The blower fan in my Magna only works on setting 4 not 3 2 or 1 is there any reason for this? an easy fix? Also the heater never put out any heat, even after driving for hours the air is still cold. Air conditioning works fine.

What model and does it have climate control

Generally is the resistor pack in the non climate models

regarding the heater, their is a cable under the heater box that controls an opening under the heater box which controls the heat. sounds like a clip has come loose causing nothing to happen. This is on a non climate control car, on climate control this cable is controlled by a motor, which means it might have stopped working.

To inspect, on the passenger side, peel back the carpet and look for the ECU in the center under the black box(you might need a torch). Above the ECU you should see a black cable going to a flap. Turn the heater on and adjust it from hot to cold and you should see something move above the ECU. Check the path is clear and the flap is opening/closing properly.

The car doesn't have climate control so it could be the cable to the heater flap that isn't moving although I can feel some resistance when I turn the knob from cold to hot!

Thanks for the advice Will peel the carpet up in day light and see if that's the case, will get back to you when once I've had a look.

Where is the resistor pack located? I will have a look at that too once I know where to look. The car came without a manual, have no idea where things are located!

Cheers guys

Hi undd91
I've had a similar thing happen to me in the past in a Mazda I had. Only max speed working on the fan. It was the fan speed resistor. Mazda replaced it for me at the time. Was a quick fix, just replacing blown resistor.
Cheers
Nathan

The OP is talking about fan speed, not heater contrtol, fan is not controlled by a cable.

Also the heater never put out any heat, even after driving for hours the air is still cold. Air conditioning works fine.

The OP did ask this in his first post....could this be related to the air control cables?....not bad stuff to know really, at the same time, arnt some of these flaps and stuff motor driven and not cables?

Ive checked the cable from the heater control unit to the heater unit flap, all seems to be working no clips are undone. Couldn't see the actual flap into the heater but could hear what sounded like a flap moving and the cable was taught, could see it moving inside the sheath.

Any other ideas as to what the problem could be?

I have removed the resistor from the blower fan just need to buy and new one and fit it before i know if that works.

cheers

The OP was asking about fan speed control and also the heater control. Regarding the heater control, the cable has probably fallen off the flap and the flap no longer moves. The easiest way tocheck this is to crawl under the dash and see if a bare cable end moves when the heater control slide is moved.

Regarding the fan speed control, it is almost certainly the resistor bank. This is located under the cabin blower fan (passenger side, slightly in front of the glovebox) and can be found be unplugging a cable loom from the fan. The socket for the loom will be held in by 2 bolts. Remove this and you have the resistor bank. If you cannot get another bank, it will almost certainly be the first (low speed ) resistor which has failed. You can at a pinch get some resistance wire and make your own coil. Resistance is about 1.5 ohms from memory. The hardest part of this is making a good ocntact to the rest of teh wiring in teh resistor bank.

Ahh of corse....der me, he has regular aircon, I was in climate control......

Sounds like you found the resistor pack, was it difficult to get at? Re the heater, aside from a working flap you also need hot water flowing through the core. Not sure of the car's history of course, but diverting the water flow is a common quick fix to a leaking heater core.

Ah that could be the other issue i suppose, when the heater is "on" there does seem to be a massive drop in air flow from the blower fan unit. Could this be a sign that even though everything appears to be moving there is infact an issue with the flap? (there is also a slight smell of warm element when the heater is on, even though no heat comes out). Is there anyway to get into the heater/flap unit?

The resistor was actually much easier than I thought to get at, just under the glove box had to remove a few other things to get at it but came out easily. I have found a number of resistors for the same model online, there is also a wreckers down the road i might be able to find one at. Seems the most likely cause of the problem, thanks for the advice hopefully it will work when i find a working one!

Just a quick update on the resistor situation, can't find a replacement at the moment but am looking online everyday. After removing the resistor my fan still worked on setting 4 not 3 2 or 1 is this meant to happen?? I thought removing the resistor would stop the fan unit working all together?

There are no other resistors that i can see around the blower unit and every image or diagram i have found on removing the blow resistor shows it as the one i have removed, i can't upload a picture of it however :/ Any ideas what the issue could be?

Just a quick update on the resistor situation, can't find a replacement at the moment but am looking online everyday. After removing the resistor my fan still worked on setting 4 not 3 2 or 1 is this meant to happen??

Yes. On speed four, the resistor pack is not used because the fan received full power. This is normal, and your fault is definitely the resistor pack.

For the heater troubleshooting, can you take a photo of where the heater hoses in the engine bay enter the firewall and post it here?

Yes. On speed four, the resistor pack is not used because the fan received full power. This is normal, and your fault is definitely the resistor pack.

For the heater troubleshooting, can you take a photo of where the heater hoses in the engine bay enter the firewall and post it here?

Thanks I'm going to the wreckers today to try and get a new resistor pack! The old one was in bad shape (wires had melted and ceramic had cracked).

Had a look at heater antifreeze pipes this morning and the heater core has been bypassed, should of checked this first. I'm guessing this means the heater core has a leak? Which is probably an expensive repair

Have you checked the price of a new resistor pack? If they are a common fault as Mal seemed to suggest, one from a wreckers might not last long. I'd just get a new one and be done with it.

Heater core replacement is a dash out job. Pretty pricey labour wise, I think the parts are but a fraction of the cost.

If you don't want to tackle it, get some quotes and PM MadMagna. He should give you a rough idea on what it should cost from a mechanic in WA.

Have you checked the price of a new resistor pack? If they are a common fault as Mal seemed to suggest, one from a wreckers might not last long. I'd just get a new one and be done with it.

Heater core replacement is a dash out job. Pretty pricey labour wise, I think the parts are but a fraction of the cost.

If you don't want to tackle it, get some quotes and PM MadMagna. He should give you a rough idea on what it should cost from a mechanic in WA.

Yeah i had a look at the wreckers they wanted $70 for a resistor out of a very old looking magna, rang the dealers they can get me one $66 brand new so going to grab one from them. Seems crazy a new one is cheaper than a sceond :s.

Heater wise I live in Perth and so the winter is just bearable, think I can live with not having one, it was the idea of no fan in 40 degree plus heat that was a real weight on my mind haha!

Thanks for the advice hopefully the new resistor works, will let you know :)

Got a new resistor plugged it in and BOOM fully working fan unit, happy guy. Thanks for the hints and tips guys much appreciated :woot:

Awesome.

Now all you need to do is remove and install your entire dash :woot:

Awesome.

Now all you need to do is remove and install your entire dash :woot:

Ummmmm why.....

Ummmmm why.....

Think flyboy is referring to the heater core issue, I can live without a heater!

Oh, ok, did not see that, thought he was thinking 380 where to change the resistor you pretty much need to remove the dash