The other day, the A/C/Heater blower in my 2002 325 iXT stoppd on the way home. This is the second time. Checked fuses and finding none blown, ordered a new Final Stage driver. I installed the driver and Oh! No! problem not fixed, no blower. Probed the connector, and there is power and ground. Maybe the blower motor? Took the parts off to expose the blower motor. The motor had more friction than I expected, but turned smoothly. I used a power pulse tool to apply power to the blower and it then started to turn. I plugged it back in and then turned the car on again. The fan worked! Did I miss some system rest? Is my blower motor just going to do this until I replace it? Anyone have a similar problem?
I don't know if this might be the case for your car, but what I've had happen before (320i, then E30) is the fan-blade shaft wears through a metal bushing, eventually resulting in a ever-more persistent squeak from the motor. Eventually it wears enough to quit working (squeaking loudly by that point, 'til it binds up and quits), and is obvious if accessed - the fan-blade shaft will have some vertical free play, which it's not supposed to have. Seems like that could be a possibility, but not so much perhaps if the mileage is less than 100k. Is there a relay for the blower? An intermittent relay obviously could be a cause for working sporadically, if there is one.
Hi, thanks for your reply. The car is about 110k. I had an E36 that went to 140+k and I got the squeak. No squeak yet on the 2002. That's why I'm a bit suspicious of it being the motor. I will go check for play - good idea - I have not put it back together yet. There is a relay, but it seems to be working - its always clicking with the key and I have not see a click without the power also being supplied to the Final Stage driver. But, I'll keep my eye on it.
It could be the brushes in the motor. Does the fan randomly stop still? If not, the BFS probably fixed that issue. If it won't always start, it could be a worn brush or commutator that won't allow it to get going from a stop.
