No Blower Diag & Repair: Chrysler van -Part 1

It's still chilly outside, and the owner of this '01 Chrysler Town and Country has to bundle up for her drive to work...the blower motor quit working.
Sounds like a perfect case for Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics!
In Part 1 I diagnose the issue, and in Part 2 come back to repair the van later that same day. Now that's service!
Enjoy! :)

[@joelmccoin9727]

Excellent Job!!! This should be an example to all young guys starting out in auto repair....Don't just hang parts. I am always impressed with how complete your diagnostics are. I have said it before, You should be teaching, you are a natural, calm and collected, easy to understand and follow. Thanks Ivan...keep the videos comming

[@AdrianKingsleyHughes]

"All we're interested in is the wire colors. I hope they're right." Auto diagnostician's prayer!

[@whenjeffgetsbored]

That was one of the best description of how the system works that I've seen on KZbin. You're a great mechanic and I'm a mechanic as well. Thanks for teaching me how that works I was able to get my system working.

[@upallnight888]

Great vid, especially on the amp test. Eric O did a similar repair where he just replaced the module and a couple of weeks later the car was back with the same problem. He did the amp test and found that the blower motor was pulling too much current and burning out the module.

[@pedrolriveranegron5178]

Hi my good friend Ivan!!!!! When you put the clamp meter to check amp reading , I remember see a video from our friend Erick-o, which change the module from a town&country but forgot to measure the amperage of the fan! and he had problems after......These things happen and we are not perfect !! but we learn along the way! VERY IMPORTANT; ALWAYS CHECK YOUR AMP READINGS!!!

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

Nice diagnosis Ivan especially with the blower motor amperage check. Blower motors can run for a long time drawing high amperage so an undiagnosed blower motor starts taking out resistors and modules. I have the same jump pack...it works awesome.

[@leesteele4574]

Good diagnosis, no parts cannon fired in this video!

[@jgeorges3061]

good video and info as always big thumb up for finding the amp draw from the blower motor to fix the problem completely and no come back. thanks IVAN, and cheeeeeers.

[@craiggoodwin9704]

Ivan, I find myself here because I'm trying to decide if I want to go cheap or actually replace the blower motor. On to Part 2. Thanks for Sharing!

[@fieldsofomagh]

Ya haven't forgot the basics.Nice one checking the current flow.

[@12volttech5]

Very professional diagnosis.

[@acarl-lo5tg]

Ivan does a great job of performing as "super sleuth" and gets to the root of the problem. I noticed that the 2 wires to the fan motor do not match in color to those shown on the wiring diagram. The diagram has blue / yellow tracer and dark blue but in the video you see green and black. This is probably a color change update that missed the documentation update. The current draw on the fan motor at high speed indicates 25 amp which does seem high at first glance. However if you look closely at the wiring diagram, fuse 10 in the IPM (intelligent power module) is rated at 40 amp. Hmmm. So maybe 25 amp draw on the front blower motor at high speed is within design limits. I am thinking that in part 2 Ivan is going to give a surprise diagnosis or gotcha! Year 2001 was the first year that Chrysler incorporated a cabin air filter inside its climate control plenum box. My theory is that the amp current draw by the blower motor is NOT the cause of the problem. The cabin air filter is plugged such that there is limited air flow. With less air flow across the power module heat sinks that protrude into the plenum box, it overheated and failed??? Anxiously awaiting part 2.

[@leebarnes655]

Excellent diagnosis, every base was covered, she certainly is getting her money's worth here. Only argument out of me is that an analog voltmeter CAN be used to see pulse modulated signals with but the verus is still sexy eye candy in comparison. In that use we don't know what the proper voltages are unless we have a 'known good' example to go by, but we could still see the voltage go up and down with the control knob.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+Lee Barnes Analog voltmeter...wow don't know the last time I saw one of those in action. But that would be a great tool to use in this case to look at the duty cycle control wire for sure!

[@lorrinbarth1969]

+motoYam82 I had an analog meter I bought on clearance at Radio Shack and used it for years for automotive diagnosis. Then one day I slammed the hood on it. So, time to move up to a fancy Fluke. I hate it but I use it. Is that a reading or is it? The needle movement contained a lot of information that is now lost.

[@leebarnes655]

+Lorrin Barth Semper fi old soldier. I used mine to read 1/2 ohm for determining shorted glow plugs from still good glow plugs and used up all the still good ones on those international diesels sold in Fords going back quite a while now. DVM alone can't begin to do this - there is no other stand alone tool that really can. This was also a Radio Shack $20 unit, but sadly they don't have them anymore or I would buy several right now. Last batch I saw anywhere were tiny toy imports and very lousy, but still better than a DVM at times.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+Lorrin Barth Yes there is something to be said for analog needle-type instruments. For example a speedometer...I hate the digital readout ones, since you actually have to READ the number; glancing at a needle gives you more of a "ballpark" reading, which is all you really need in most situations.

[@wysetech2000]

Nice, thorough diagnosis, Ivan.

[@keithkennedy9065]

cool videos ivan.. you and eric are a great team and are great at explaining the process.

[@johnr423]

Good video ! You have a good grasp on electrical systems ! I hope to get there one day myself

[@baxrok2.]

Outstanding job Ivan. Good to hear you talk about doing the job right and thoroughly. This would have been a great application for the uScope. Thinking about getting one myself.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+Baxrok2 Thanks! The UScope is kinda cute, I was thinking of buying one. But a scope really needs at least two channels. I think a used Vantage 2-channel graphing meter would be much more useful!

