Blower Fan

[Eeeekkk]

Hi again,

 

my blower fan stopped working yesterday. I was going to try changing the fuse before taking it to the garage, but looking in the manual it seems to suggest the same fuse controls the fan and and actual air con. Am I reading it right? I do seem to have air con, it's just the fan doesn't push it through on any speed.

 

If it's definitely not the fuse I think it'll be a garage job.

 

Thanks.

[nta16]

Firstly well done on consulting the Owner's Manual, although I found the fusebox in the engine bay didn't correspond with the diagram in the book but that's another matter.

 

My quick thought and I might be wrong  as the car is my wife's and neither are with me now - have you got the recirculating button pressed?  (Does that effect the fan, I can't remember).

 

I think there are different systems of hot/cold/air-con/climate/whatever they're called so might be different buttons and settings.

 

Everything is so interconnected on modern cars with the computer's ruling most of what goes on.

 

Perhaps a photo of your dash and heating controls settings with the ignition on so showing all lights and settings might help.

 

Edited 9 July, 2021 by nta16
ETA:

[JGrindel]

If the fan has stopped working. check max setting. If it works on MAX but not on anything over itll be the blower motor resistor that's blown

[rum4mo]

As far as I know, I have not tried it, but logic tells me it should be correct, if the cabin fan is not running, the AC ie the chiller can not run, the logic behind that is, if the chiller runs gas through the evaporator and there is no air flowing across the evaporator then its temperature will drop quickly and it will freeze any moisture that is in the air plenum and so it will get choked to air passing across it. In normal operation, there is a possibility that the evaporator could end up up freezing, but there is a temperature probe close to its surface to protect it from doing that, but that needs an air flow to stop it freezing.

[Eeeekkk]

Nothing on 4 either, no warning lights on the dash. When I was travelling at speed I could feel a trickle of ice cold right by the vent so I think the air con did run.

[Eeeekkk]

I actually realised it had gone because I was suddenly getting excessively warm, so must've had it on a working setting when I started out.

[nta16]

Looking in the book fuse 24 is blower fan, did you also check fuse 15 a/c control?

 

What year of car is yours, what type of heating/cooling?

 

Fuses shouldn't blow anyway, have you tried disconnecting the car battery for a few hours/overnight in case the computers or their program has got in a tissy?

 

Have you checked your car battery is in a good state of charge and the connections are very secure?

[Eeeekkk]

2016 colour edition. I didn't try changing the fuse as the book suggested the same fuse ran the air con, and that seems to be working. I popped into the garage and the first thing they asked is whether it worked on 4. 😀

 

[nta16]

1 hour ago, Eeeekkk said:

2016 colour edition. I didn't try changing the fuse as the book suggested the same fuse ran the air con, and that seems to be working.

 

In the 'Operating Instructions' booklet I have it shows fuse 24 (no amperage annoyingly) as "Blower fan for air conditioning system, heating, control unit for air conditioning, heating" and also fuse 15 as "Control unit for air conditioning system, selector lever of the automatic gearbox".

 

Now, IF  your fusebox is the same as the diagram in the booklet I have and if you don't have a fuse 15 that's the end of this story ... but if you do have a fuse 15 as shown in the diagram I have then that might be the one still operating the "Control unit for air conditioning system".

 

I've no real idea if your issue is just a blown fuse, and then fuses don't usually just blow so you need to find out why it blew (if it did) but over decades I've had a couple of strange incidents with fuses just as an ordinary car owner.

 

I've also often seen, and done it myself, where something doesn't get checked, or rechecked, because "it won't be that" and Sod's Law it was that, always check the very basics first before moving on, it can save you a lot of time and money.

 

In ancient times you'd just bypass the switch (blower motor resistor perhaps here) and if the fan came on full blast it'd be the switch but now I've no idea if you can even do with that a probe without upsetting one or more of the car's computers - which brings me on to if you know anyone with a scan tool you could se if any error codes point to a possible cause.

 

You may well end up with a new  blower motor resistor but what's the costs of those and what's involved in fitting it, what's the cost of a fuse, fuses or set of spare fuses.

 

Good luck, let us know how you get on.  Cheers, Nigel.

 

Edited 10 July, 2021 by nta16
forgot about blower motor resistor

[rum4mo]

I'm still a bit confused by you thinking the chiller was still able to run, maybe it is the air distribution flap motor that is not allowing air through. 

 

Maybe with the engine and ignition turned off, remove the cover and the pollen filter, and try to get your fingers up that slot to see if you can reach the fan motor and see if it can be turned easily, if so, then, with hands out of the way, switch on the ignition and see if the fan sounds like it is running.

