Upgrading the Blower Motor Controls

Last year I did a write-up about HowTo Install New Blower Motor. At the time I noticed that my "Blower Motor Resistor" was in need of replacing. Here's the resistor.


A new resistor was around $25. Instead of replacing the resistor I started doing some research with an idea in mind. Start with a schematic of the A/C-Heater system electrical.


I read that the Blower Motor Resistor is part of the speed control for the blower motor. The Front Blower Switch has four positions. Hi, Med Hi, Med Lo and Lo. The way it works is that when the Blower Switch is in any of the lower three settings, resistors are added to the electrical circuit that powers the blower motor. The resistors convert some of the power flowing through the circuit into heat which in turn means there is less power to make the blower motor rotate so it spins slower.

When the switch is in the "Hi" selection the resistors are bypassed and all the power goes directly to the motor so it spins faster than the other selections. Conversely when the switch is in the "Lo" position then all of the resistors are included in the circuit so the motor now turns the slowest. I'm sure there's a more technically correct way to describe this but hopefully my version is clear enough. It's not like there will be a quiz later, thank goodness.

While this system has it's advantages there is one big disadvantage I can think of. Since the resistors are converting the electricity into heat they must be cooled. This is done by placing the resistors just downstream from the blower fan in the air ducting. This way whenever the resistors are being used they are also being cooled by the fan. But what about when you're using the Air Conditioning? That means you might be burning gas to produce electricity that's being converted into heat inside the ventilation system which is just that much more work the air conditioning compressor has to do remove that heat and again you're burning gas to produce that extra work.

Didn't know this before and if this was a regular van I would have just replaced the Blower Motor Resistor and from now on only run the fan on "Hi" when the A/C is on. But since this is Hal The Van I started looking around for ideas and got one from Erik at BadgerTrek. Erik wrote the he had replaced the stock blower motor control with a Maxx Tronic 30 Amp PWM DC motor controller. PWM stands for Pulse Width Modulation and it's a more energy efficient way of controlling DC motor speed. With this unit in place of the original controller Erik is able to run the blower from the house batteries when camping. This gives him powered ventilation without having to cut a hole in the van for an extra fan.

I don't know how Erik wired his system up so from here on all the ideas, either good or bad, are mine. Here's the unit I bought. I just checked on-line and it looks like it has been replaced with different model. It cost about the same as a new Blower Motor Resistor.


I'll probably mount the Maxx Tronic board within the dash so need to open it up and look around. Here's how to open the dash. There are two screws above the instrument cluster and under the top edge of the dash. Remove these.


Use something thin and flat to pry forward the edge of the instrument cluster from in front of the center cluster.


Once it pops open, pull the right edge of the instrument cluster away from the dash.


Then reach in between the two instrument panels and pull the center panel forward till it starts popping out. Take you time so not to crack it.


Work your way around the center panel.


I also removed the dog house before I started.


Got it all pulled free.


Remove the wires from the back of the cigarette lighter and the power port.


That leaves the sub-panel with the heater and A/C controls. Don't know the the official name is so I'll just call it the Climate Control Console (CCC).


Use a 9/32 socket to remove the CCC.




Then use a 1/4 socket to remove the vent selector switch from the CCC. This switch has vacuum lines attached. Unplug the other three wire connectors from the back of the CCC.




continued -

 

Upgrading the Blower Motor Controls - Post #2

This is the potentiometer (pot) on the Maxx Tronic circuit board. The pot controls the motor speed. After opening up the dash I see that I won't be able to mount the circuit board directly behind the CCC. I'll remove the pot from the circuit board and solder on wires between the pot and the board. This allows the pot to be mounted away from the circuit board.


Here is the power connections on the circuit board. They are labeled "G", "-M", "+M" and "+12V".


I haven't tested the control module yet so after desoldering the pot and rewiring it I temporarily wired up the motor controller to the blower motor.


Here's the plug for the blower motor. The PWM controller board worked fine.


With the exposed electrical connections on the motor controller circuit board I can't mount it directly inside the dash. Have to first make an insulating plastic case. Build it out of scrap acrylic pieces.


There are two large heat sinks on the circuit board so I added a small fan that will draw air through the case to aid with the cooling.


Next add a small latching relay. This relay serves the same purpose as the ones I used in the radio circuit previously posted about. It allows the fan circuit to be switched with a momentary switch.


Vent holes to help with cooling.


Added a relay so the full fan amperage doesn't go through the selector switch. The switch will just power the relay.


The completed unit.


Now that it's been built I know how much space is needed inside the dash. Look around for a place to mount it.


This fits the bill. It's the metal "shelf" that sits above the engine and is directly forward of the dog house. I've already used a spray cleaner on the shelf. It wasn't near this clean to begin with.


Test fit.