[@PawelG-fu4zb]

Brilliant video mate

[@jaironunez2210]

Excellent video, thanks for your time

[@dcrickerson9775]

Very nice work!

[@tadhoward294]

Excellent video thank you for the passing this on. Got to beleive you'll do well.

[@EZRider1979]

26 amps! Great Scott!

[@ericcorse]

Good concise and informative video.

[@dezblyan5125]

makes sense good stuff learning lots from ivan

[@user-ss9pd2oy4f]

Ivan, how did you come to the conclusion the blower motor was using to many amps. Did you use the rule of thumb, motor amps should be less than half the supply fuse rating or have you another quick way to confirm it.Thanks.

[@02lowrider62]

Very high failure rate on them, make sure you check harness too, don't bother putting in aftermarket resister wont last, oem is not much more! good video

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+02lowrider62 Actually OEM from Chrysler dealer was $20 CHEAPER than a crappy one from Advance Auto...go figure lol

[@zoidberg444]

Nice of Chrysler to put it there. Very unlike them really... Interesting diagnosis. I would have thought your DMM would have been able to give you the frequency of the modules output. Nice to have the fancy snapon scope though. I'm thinking of getting a cheap scope for some of my electronics projects. Lots of stuff is PWM these days.

[@TheLifeOfMartin]

I did the heads on these and it was maybe the easiest head job I have ever done in my live besides one exhaust bolt. One of the easiest in most things to work on so far

[@jstutz101]

one thing you and Eric O's channel have in common is plenty of Chrysler vehicles.

[@eddiemartinez265]

Hey ivan good job!

[@SteveRobReviews]

Fancy foot camera action there buddy. Top notch !!

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+STEVE ROB haha Steve a foot is the next best thing to a third hand :)

[@TheGibby3340]

Hmmm....As you pointed out during your testing 90% duty cycle being the max would take the motor current down to around 23.5 amps... Is that excessive on a 40 amp feed ? I guess we'll find out in part 2. Very sensible troubleshooting , nice.

[@JVerschueren]

Strange... you should have got a variable reading off the PWM control signal using the multimeter, given it's basically a re-branded Extech EX730. The signal appears to be about 40Hz, so I don't understand why the RMS converter failed to integrate it. I should have seen this vid while still working at my previous job, I could have replicated the signal with an AFG and checked what different multimeters made of it. That would have been a fun thing to demo (both when attempting to flog a multimeter or an AFG ;-)).

[@rainman2276]

What brand of jumper is that and where do I get one. Great video. Thanks Mac

[@chungaleta1234]

Great vid, looking forward to the repair, And changing the topic, what camera do you use for these videos? It seems to be a big big on the reflections and yet you handle it with ease.

[@neilm8263]

Great vid cheers:)

[@kokomokid4006]

LOVE YOU GUYS!✌👽🍺 P.S...your so right

[@cobraninetysix3883]

Nice demonstration. Where can one find amp specs for a component that is being tested?

[@AdrianKingsleyHughes]

Hahahahahahahaha dat battery has a Christmas tree growing on the terminal!!!

[@daniemurphy7681]

Ivan, do you have a link to the video describing the verus voltage discrepancy? Great video as always.

[@MommaBearsCorner]

i think i might cry now... lol thanks for sharing... if thats it, might try it, might not, but at least i know what someone would have to do so i know whats going on.. thanks

[@sixpacksandsrts9122]

Sup ?? Yea you did. Keep up the great vids. :)

[@noegonzalez4050]

Hi thank you for your video I 👍🙏

[@1kevinroberts]

heavens thank tyou for an intelligent video.

[@squareyes1981]

Forgive my ignorance but is it normal for a failing motor to draw extra current? Did the failing motor harm the module?

[@leebarnes655]

+Ian O'Riordan Yes it is typical for worn out motors to do that and yes it did kill the module. Going further, I've seen a stuck motor left on but not blowing then kill blower motor resistor packs on much older equipment that only had old school switches for low, medium and high. It even killed high because for safety, power went thru the resistor pack but only thru the thermal safety fuse part of it.

[@squareyes1981]

Brilliant. Thanks for the information.

[@TheToadkicker]

Blower motors suck in those. For some reason the labor time is wrong in 01. Check out the labor guide times for 01 and then for 02 & newer. It is the same procedure, but you can sneak them out. Just make sure all the plastic is warm

[@jasonc.4683]

I don't know about u. But ur connections be looking all crazy looking. Pretty sure people feel the same way. Are there videos how h learned to make the gadgets

[@georgekonrad911]

If you use a led test light would the pulse width modulation make it change brightness

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

+George Konrad Great question! Depends on the internal impedance of the PWM control circuit vs. the LED test light. My guess is that it would work!

[@herculeshunter1352]

Why not start with just testing the blower motor?

[@thewanderingisraelite]

Within the first 4 minutes you should have just changed out the module and then be done with it.., so what if the thing burns out in 5 years..

[@jackburner8107]

sounds alot like chris fix??

[@gbowne1]

Yea that battery is one of the worst i seen yet!! get that thing outta there.. new terminals and cables too

[@treenopie]

12:04 Blower Motor test

[@mikeg3757]

hi Ivan I would assume 99% of your viewers don't have a snapon fancy scope/meter to use. Is there a way to test the control with a DVOM ? thx

[@bobweiss8682]

+mike gal In short, no. The other option would be a high end DMM that has a duty cycle feature, but those are less common than a simple scope.

[@francoisgraham9793]

Bunch of unnecessary explaning about nothing. Get straight to the point. Video was a waste of my time. I watch another video and they explain it in 5 minutes.

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

I have improved the video efficiency over the last 7 years 😄