Modified A/C blower housing

[Surrey]

Hey I was going to modify the blower housing on my truck. I just ripped the AC parts out of it, and now I wanna cut part of it back so it takes up less space in the engine bay.

My question pertains to one plug on the AC side of things.(Green circles)

Front side/plug.



Back side.



My question is what is this thing? Does it only exist on A/C housings? Will removing it **** anything up?

Thanks!

 

[Lil-Pony]

That should be your blower resistors.

 

[Surrey]

That should be your blower resistors.

which do what?

 

[adsm08]

Give you options other than on and off.

 

[Surrey]

okay cool. Can anyone explain how they work? Obviously I need to keep these... Are they located in the same location on a non-AC box?

 

[Surrey]

Anyone got a good picture of their non-AC air box so I can compare them?

the picture someone posted in my older post about my blower motor doesn't load now so i can't use that as a reference.

 

[shane96ranger]

okay cool. Can anyone explain how they work? Obviously I need to keep these... Are they located in the same location on a non-AC box?

They are resistors. They restrict the voltage being applied to the blower motor. Each setting you select will produce a different resistance, thus the change in blower motor speed. I am pretty sure it would be in the same vicinity no matter the box you have.

 

[Surrey]

Okay so Voltage flows into these, then out of these and into the blower motor?

They are exposed to the flowing air inside the housing, is that important? I was thinking about moving it closer to the fire wall so i can cut a larger chunk of the box off... Anyone think that would be a problem? (It would be going Left and down in the first picture, and up and a bit left in the 2nd)

 

[shane96ranger]

I've never seen one that is not in the blower motor box. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say they get hot, which would make it critical to have the motor blowing on them. Every time I've had seen one go out, it was when the heater was being used. But that could be pure coincidence, and I could be talking out my culo.

 

[Surrey]

Okay cool thanks. Im going to try to move them a few inches, so they sit closer to the firewall and I can cut off the chunk they currently attach to.

Anyone see any problems with this idea?

 

[kunar]

just keep them in the air stream, other than that put them wherever you want.

 

[Mark_88]

Okay cool thanks. Im going to try to move them a few inches, so they sit closer to the firewall and I can cut off the chunk they currently attach to.

Anyone see any problems with this idea?

I think I mentioned this in another thread...see how shiny and new yours looks? If you look at ones from a non-AC box you will see a big difference in a very short time...unless you've recently change it that is...

I took one out of an F-150 with AC and it was like new...my original was rusted pretty bad...

This was what I was saying about the AC boxes...the way that plug faces or something else about the design of the non-AC boxes causes that resistor to rust out prematurely (as compared to your shiny new one)...and the fans also go out faster on the non-AC boxes...I've replaced my resistor at least twice in ten years and the fan twice...not at the same time...

And they always seem to fail most in the winter...probably because I rarely use it in the summer...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I've never seen one that is not in the blower motor box. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say they get hot, which would make it critical to have the motor blowing on them. Every time I've had seen one go out, it was when the heater was being used. But that could be pure coincidence, and I could be talking out my culo.

It wouldn't really matter if the heater was on or not. At that point in the system is it is just raw outside air, the heater core is inside the cab.

If you are wanting to make room just get a non-a/c box. They open up stupid amounts of room and are pretty cheap.

In a month I have had my truck for 13 years, the only reason I switched blowers and resistors is because I was too lazy to pull them when I got the non-a/c housing.

As far as A/C vs non-A/C blower lifespan the evaporator would act something like a filter that would slow down incoming debris. Especially when they plug up like mine did...

What can get really exciting with the non-a/c box (or the a/c box without the evaporator) is when leaves accumulate in the cowl, spill over into the heater box and the hot resistor touches them off...

 

[Mark_88]

Looks like your original got a little hot...lol

I did notice there were air directors on the A/C version that may help keep moisture off the resistor...I don't think the non-A/C has them but I've never looked inside of one...

 

[Surrey]

Finished my modified blower housing.

I took the old housing, split it in half, removed the AC components, then put it back together. Then I cut a big chunk off of it, and covered the hole I just made with a piece of sheet metal. When cutting it to fit, I left 4 tabs I could bend over and screw into the housing, to hold everything in place before epoxying it.(I used the side of a computer case, cut up to fit.) Then I went to the dollar store, bought a few things of epoxy to seal it (5 to be precise, although I only used 3.5 tubes to do it. Coulda done it in 2 or 3 if I was more precise.)

For the cutting I used my saws-all. It worked good, but It would look better if I took more time, and started with a fresh blade (did it quickly, with an old dull blade.) Also would have been good to have someone to hold the housing while I cut it, doing it all myself was not ideal.(I ended up using my leg to pin it again'st the table for the most part.)

Finally, cut a hole in the front of it with a rotary tool to re-mount the resistors.

Here she be...
Pic 1


Pic 2


Pic 3