very weak blower

[FEARTH38EARD]

I have an '83 2.3l with air conditioning (which doesn't work, and will get pulled out at some point) and am experiencing extremely weak airflow from the blower. However, all settings do work so I don't think it is the resistor, but I'm sure I could be wrong. Dont know where to start
Looking next.. I just put my big boy pants on last winter and delt with it, but with freezing temps just around the corner i am dreading the thought and want to fix it. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Pull the blower motor and check for leaves and other funk blocking up the evaporator core. Also check and make sure all of your vent tubes are attached correctly and not blowing out under the dash.

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[adsm08]

One test you can do for a plugged evap or heater without taking it apart is to run down the road with the recirc open and the mode in vent.

At 55 the air flow with the blower off should be the same as the blower on medium at a stand still. If it's the same as with the blower you don't have a blower problem and it's probably plugged.

 

[FEARTH38EARD]

Thanks gents. Will try that on my drive home from work, and pull the blower motor, and report back on my findings.

 

[4x4junkie]

Make sure the blower is also spinning the correct direction (motor not wired backward). I've actually seen this be the case a few times.

 

[adsm08]

Make sure the blower is also spinning the correct direction (motor not wired backward). I've actually seen this be the case a few times.

I hear you get great air flow out into the cowl that way.

 

[4x4junkie]

lol yeah no doubt.

Actually the blower wheel simply isn't able to move the air well in either direction when it spins the wrong way. You can hear it spinning full-speed and making a rushing-air noise, but little air is actually coming out from anywhere.

 

[FEARTH38EARD]

Thanks 4x4 I will check that as well. On my way home from work I put it in vent and selected the panel with the blower off and could feel a decent amount of air.. hopefully I can tear in to it tomorrow. Probably 30 years worth of leaves and crap in there. Thanks again guys.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

It is a common issue to have it packed full of leaves. It's also a huge fire risk, if the leaves come in contact with the resistor and controls set to lower speeds... Poof!

Scared the crap outta me in my 89 B2 when it started smoldering. Never took a blower motor out so fast in my life.

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[85_Ranger4x4]

My '85 had a pathetic defrost but still was decent out of the vents, my evaporator was plugged. There were a few leaves in the cowl but I am not sure how it was extracting any air through the evaporator.

Since I was already missing most of the AC system my fix was to chuck the evaporator and plug the holes where the lines came into the housing. It made a HUGE difference.

 

[FEARTH38EARD]

Ok, so I finally got around to pulling my blower motor and there was a small forest in there... vacuumed it out, and replaced the resistor even though it probably wasn't needed with all settings working, but it did have some scorch marks where some leaves had apparently tried to catch fire, so I thought might as well replace it. It is blowing quite a bit better now. I'm gonna try and gut the ac components in the next week or two and it will probably work even better after. Thanks again Gents!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ok, so I finally got around to pulling my blower motor and there was a small forest in there... vacuumed it out, and replaced the resistor even though it probably wasn't needed with all settings working, but it did have some scorch marks where some leaves had apparently tried to catch fire, so I thought might as well replace it. It is blowing quite a bit better now. I'm gonna try and gut the ac components in the next week or two and it will probably work even better after. Thanks again Gents!

If you are going to delete the AC swapping in a non-AC heater box opens up a TON of room under the hood to get at your engine.

 

[FEARTH38EARD]

I'm all for more room! Thanks for the suggestion. Ill be keeping an eye open for one.

 

[Mark_88]

If you are going to delete the AC swapping in a non-AC heater box opens up a TON of room under the hood to get at your engine.

Yes, I did this with my current truck and it does open up quite a bit of space...but the resistor, for some reason, wears out faster on these boxes...probably because it is in a direct line for road spray or condensation is a problem...but so far I haven't had to change my resistor yet after about two years running...

I didn't realize these parts (blower fan resistors) are still available...and fairly inexpensive.