B
BAZZARR
After years of searching I've finally found the heater blower motor
relay in my 86 Subaru XT. All of the Sub repair books I've read and
most of the info on the Internet states that it is either attached to
the fuse block or is one of six or so ganged just above the break
pedal. Pzzzzzz. Wrong. It's located on the passenger side inside the
center console under the radio just below and to the left of the glove
box.
To get to it, remove the two screws and protective kick plate that
cover the blower motor and AC box. This exposes the back edge of the
plastic console sheeting so that you can reach around behind it. The
plastic can now be flexed back (carefully)! giving you enough room to
squeeze in a hand and pop out the relay using a short screw driver. Go
slow and easy when pulling aside the console vinyl as it can get
brittle with age and break if your not careful.
As all experienced home mechanics are aware no automobile repair is
allowed, by law, to be quick easy without a catch of some kind. The
catch here is that there are four identical relays here, one for the
blower, two who's function I couldn't identify and the starter switch
relay. Pull the right one and you have air, pull the wrong one and the
car wont start! I found this out the hard (and stupid) way by
switching them all around until the blower worked. Hooray, heat and
air conditioning for the first time in years! But wait, what's this,
now the battery gage is measuring just below 12 volts and the car
won't quit turn over. Put in a new battery, same thing. Tightened all
the wires, nothing. Checked the fuses, nada. @!!@#!~@!~ Now what? What
had happened was that dopey me managed, at 4 to 1 odds mind you, to
replace the starter relay with the bad blower relay when I was
switching them around.
The four relays are set in a sort of square configuration with one in
each corner facing towards the passenger compartment and are held in
place by tight fitting, wide metal tension clamps. As the relays get
pretty hot to the touch, I suspect that the clamps may also act as
heat sinks so don't just plug em back in without using the clamps.
The starter relay is on the driver side lower left and the blower is
on the passenger side, lower right.
RADIO
Relay-------------------------Relay
| |
| |
| |
Starter relay--------------Heater fan relay
Hope this info helps.
relay in my 86 Subaru XT. All of the Sub repair books I've read and
most of the info on the Internet states that it is either attached to
the fuse block or is one of six or so ganged just above the break
pedal. Pzzzzzz. Wrong. It's located on the passenger side inside the
center console under the radio just below and to the left of the glove
box.
To get to it, remove the two screws and protective kick plate that
cover the blower motor and AC box. This exposes the back edge of the
plastic console sheeting so that you can reach around behind it. The
plastic can now be flexed back (carefully)! giving you enough room to
squeeze in a hand and pop out the relay using a short screw driver. Go
slow and easy when pulling aside the console vinyl as it can get
brittle with age and break if your not careful.
As all experienced home mechanics are aware no automobile repair is
allowed, by law, to be quick easy without a catch of some kind. The
catch here is that there are four identical relays here, one for the
blower, two who's function I couldn't identify and the starter switch
relay. Pull the right one and you have air, pull the wrong one and the
car wont start! I found this out the hard (and stupid) way by
switching them all around until the blower worked. Hooray, heat and
air conditioning for the first time in years! But wait, what's this,
now the battery gage is measuring just below 12 volts and the car
won't quit turn over. Put in a new battery, same thing. Tightened all
the wires, nothing. Checked the fuses, nada. @!!@#!~@!~ Now what? What
had happened was that dopey me managed, at 4 to 1 odds mind you, to
replace the starter relay with the bad blower relay when I was
switching them around.
The four relays are set in a sort of square configuration with one in
each corner facing towards the passenger compartment and are held in
place by tight fitting, wide metal tension clamps. As the relays get
pretty hot to the touch, I suspect that the clamps may also act as
heat sinks so don't just plug em back in without using the clamps.
The starter relay is on the driver side lower left and the blower is
on the passenger side, lower right.
RADIO
Relay-------------------------Relay
| |
| |
| |
Starter relay--------------Heater fan relay
Hope this info helps.