AC Blower Motor issue on Ford Escape. POSSIBLY. Please assist.?

Question

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I have a 2004 Ford Escape and for a couple of months the AC would work very sporadic. It would sometimes come on, and sometimes not, and would turn off and on while going over a bump or closing the card door hard. It now doesn't work at all. I read that it could be the blower motor, or blower motor resistor. I pulled out the blower motor and unhooked the resistor harness. The connector from the harness to the resistor was discolored and there was some corrosion on the metal connector piece. I decided to plug it in again just to be sure it didn't work, and held the motor in my hand. It came on and seemed to work again. I hooked everything up again and now the motor seems to work, but no matter what setting I put it on (AC/MAX AC/VENT ONLY) it blows out through the defroster on every setting and not through the vents. I have bought the new blower motor, but I don't want to install it if that's not the issue. Does anyone think an issue like this can be the motor, resistor, or the connector? Or, does it sound like anything else? I just found it very weird that it only blows through the defroster and think it might not be related. I'm very unfamiliar with this and only pretend to be a backyard mechanic to save a few bucks when I can.

Answer 1

Like the others said, the intermittent blower and defrost-only are separate issues. My thoughts on each:



Blower motor - The original described behavior can be three things - relay needs replaced (weakened electromagnet from heat & age), blower motor assembly needs replaced (weakened starter cap, squirrel cage needs a little kick), or a loose connection. The corrosion you found on the BMR connector could have been it, but I would keep an eye on it and consider testing the relay, usually in the heat of the day when it's acting up. youtube has good videos on how to test one. Unline a loose connection, once an intermittent relay kicks in, it usually holds until you shut down the blower.



Defrost - Odds are that during the process of pulling the blower motor, you inadvertently pulled off or broke a vacuum line connecting the engine's intake vacuum to the vent select switch, which defaults to defrost when vacuum is lost. Investigate everywhere that each little hose connects to the intake or branches off, you'll find it. If you get stumped, take a break and try again later

Answer 2

You're looking at the wrong thing. Coming out the defroster vent has nothing to do with the motor. The vent controls aren't working right and they default to defrost when they quit because that's the one position you can't live without some mornings.

It's usually because a a vacuum leak. The controls are vacuum powered, so weak vacuum kills them. The leak can be a bad line under the hood or to the control or the control itself. The last one like that I fixed was the vacuum line to the core coolant valve falling off.

The blower high speed wire still connects to the resistor pack even though it doesn't use any of the resistors. The problems with those packs is almost always bad connectors on the wires and not the resistors themselves. Many people get them going because they wiggled the connectors. But they didn't use new connectors, so it quits again.

And, no, the vent problem isn't related to the motor resistors unless you knocked something else loose while you were working on them.

Answer 3

if it was the resistor, it would only work on high and would be able to turn off. Sounds like the corrosion on the wires was causing your problem. The air only coming out of the defroster is a totally different problem. The vehicles now mostly use motor to actuate the blend air door and the door that sends air to the vents or defroster. Try shutting the vehicle vent to feet or vent a few times and listen at the air box under the dash to hear a little humming noise as the motor turns the door. if it doesn't, look for it and take the 2 or 3 small screws out to remove it and see if the motor actuates, if it does not, it is the motor, pretty cheap, but if it does operate, something fell in and is blocking the door from moving.