No Fan on Heater

[DaddyKuel]

It's Cold here!!! Yesterday when I turned on the heater I discovered that the fan is not blowing. It's 9degrees outside!!!! So where do I find the fuse for the fan blower? In the glove box it shows it to be #76, however there is no fuse position 76 in the box or in the rear fuse box. 2002 530I HELP!!!!

 

[Kirby]

Can't help with the fuse location, don't have any info, but if the fuse is OK, it could be the final stage resistor. Look HERE for details....

 

[Van556]

Fuse #76 should be behind the glove box panel which is very difficult to see...
Remove the panel over the foot-well by sliding it out toward the glove box; look straight up and you should see an oversize red 40A fuses in stand-alone sockets.

 

[DaddyKuel]

Kirby knows his Beemer S--- it was the final stage resister . Unfotunately I am no electrician, much less a mechanic. Stealer fixed--$189. Was told they usually fail but sometimes do not go out all at once. Wonder if fuse#76 and this part are the same? Anyway, its warm again. Thanks

 

[R2iNaz]

Hide that fuse

Thanks for the detailed description. I've been looking for fuses #75 and 76. Mine were mounted facing up (into the dash) so I had to release the white plastic housing on to which they were mounted and then lower and rotate this component until I could pull the fuses.

I'm new to the forum so I hope it's OK for me to ask a question at this point.

The battery in my 2002 530i died. I assumed that at 70k miles, it was time for a new battery so i replaced it. A few weeks later it died again. I jumped it and ran fine for a week. Then it died again. Each time this happened it was after sitting out overnight.

Yesterday I sat in the car after switching off all accessories and shutting the engine off. I heard a fan still running. It was pushing air into the interior (I think from the defrost area). That's what got me looking for the fuse to kill that fan. It was running all night and draining the battery. I pulled both and the fan stopped.

Now what? I read about a "final stage resistor" (I could have the part name wrong) that needs to be installed. How difficult is that? Any advice?

Great forum here. I have enjoyed reading through the comments and advice.

 

[Kirby]

Welcome, of course it's OK to ask questions!!

I think the fan you hear running after you turn off the car might be the climate control "sniffer" fan. I assume it is rather quiet, not nearly as loud or volume of air as the blower motor? If so, this is a small fan inside the dash at the climate control panel. The supposed philosophy is that this fan runs after shutting of the car, and occasionally when it is hot in the car, to keep the air around the inside temperature sensor accurate, so that when you get in the car, the heat or air conditioning is not running full blast. I've never seen this officially discussed though.

It is normal for this to run for a few minutes after shutting down, but not continuously, killing the battery. This does not have anything to do with the final stage.

If it IS the main blower motor, then it would most likely be the final stage resistor. But they usually fail the other way - loss of one or all speeds (no air at all). I guess it could also fail in the ON position?

There was a known software glitch on some 3 series 2003 - 2004 climate control panels. When they glitched, they stayed partially powered on and would kill the battery. A software patch fixed this problem. I wonder if that might be the case for you?

Try to isolate exactly where the noise is coming from - the climate control dash panel or the main blower?