97 heater issue

[wib]

Seen many posts on heater probs, but never exactly like mine. Manual heat/AC control.
-No blower at all in "1"
-Positions "2" and "3" give the same fan speed. Sounds like a higher speed than "1" was when working normally. Not sure if it is more like "2" or "3" should be.
-Position "4" yields an increased speed relative to "2/3"
-Position "5" steps up the speed even further.

Beyond this, the blower appears noisier than it did when operation was normal with the increaded noise being more like a obstruction in the duct. Certainly not a bearing or motor noise. I feel like someone has to have experienced a similar problem other than those who only have the high speed.

[Ravenwald]

Well, there's some possibilities here:

I'd wager the resistor isn't doing so hot. The worse it gets, the more irate the settings become, until it dies and only setting 5 works. That's because 5 is pure battery voltage and doesn't need the resistor. Mine does this. You might just need to change the resistor, which can be annoying as hell (involves some glove box removal), but if you like having all 5 settings it's a must. On the subject of your blower motor, check to make sure you don't have water in your floorboards. This may sound crazy, but you might have been dripping water on your resistor and blower motor. It would cause the blower motor to become noisy before it eventually starts to short out and die. I had this happen. Basically, water got in there on warmer days by dripping through my cabin air intake then freezing all over the blower motor and fan, causing a horrible racket. My blower motor is fine because I caught it early enough, but the resistor didn't make it.

If you find water in your passenger side floorboard, or just want to check to make sure none will appear there, it's a pretty good idea to pop the cowling just below the windshield and check that the rubber drain just below that is still secured to the metal overhang there.

There's a wonderful guide for that here: ClubGP Message Forum troubleshooting

It might seem crazy, but it's best to check it while on the issue. It's a fairly common problem for 97-03's, particularly 97's it seems (Mine had the exact same issue as a result of this problem). In the event that you do find that the drain has come off, I'd recommend getting some good rubber to metal bonding cement to stick it back on there. Should only cost like 7 bucks and it's well worth the purchase.

[wib]

Had a water issue in the passenger area twice. Once was early in its life . I removed the cowl and replace the weatherstrip. Problem solved. Then, about a year ago, I got water in that area again. This time it was due to the condensate drain right angle hose for the AC being clogged with leaves and other debris that had accumulated in there. pulled the hose cleaned it and again all has been fine. On that latter subject, I have always been curious about the fact that sometimes I get small pieces of debris or leaves blown out of the air vent in the passenger compartment. Why didn't they put in a cabin filter.

Back to the heater, maybe the last presence of water in that area has caused the problem.se

[FordMan77]

IIRC, the cabin filter for a Regal will fit in the GP. The housing is there on the GP, just no filter.