Want to mount the control module in it's plastic case so that it's held securely in place but still be able to remove it if it needs servicing. So decided to make a mounting plate from a piece of the Webasto fuel pump shield. This piece was leftover after I shortened the shield to fit the new greywater tank. Using a vise and pliers to bend it into the shape I want.


Use VHB tape to mount the plate to the shelf. VHB is a acrylic foam tape made by 3M that claims to be strong enough to act as as alternative to screws. So consider this to be a semi-permanent installation.




Use cable ties to secure the plastic case to the mounting plate. I can snug up the plastic ties pretty tight so the case doesn't move and if I ever need to remove it just cut the ties.


continued -

 

Upgrading the Blower Motor Controls - Post #3

Here's the CCC on my workbench.




The two halves are held together by plastic tabs.


This layer of clear plastic is used to spread the illumination from the two light bulbs across the width of the CCC. It will shine out through clear places, like where there is lettering, on the covering sheet.


The next step took a bit of pondering since I'm making this up as I go. Had to decide both how and where was the best place to mount the potentiometer (pot) from the control module to the CCC. Thought of a bunch of different ways to position the pot and power the blower motor but finally decided to replace the current blower motor switch with the pot and install a selector switch in the switch panel below the radio. Since the fan can be powered from the house batteries I'll add a LED to indicate when the fan is on.

The indicator LED will extend through the front of the CCC so need to know the size of the hole to drill. Looks to be 3/16".


I started using a red LED ("Hal's Eye") for the indicator then later changed over to a more benevolent blue LED.

To clear space for the LED do a little surgery on the clear plastic with a Dremel.


Drill a hole through the front half of the CCC for the LED.


Test fit.


Also do some more surgery on the back half of the CCC.




To keep the LED forward enough to protrude through the front half of the CCC once two halves are snapped back together I built a small acrylic base.


Next work on the pot.


The stem on the pot is shorter than on the blower switch so it will be mounted to the inside of the front half of the CCC instead of to the rear of the back half.


To use the original blower motor **** I had to remove the internal metal sleeve and do some filing.


Because the electrical contacts on the pot are exposed I wanted to add insulation. Used Liquid Electrical Tape I bought at Lowe's




Wire up the LED. It's slightly out of focus but there is a resistor connected in line with the LED. The resistor reduces the voltage so the LED doesn't burn out.


Here's where I changed over to the blue LED.


continued -

 

Upgrading the Blower Motor Controls - Post #4

Now that I've installed the new blower motor PWM control module inside the dash I have to decide how to wire this up to the blower motor. Could always run new wires but since there is already wires in place I'll use them instead. The old wiring will need a little reconfiguring.

Start with a look at the original blower motor wiring. This diagram shows how the "Function Selector Switch" is wired. The "Function Selector Switch" is the one on the CCC marked "MAX A/C, NORM A/C, VENT, OFF, FLR, MIX, defrost symbol"


Note how when the switch is in any position except "OFF" power flows through the switch to the "Blower Motor Relay".


The letter "A" in the triangle means this circuit is continued onto another page


This page shows the continuation of the blower motor circuit.


The "A" in the triangle shows the power coming from the "Function Selector Switch" and energizing the coil on the "Blower Motor Relay". The relay makes the connection between the blower motor and van battery through the 50 amp fuse at position number 13 in the "Engine Compartment Fuse Box".


I no longer want the power to go directly to the blower motor but instead want it to go to the PWM control module installed in the dash. The power for the motor will then come from the PWM control module. So I need to bypass the motor. In the above diagram the connector for the motor is labeled as "C160". The wires for C160 are labels as "O/R" and "O/BK". So one wire will be orange with a red strip and the other will be orange with a black strip.

Here is connector C160.




Normally this connector would be plugged directly into a socket in the side of the blower motor but I previously installed a replacement blower motor. The replacement motor came with this externally wired socket that connector C160 plugs into instead.


On the replacement motor's external socket cut both the wires. Then strip and crimp the two wires together at the socket. I'll come back to the wires that lead to the motor.


Double shrink tube the connection to try and make it weather proof.




With the blower motor bypassed the power goes from circuit #515 into circuit #261. There is a splice at S144 where the circuit branches to both the left and the right. Ignore the right branch to the "Blower Motor Resistor" for the moment and follow the circuit to the left. The circuit terminates at the "Front Blower Switch" through connector C207.


Here are details of the blower switch and connector C207.




Connector C207. It plugged into the back of the CCC.


By crimping spade connectors to the ends of wires I can plug directly into the connector. This way I didn't have to cut the wires from the back of the connector.


The spade connectors are on wires that led to the PWM control module. That's how I'll get power to the module and also using it to send the modulated power back to the blower motor.


Same diagram as before. Notice circuit #269 (LB/O) and #260 (R/O). They run from the connector C207 to connector C158.


Here is connector C158. It's plugged into the "Blower Motor Resistor".


