[malkneil]

Trying to debug an issue of a "dead blower" on my '08 Forester. When I say dead, it doesn't work on any of the four settings. It seemingly died overnight as well. Was pushing heat the night before when I got home and I hopped in the next day - no blower.

I removed and hooked up the blower to 12V and it started spinning so it's not the fan. Next I took out the resistor and checked the resistance across they different connectors and they were all w/in a reasonable range of the spec. Checked the two blower fuses to the left of the steering column and they check out as well.

From reading around the forums it seems like the next most obvious point of failure would be the relay although I'm having trouble determining where the blower relay resides. Does anyone know if it's to the right of the blower itself (I see a bank of 2 or 3 relays there - metal kind that look like a can), or is it near the steering column fuse box? Furthermore what's the trick to get those relays unclipped. Buddy and I tried to take one out and it seems like there must be a tool of some kind to remove them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Living in VT without heat or means to defrost is pretty much game over.

 

[malkneil]

Searched the other threads for help and have not found anything substantial yet. For reference here are a couple pics of what I suspect might be the blower relay. Can anyone comment on which one it might be?

 

[for4me]

No Blow

A wiring diagram would make things a lot easier. I would put a multimeter (or even a small light bulb) from ground to the motor terminals with the ignition on. If there is any power there, the relay is OK and the problem is probably the fan switch. If there is no power at the motor, it could either be the fan relay or you missed a fuse (mine has three fuses involved). Also make sure you replace the fuses or check them with a multimeter. A visual check is NOT good enough.
Relay connectors generally come off by squeezing them in the center. Removing the relay itself usually involves forcing a small screwdriver between the relay case and mounting surface. Don't know which relay but it would have the same size and color wire as one on the motor.

 

[malkneil]

No Blow

Checked power at the motor terminals and nada. Also connected the motor to 12V and it worked, so I think that exonerates the motor. I did check the fuses with a multimeter, but only two of them. In the picture of my fuse panel they would be the top left two. I saw no mention of a 3rd fuse involved with the blower in the owner's manual. Can you elaborate on where that fuse might be?

From another post it looks like the relay is the top of the two to the left of the fuse box. My forester has one round relay and one black square relay below it. Can anyone corroborate which one the blower is?

 

[malkneil]

Problem fixed.

Thanks for everyone for their help. Finally stumbled upon the fix -- was a blown fuse. I know, really simple. Turns out it was fuse #17 in the console that's labeled Air Conditioner. I guess it didn't dawn on me that I'd need to check anything but the two fuses labeled Heater Fan, but in hindsight (and looking at the wiring diagram) it makes sense that the AC plays a part in the heating system.

 

[Merle]

Blower motor fix - clean in dash switch

Fixed my blower motor issue by taking apart the dash and cleaning the switch. Mine is a 2002 with the cup holder in the dash, perfect for drinks to spill into the dash components!
Was pretty easy to get to the switch, just a lot of plastic parts to carefully unsnap. Also, this 02 has the 03 style resistor and the relay is the 5th one, way up in the footwell behind the fuse box. Should I mention that before this "free" fix I bought a new blower motor, (2) resistors and finally a multi meter? Nah.
I've pored over the threads and wanted to put my blower motor (interior fan) fix here as it's the most recent and didn't want to start a new thread.