Hi, I'm new to the Forum and looking for a blower motor resistor for my 86 Buick Electra Estate wagon with electronic climate control. Small and probably cheap part but won't pass inspection in PA without it. Even a part number would help. Found one on Dorman but not for climate control. Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Does your wagon have a version of an automatic temp control? That setup in your pic does not match the standard GM HVAC resistor connector, which is four wires; it could be an electronic blower speed control, rather than just resistors. Take a look on O'Reilly's website, which will give you an idea what that standard design looks like.
RockAuto has several listed. Hopefully you don't have auto temp control. https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...g,blower+motor+control+module+/+resistor,6557
That's the auto temperature control setup and it isn't a blower motor resistor, it's a "Blower Motor and Clutch Compressor Controller" system as it has a giant rheostat, power transistor, and several other circuits inside to determine if the compressor should come on based on temperature and modify the delay to turning the blower on and off based on the head unit controller decisions being made. You are either going to have to source a used one or try and repair what you have. They aren't too overly complicated, the main thing I would do is unplug it and see what the connections inside look like - it could be a bad solder joint or corroded terminal. The 2 terminals on the plug on the right is the fan blower control, the 5 pin connector has a set of 2 and 3 terminals -> the 2 pins on the left are the compressor clutch and the middle 3 are the fan blower input from the head unit (green), brown is ground (?? I think??), and the red is the battery feed (fused at alternator I think) for the blower system. There are several troubleshooting procedures you can do with a multimeter to see if you are getting voltage correctly from the system head unit or the battery to power the fan. You could be lucky and find that the power that feeds it has a blown fuse or damaged wire somewhere (like on my '89 Cadillac). You can still get the power transistor inside, but I believe it is a crimped component and requires special tools to get it out and install a new one. RockAuto and everyone else lists "AC Power Control Module" which is the same thing in theory, but it does not fit the same way nor use the right plugs\connections - but it could very well work, I do not know for sure because it's obviously for a much later car.
I've got the same "automatic" climate control in my car. So many fragile plastic bits were broken inside that it was never going to work again. I went with the nuclear option to fix mine... (see link in sig) I have no idea if it works or not, but here is that same switch from the inside: I won't be using it. The mounting plate is broken which is why the screw towards the top of the pic doesn't go in the proper hole.
Also, just to start with the basics.... the plug on the right of your picture isn't connected and the terminal looks dirty like it's been unplugged for a while. You did plug in it and verify that it doesn't work with the wires connected, right?
Those electrolytics are likely drying out and failing, they are easy to replace. Also, those copper tabs on the right are wave soldered to the board and get corroded over time, or they were cold solder joints to begin with. Re-flowing the solder fixed the problem on one of my cars as well.
Thank you everyone for your helpful replies to my query. Sorry it took so long to respond, but I had a family emergency to deal with.
