Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$

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Fri 21 Dec 2001 10:43
Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - Chad R
Yesterday the heater fan switch on SWMBO's fiat Punto ('94/95 75SX) seems to have gone mad - the symptoms are

Doesn't work on position 1 (lowest), doesn't work on position 2, works fine on position 3 (at the expected high speed).

It was working fine in the morning and just seemed to fail later in the day - nothing happened to the car in between. (Just got in the car, started up and noticed that the condensation wasn't shifting.) We normally permanently have the fan on position 1 all year round and only vary the temp/airflow direction and fan speed as necessary.

So we're going round, switching the fan on as required for brief periods because we can put up the racket for too long !

Any idea's ? - main thing is what's it going to cost to put right ?

Chad.R
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 11:39
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - andy sampson
Check the fan speed control resistor, this can go open circuit and the symptoms are losing fan speed control. Not sure where it is on the punto but someone will know.
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 12:23
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - Darcy Kitchin
I agree with Andy, our AX has identical symptoms, but took longer to die i.e. you could always depend on position 3, positions 1 & 2 worked intermittently for a while before stopping altogether.
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 13:22
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - mike harvey
The resistors are usually in the heater box itself, along with a thermal cut out. Some are easy to get at.......
Happy Christmas!
Mike

PS I have often managed to repair them.
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 18:19
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - Andy P
This happened many years ago on my Nova. The resistors for the fan were mounted next to the blower unit which was found in the engine bay just in front of the windscreen.

Vauxhall said it wasn't possible to get the resistor separately - only the complete unit (surprise surprise). In the end I got hold of a couple of resistors and soldered them across the duff one. Worked fine. One note of caution is that if you try this, make sure you get high wattage resistors. I used the ones which are contained inside their own metal heatsinks.


Andy
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 18:35
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - Dave N
It is the heater blower resistor. Behind the glovebox, with 3/4 thick wires coming out of it. Probably cost you about £60.
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Fri 21 Dec 2001 22:55
Re: Fiat Punto - Heater Fan Switch !@*$ - alvin booth
Andy,
Had the same problem with my wifes Nova a few years ago. I found the resistors where you said, the difference being that I didn't know what to do with them as you did. Managed for the rest of the time she had it with one speed.
Alvin
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