[nta16]

10 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

I'm still a bit confused by you thinking the chiller was still able to run, maybe it is the air distribution flap motor that is not allowing air through. 

Perhaps it was just the last of the residual cold air(?).

[nta16]

18 hours ago, Eeeekkk said:

no warning lights on the dash

For the photo I wasn't thinking of warning lights but more to show what control unit and type of heating, cooling system you have in your car and what buttons you have pressed, what's lit up, etc..

 

Edited 10 July, 2021 by nta16
speeling and stuff

[Eeeekkk]

So, according to the garage the whole fan has given up and needs replacing. 

[nta16]

1 hour ago, Eeeekkk said:

So, according to the garage the whole fan has given up and needs replacing. 

Oh dear!  Is that common?

 

I don't know as I've never done such but it doesn't look a difficult job to replace but probably awkward especially getting the new one back in especially without potential damage or future issues - but it's just experience, and/or time and patience.  Perhaps you could do it yourself, if you wanted to.

 

[Eeeekkk]

My car has come come back with half the dash parts not attached cos it wasn't worth putting it all back in till the replacement arrived, I think it's a time consuming job!

[rum4mo]

There does seem to be an increasing incidence in the failure of what used to be assumed to be robust items that were fit to last at least 10 years, maybe it is called progress.

 

As said already, without having actually replaced a cabin fan assembly, I'd think that it is very doable for a DIYer who has less time and associated cosmetic damage constraints than a dealership which will be working to a prepared route map and fixed labour time element, plus us DIYers don't have H&S to consider. Stiff neck muscles and extremely sore hands are part and parcel of some DIYer car activities - unfortunately.

[nta16]

I can see for an independent garage or even dealership work done out of warranty (or perhaps even in) there could be time, labour and cost constraints plus of course I've no real idea how much work it is to remove and restore the interior panels and parts so leaving them out could be a reasonable idea, plus of course each time things like that come out and go be in the more potential for damage or unable to match factory fit.

[nta16]

2 hours ago, Eeeekkk said:

My car has come come back with half the dash parts not attached cos it wasn't worth putting it all back in till the replacement arrived, I think it's a time consuming job!

If you feel like it, any chance of a photo so I can see if the motor goes on my wife's Fabia if I'd be bothered with the potential hassle of (trying to) doing the job myself or pay someone else.

[Eeeekkk]

Other than that they went in through the side and haven't attached the glove box properly, I'm not sure you can see much? Maybe half was an overstatement. 😀

 

They have disconnected or turned off the passenger airbag too.

[Eeeekkk]

Does explain the intense petrol smell on starting though!

[nta16]

Uhmm.  Why leave off that panel and not refit the glovebox properly, I wouldn't like to think an independent let alone a  Skoda Dealership would let you have the car back like this.

 

More importantly why is the passenger airbag disconnected or turned off.

 

Was this car new when you bought it as I can't work out, but others may well know better than me, why there's that shiny bit of metal with blooming around  it.

 

Sorry about all the questions but this is  perhaps the important one - why have you got an intense smell of petrol on starting up?

 

Edited 12 July, 2021 by nta16
speeling and stuff

[Eeeekkk]

Reminds me of the smell you'd get with the choke right out in the old days. I assume smells pass through the missing panel and no blower to diffuse it.

 

God knows why they left it like that, I told them I needed it tomorrow and the fan isn't due in till then.

 

Ex demo car, 400ish miles when bought, 60k more since.

[nta16]

My car is a 1973 MG Midget, with a pull cable choke to twin carbs, but I wouldn't expect it to smell of petrol even with the top down, unless after too much cranking and/or too much choke it still didn't start, or if I overfilled the fuel tank, or the spare gallon plastic can in boot has bloated with the heat - other than those it'd be a fuel leak.

 

I won't expect to smell any petrol from the Fabia particularly at the front.

 

Average of 12k-miles a year was the old, er, average sort of annual mileage, and as with our cars at  over 5 years old there will be additional servicing milestones reached but nothing that if missed would give an intense petrol smell.  I think that needs investigating ASAP.

 

Do you keep the car's servicing requirements up to date, do you know if the air filter has been changed and did this garage now run a diagnostic check and report anything else back to you?

 

Edited 12 July, 2021 by nta16
adding

[Eeeekkk]

It's been serviced pretty recently including all the filters and the timing belt. The smell was not there when I left the car with them, and dispersed once we'd managed to pull out of the garage into traffic. Hence I am assuming they have removed some panels beyond what I can see?

[nta16]

I don't know but I can't think what panels those might be.  I don't know where the blower gets its air input from but still don't follow why that would make any odds as it would be a sealed fresh air fed.

 

Did you get intense petrol smell on start up this morning?