A/C not blowing

Roonie

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Location
Houston, TX
#1
Greetings! I am new to the forum and am hoping that someone will have some suggestions for me. The air conditioning in my 2002 325 has stopped working. It is definitely the fan, as I can feel the cold air inside the vents, it is just not blowing. I checked the fuses to see if it was something that simple.

Any thoughts on what kind of repair I'd be looking at here? I'm tight on cash, so I'm hoping I'll get lucky and find an inexpensive solution.
 
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Location
Reading,PA
#2
Welcome!!!

This is a very common failure item. Most likely it is not the motor or a fuse, but rather the Final Stage Resistor pack. Here is a replacement procedure:

Part should be about $80-110. Very common failure due to poor heat disapation of original construction metal. New part is updated and much better. Replacement will require you work in a tight space.
You need:
Philips #2 screw driver
T-20 Torx driver
Good flash light (smaller is better)

Remove Glovebox
Open box and remove three philips screws on across top. Remove one screw bolted on bottom corner on underside of box. Remove two screws on left and right of opened box recessed a bit. pull box out and diconnect box light connector and note routing as you remove wires. Repeat for flashlight charger socket connector and wiring. Move box assemble aside. Remove black plastic panel and footwell light. Note slots panel fits in for reinstallation. Up and left toward heater/evaporator box is the main wiring loom. There is a stepper motor with a steel rod connected to it right by the loom. The Final Stage is inboard of the stepper motor. Remove the A/C footwell duct. I pry the upholstered console corner covering the duct outward and back to remove the duct. If you hear a crack while pulling the console back you are okay, you didn't damage anything. Remove Duct. It must fit both connections when you reinstall it. If you don't feel like removing the duct, fine I do it to give myself more room. Remove the T-20 screws on the black plastic bracket toward the stepper motor. Drop the stepper motor out of it's housing by pressing it's tab. Unclip the metal rod that connects to it by pushing straight up. Slide the motor housing out of it's track and place aside. Remove second screw for bracket if not accessible earlier. Final stage connector will be visible (5 big gauge wires). Final stage may be screwed in or just clipped in. Remove screws if equipped and push tab on the side toward the firewall. Use the connector wiring still attached to wiggle the final stage out while push tab out of way. Then disconnect connector. Reassemble making sure everything fits and operates correctly as you go.

You can also find a nice writeup and pictures HERE
 


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