AC Blower fix
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 17
From: Florida
chritch23,
Even though water has magical tendencies to cause abnormal problems, I don't think your water leak is causing your fan problem although, anything is possible. There are too many occurances of the fan problem that are related to the resistor. The resistor and the associated red connector and wiring are cheaply designed and underengineered in an effort to save GM a few pennies per vehicle. I don't have a sunroof as I have learned over the years that this is another failure point in any vehicle. Do you have sunroof drains in the track? You can see them when the roof is open. If so, these may be clogged with mildew/other stuff which causes the drains to back up. The water has to go somewhere. If you have drains, pour some bleach (not a lot) into the drain holes, let it set for awhile and blow into the tubes with low pressure air (20 psi or less). Hope it works.
Even though water has magical tendencies to cause abnormal problems, I don't think your water leak is causing your fan problem although, anything is possible. There are too many occurances of the fan problem that are related to the resistor. The resistor and the associated red connector and wiring are cheaply designed and underengineered in an effort to save GM a few pennies per vehicle. I don't have a sunroof as I have learned over the years that this is another failure point in any vehicle. Do you have sunroof drains in the track? You can see them when the roof is open. If so, these may be clogged with mildew/other stuff which causes the drains to back up. The water has to go somewhere. If you have drains, pour some bleach (not a lot) into the drain holes, let it set for awhile and blow into the tubes with low pressure air (20 psi or less). Hope it works.
Last edited by stwip2006; Dec 14, 2012 at 08:40 AM. Reason: mis-spelling
Connectors Not Coming Apart
Thanks everyone for this thread. Fan quit blowing yesterday on the way back from Green Bay to Da UP. Obviously this is a chronic issue. I found the connectors behind the glove box. Now I just have to get them apart. They definitely are not separating easily, probably due to melting. Any advice getting them apart in 19 degree weather?
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4
More details or pictures
My blower motor on my H3 is acting up it is hit and miss to start when getting into the vehicle and then stops and starts when going down the road. If it stops i can lean over and wiggle some wires and it comes back on. I didn't have to wiggle the wires before it would just come back on. There is suppose to be a good post on another thread with detailed pictures on who to fix the problem.... BUT! the damn pictures wont show up. Does anyone have pictures or good detailed notes on how to fix the problem. HELP PLEASE!!
TO jstevens87- I am an idiot when it comes to this stuff... but I made this repair and here is what I think is going on with your "works sometimes when you wiggle the wires" situation. Here's my IDIOTS description- I had a hard time terminating the wires into the red connector. They just didnt all want to "lock" in. Look right behind your glove box for a red clip attached to white clip that is screwed in with two screws. Those two connectors are generally the problem. They fry and melt together. Not sure if your has actually done this based on the fact that you can wiggle the wires (probably going into the red connector) and it sometimes works again. Check to see if each of the wires is all the way into the red connector. Mine kept working their way out and this maybe happening in your situation. If it did fry... buy the parts yourself for $40 and save $200 having the dealership do it. Like I said... I'm a moron with this stuf and this thread talked me through it. Truly appreciate all posters helping with this CHRONIC H3 issue.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4
Thanks for the help, i still cant open the pictures from the first page on this thread where he is talking about changing out the resistor. I ordered the new resistor pack and getting it this morning. And i did look the other night and some of the wires on the red plug are discolored and some plastic is melted. Im just going to bypass the red plug and cut it off and buy some male and female connectors when i pick up the new coil pack and "re wire" it. But if it is the plug that is the problem then hopefully bypassing the red one will keep it fixed because it is pretty cold here right now for the heater to not be working right.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4
**Update**
I went and purchased a new blower motor resistor pack, then after searching all parts stores for a new pigtail.... I couldn't find one, so i called the local GM dealership and they gave me just the bare harness with nor wires attached to it and 5 connectors that go inside of it. I got everything crimped and ready to put in, so we shall see how well it will work. The service guy said if everything is done right it shouldn't happen again.... but i am VERY VERY VERY skeptical... but worth a shot since harness and 5 adapters were only 12 bucks....
I went and purchased a new blower motor resistor pack, then after searching all parts stores for a new pigtail.... I couldn't find one, so i called the local GM dealership and they gave me just the bare harness with nor wires attached to it and 5 connectors that go inside of it. I got everything crimped and ready to put in, so we shall see how well it will work. The service guy said if everything is done right it shouldn't happen again.... but i am VERY VERY VERY skeptical... but worth a shot since harness and 5 adapters were only 12 bucks....
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 4
***Update***
Pieced together the pig tail parts that i got from the GM dealer, was pretty simple. After that I cut the old plug off that was melted to the old resistor pack. Used butt connectors to wire up the new pig tail and hooked everything back up. Let the ol' bitch run for about half hour or more and the new plug didn't get hot even the slightest like before when it got so hot you couldn't hardly even touch it. Everything is working perfectly for now. I have pictures posted on profile of old plug and the new plug installed.
Pieced together the pig tail parts that i got from the GM dealer, was pretty simple. After that I cut the old plug off that was melted to the old resistor pack. Used butt connectors to wire up the new pig tail and hooked everything back up. Let the ol' bitch run for about half hour or more and the new plug didn't get hot even the slightest like before when it got so hot you couldn't hardly even touch it. Everything is working perfectly for now. I have pictures posted on profile of old plug and the new plug installed.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1
Common Hummer H3 Blower Problem
Does the AC light still come on but no air blows out?
Did you notice a burning smell just before the blower stopped working?
You may be a victim of a poor Generous Motors design for controlling blower speeds. With the technology available when Hummers were first made, it seems strange that GM did not implement a PWM system to control the blower speed in Hummers. That system would save energy, not produce heat like a resistor, to control the blower speed. It would have also allowed GM to put a continuously variable speed control on the Hummers for their customers, instead of a four speed switch.
Anyway, they didn’t do it, probably to save a few pennies per Hummer. So those of us who have had to put up with the failure of our blower system, have to dish out big bucks for getting our blowers working again. The repair is not a fix, because IT WILL FAIL again.
Now, you may be able to save those big bucks if you are half way handy with a soldering iron and a Dremel type tool. This may also prevent your blower speed control from failing again.
I assume you know the H3 blower motor and wiring harness is located behind the glove box. Remove glove box to start this project. Remove right end cover to dashboard. Remove blower plug, remove white gang plug, remove black gang plug, THEN remove resistor with connector attached last. Now take resistor and wiring harness to your work bench to start saving more money.
You may have to work to get the resistor removed from the connector as the burnt terminal inside has melted and fused the surrounding plastics together. Keep working at it, rock it back and forth, you will get it apart.
Now, does it look something like this?
Cut around the connector shield on the resistor to allow better access to the terminals. You can cut this with a Dremel type tool or with wire cutters like I did.
Now you can use a file, sandpaper, or a Dremel Type tool to clean and roughen up all the resistor terminals. This will allow the solder to better adhere to the terminals and give you a better connection. We don't want any cold solder joints here.
ANext, cut the wires behind the connector on the harness so as to get us into some fresh, unburnt wire.
Take note of the wire colors and orientation at this point. We want all wires going back to their original terminal.
Carefully solder each wire to its corresponding terminal, making sure your soldering iron is strong enough and hot enough to make a good clean solder joint on each wire and terminal.
Reinstall the harness back into the vehicle first, and reinstall the resistor last. This will prevent any excess strain and pull on the resistor terminals.
Turn the key on and enjoy your AC blower once again! And it cost you nothing but time. If you made good solder joints, your blower should never fail again!
Good luck!
Craig
Again thanks for the great instructions!