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scotsbloke's avatar

Peugeot Boxer 2.5 Diesel 1995 - Heater Fan question / problem.

Asked by scotsbloke (3756points) January 17th, 2010

My heater fan has suddenly stopped working on speeds 1,2 & 3 but works fine on full blast.

Anyone had the same problem? Is it a separate fuse or relay or is it some component inside the fan motor behind the glove box?
I am guessing it is a controller issue as I can’t find a separate fuse other than the 7.5A fuse behind the glove box. but I’ve heard that it may be a resister which is part of the fan?

Any auto electricians assistance would be greatly appreciated.

It’s a 1995 Peugeot Boxer. I’d like to be able to repair it myself to keep costs down as I am trying to sell the van. is this a big job?
(how come they always break when your trying to sell ‘em?)

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7 Answers

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

I’m not familiar with this specific vehicle, but it sounds like it is the switch itself at fault. If the fan will run at full setting, then the fan and the basic circuit are functional. The is usually the mode in which this type of device fails. You may be able to find a used switch at a wrecking yard that will fit; likely many manufacturers use the exact same switch. +GQ

scotsbloke's avatar

@stranger_in_a_strange_land thanks for the reply.
I’ve done a wee bit checking myself (I am the worlds worst mechanic. I dont know a spanner from a monkey wrench from a hammer and I keep losing the bits I take off too!)
The fuse for the heater is A-ok. I asked a pal of mine who said there is a resistor pack in the heater which regulates the temperature or something, the fan will generally always work (as long as the fuse is ok) on full blast for safety to clear the windscreen.
A whole new heater system can be as much as £200 to £300 plus tax and labour, apparently the resister packs are like £20 to £30!
I wish I knew more about these things…................lol

stranger_in_a_strange_land's avatar

@scotsbloke I didn’t know about the resistor being separate from the switch, he may very well be right then. You need to have an electrician isolate which is wrong before spending money on parts.

scotsbloke's avatar

Spending money? I’m Scottish remember. We don’t do that. lol
But yes, I think I’ll have to get an auto-electrician in.

(did you know copper wire was invented by two scots fighting over a penny)

jerv's avatar

I concur; it could be the switch, or it could be the resistor. It;s a little hard to tell which without a multimeter though, and some cars put the two in the same unit.

However, I generally scrounge junkyards for most of my parts since there is no way I would spend $200 to repair a fairly minor annoyance on a $300 car. Hell, I’ve made my own thermostat gasket out of an old swim-fin just to save a few bucks!

I will say that a decent repair manual (Haynes or Chiltons) is a good investment, and if you shop around, you can find them for less than the cover price pretty easily. The $9 I spent in that $20 book told me all I needed to know to replace my own head gasket for under $50 instead of paying a shop >$500. Sometimes it takes money to save money ;)

And no, it usually isn’t too big a hassle to get at that switch. I can rip the one from my ‘85 Corolla in under 5 minutes with just a Phillips screwdriver.

scotsbloke's avatar

Ok, got this fixed so thought I’d share the solution with you.
I was the resistor unit in the fan assembly, cost around £15 for a new part.
Apparently there are 2 resitor units in this particular engine, one in the dashboard (part of the fan itself) and one attached to the fan on the radiator in the engine.
Only the one in the dash would cause this problem, the one in the engine bay is automatically linked with the temperature guage and comes on at differing speeds according to the heat of the engine – I got all this from the mechanic!
So there you go! lol

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