Fabia' to community knowledge:

 

• The 3 Torx 27 screws were too deep, and too content to stay where they were, for a regular screwdriver to shift them (also, I'm tiny, so I have to deploy brains where brawn is lacking). Had to cobble together every converter and extension to create length and leverage. 
• I did something similar to @Oldfellah, but rather than rags I used a parking receipt to create a shoot under each Torx screw from the airbag fixing points, as they're helpfully positioned over holes.
• Levering out the airbag from below makes sense, but was nowhere near as simple as the YouTube video above suggests (though it's still the most helpful one out there for those of us with a top glove compartment). I ended up using one screwdriver to create another, higher pivot point, so I could apply more force from below with the first one. Lost some skin doing that one, despite the gloves. But I'm gonna go and order a set of plastic trim removing tools, as I've got something else to fix now, and as a PP said, it probably would have been easier to take the lid off from the top. 
• The cable that runs to the airbag was attached to a little clip, that was covered up with the insulation, so initially I thought I wasn't going to be able to get the airbag out high enough to even get underneath it. I've posted a photo below. But once it was out, there was enough cable (just) to rest the airbag on the dash and remove the power.

 

 

 

• It's worth taking photos closer up than you can physically get with your eyes, so you can see exactly eg how the power goes into the resistor pack, so saving time wiggling the wrong bit of black plastic. Just hold on to your phone tightly!

 

And just because it worked, however stupid it looks...

 

[broeknairblowerplshalp]

I have been searching for hours for some information on WHERE this bloody resistor is located, there is NOTHING on the entire internet!!! I'm going to die of heat stroke or road rage at this point. What a terrible design flaw.

[Breezy_Pete]

@broeknairblowerplshalp Try this: Heater resistor skoda fabia 2019 - YouTube

 

Edited 15 August, 2023 by Breezy_Pete

[broeknairblowerplshalp]

54 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

@broeknairblowerplshalp Try this: Heater resistor skoda fabia 2019 - YouTube

 

 

Much appreciated!