Blower Motor works but does not respond to speed adjustment

[Burgundyman]

My 1998 GTP blower motor all of a sudden decides that it will not increase or decrease in speed. It blows but at a less than modest speed. I am hoping that it is only a resistor problem. I have automatic climate control. Please advise.

[Neil98gt]

99.9% of the time it's a bad resistor.

[Burgundyman]

Where is the best place to buy a reputable resistor. The price varies between Advance, O'reilly and Autozone

[Neil98gt]

I'm not sure, I've never had to replace a resistor. Honestly there's probably not much difference between the three of them. Just go with what you prefer.

[Burgundyman]

Thanks for the insight. AutoZone has "limited lifetime"...$156.99 with a $20.00 savings = $136.99

[Burgundyman]

UPDATE....I decided to evaluate the process to determine what was faulty before running off to parts store. I used my multimeter and found power coming from blower resistor. I examined all connections which appeared to have good contact points. With the blower still installed, I ran separate power source to see if it would turn. Indeed it fired up flawlessly. I proceed to reconnect blower motor to resistor. Turned on the ignition and tested the fan settings. Everything worked fine. In summary, there were no parts to replace. Of course, I will keep an eye on the system.

[ricksgpgtcolleen]

Interesting, when this happened, it was a bad blower motor that was drawing too much current and damaged the blower resistor, and also blew the 30A high-side fuse in the glove compartment fuse block.

[Burgundyman]

Update...After finding 1.5 inches of water on the passenger side, I knew I had to investigate further. I read on the forum that the weather stripping under the cowl tends to dislodge allowing water to enter through the blower motor housing. This was exactly my problem. Sadly, I had to replace my blower motor (OEM $59.00) and installed a water deflector part# 15794785, which I ordered from GM ($4.00). You have to modify the cowl for deflector to fit. This will resolve any other potential problems associated with water entering through the blower motor cavity. You will also want to replace your retainer pins (part #10053182, $0.48)...you need three retainer pins. I removed my cowl, which was a one-piece unit. I removed the wiper arms, which was easy enough to access my cowl. I found it more convenient to work on modification using my workbench, rather than struggling with it while still attached to the car. I also installed a new 3M foam weather stripping on my cowl. It was a bit more work to remove the old one along with its glue residue. Overall, I am really happy with the fix.