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View Full Version : Heater/AC Fan Problem....Fix



Seahorse
4th January 2009, 08:25 AM
Since purchasing my 2000 model Freelander over a year ago, the fan (and consequently the A/C) never worked on low speed (1).

Finally got the better of me after a weeks touring with the fan running constantly on speed 2. (Which is noisy enough to interfere with normal conversation.)

Figured that it was either the fan switch itself or the resistor pack. Decided to check the resistor pack first. This is located in the drivers side footwell just above the fan itself. A little bit of a stretch to get the two self tappers that hold it in place out, but nothing too difficult.

With the resistor pack out and under the magnifying glass, all appeared to be OK. So out with the trusty multimeter. This showed up a fault in the low speed resistor. Closer inspection showed that the resistor wire was broken at the solder joint. This was rectified by a quick repair job with the soldering iron.

Replacing the resistor pack was not quite as easy as getting it out, but still manageable with a few well chosen words!!

Fired the engine up, switched the A/C on and started the fan on Speed 1 and It all worked as designed.....The fan was whisper quiet!!!

A more permanent fix may be necessay if the resistors continue to break. Next time I will probably replace the whole bank with ceramic resistors with the following values.

Speed 1. 2.6 Ohm
Speed 2. 1.32 Ohm
Speed 3. 0.27 Ohm

101RRS
4th January 2009, 05:27 PM
That is good the hear - and I will file the information away for future reference. Thanks.

The fan (on face level vents) on 1 should not be audible, barely audible on 2 (the usual setting for any warm day), 3 is a little noisy and starts to irritate, - you didn't mention 4 - which is really loud and really annoying.

On demist anything above 2 is unacceptably loud.

Cheers

Garry

beforethevision
10th January 2009, 03:52 PM
The resistors will continue to break. Either order the updated one (dunked in conformal coating), or cut them off and solder in some high wattage resistors.

I ordered the replacement and its been no problems. I also tried resoldering a couple of times, and it kept breaking.

Cheers!

Seahorse
11th January 2009, 03:55 PM
The resistors will continue to break. Either order the updated one (dunked in conformal coating), or cut them off and solder in some high wattage resistors.

I ordered the replacement and its been no problems. I also tried resoldering a couple of times, and it kept breaking.

Cheers!

5w or 10w..??

Where did you order from....????

beforethevision
11th January 2009, 09:24 PM
5w or 10w..??

Where did you order from....????

I ordered the replacement. However, if you want to try it,

v=I.R
...I=V/R

P=IV

...P=V^2/R

therefore speed 1:

P=144/2.6 = ~50W

Thats a massive resistor.

Maybe you should just order it... lol

Cheers!

scout
15th December 2009, 08:50 PM
Hi I have a similar problem the AC works fine but no air on any speed. Could all resistors fail at once or could it be the switch or fan motor itself?
Thanks Trev