In the new wiring scheme the "Blower Motor Resistor" is no longer used so I'm going to take circuits #260 and #269 and use them to deliver the Pulse Width Modulated power to the blower motor. I've already wired it up at the connector C207 end. Crimp spade terminals to each of the two motor wires I cut earlier. Plug them into connector C158 in the appropriate slots. This is a DC motor so polarity does matter.




I'm only going to use two of the four slots in the connector. To make the connection weatherproof I painted on several coats of the Liquid Electrical Tape.


Plug in the bypass to connector C160.


Cable tie wires in place.


In this new arrangement the "Blower Motor Resistor" is no longer used. Will leave it in place because to remove it would leave a hole in the ductwork.


Put the two halves of the CCC back together now with the power LED and pot speed controller installed.


Found one problem when I first tried to use the new blower speed control. It will only turn 90 degrees. I had assumed that the original fan speed selector switch is what restricted the turning arc and once the switch was removed it would turn freely. Not so. You can see this plastic ridge that limits the ***** turning to 90 degrees.


It engages this small clear plastic block on the ****.


A little surgery with a Dremel and no longer a problem.


The **** will now turn through the pot's full turning arc of around 300 degrees.


Put it all back together.


I wired up one of toggle switches below the radio so I can run the fan from the house batteries. It's wired up similar to how I have the radio so the fan power automatically switches over to the van battery whenever I start the engine.

I've put a thousand + miles on the van since doing the fan upgrade and I really like it. Having more than four speed settings is nice when driving and being able to power vent the van when camping comes in handy. I wouldn't run the fan at high speed for too long when on house batteries alone but you can still get a nice air flow at low speed which isn't too hard on the batteries.

At night the blue LED is a brighter than expected but since it's pointed at the center of the van it's not a distraction to me when driving. In case you forget to set the vent control before stopping the engine it's no problem since there is still enough vacuum left in the system to change vent settings.

OK. That's the end of this project.

 

I did a somewhat similar modification. I use a Texas Instruments MSP430 MCU as my controller.

It queries the Xantrex battery monitor via serial to determine how much power is coming in from the solar panels, then checks its internal temp sensor. If it detects over 75F, alternator field off, and the Xantrex reports 80%+ charged batteries with more than 10amp incoming, it fires up a PWM controller and starts a bilge-type vent fan, with a 45% duty cycle the 24v battery pack doesn't turn my fan into slag.

I was worried about how much power the MSP430 would consume. During testing I used 2AA to run it. nothing to worry about, the lead acid batteries would self discharge before the MCU could do it.

It works well. During the hot days, I just leave a front window cracked half an inch, and it forces air from under the rear bumper to the front, and keeps the inside temps within about 10F of the outside temp. I'm waiting for winter to see if its working entirely correctly.

 

So about a hour ago I hop into the van to run a couple errands and start pulling away from the house. When I first use the brakes they feel a little soft. When I use them a second time they go to the floor. If you've noticed from my photos I live on a bit of a hill. Luckily when this happened the van was pulled around so it was perpendicular to the slope. Carefully moved it back to in front of the house and saw this when I got out:



Some people might be distressed to have this happen to them but not me. Why? Because I spent last weekend camping at the Monongahela National Forest in the van. So that means it is was a weekend of up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain.... You get the idea.
The fact that this might easily have happened while barreling down a steeply graded, no guard railed forest road miles from help but instead happened while I was moving along slowly a few feet from my house means I'm happy as can be.

Seeing how it's a three day weekend and I wasn't planning to go anywhere I'll have plenty of time to work on the problem.

 

Ouch, that's not good! But like you said, better to loose them in the driveway than on a downgrade!

Sam

 

Damn man. If it were me, I would already have my tubing bender out and be pissing off my parts guy by ordering pretty much all his hardline and fittings. Then all new hoses. Then rebuild kits for the calipers and replacement cylinders out back.

But I'm paranoid like that.

 

Wow updates! love the molded floor mats and the Warp Drive switches!

 

The brake line has cracked/failed just before the rear axle. I'm going to go ahead and replace all the brake lines and flexible hoses. I've been reading up on the subject and have some questions.
For the front hoses the auto store has 3 different kinds of hoses. No ABS, 2 wheel ABS or 4 wheel ABS. I have an ABS dash light so I'm assuming I have either 2 or 4 wheel. How do I tell?
Advance Auto has Wagner brake hoses while Auto Zone has Brakeware brand hoses. The Wagner brand are $10 more expensive. Are they worth it?
95e150CW wrote about also doing a rebuilt on the calipers and the rear brake cylinders. I thought that the caliper and cylinders show signs of leaking as they go bad. That there isn't the catastrophic failure like when the brake line burst. But I'm no expert. Rebuilt or not?
I'll be replacing the steel brake lines with nickle-cooper. It's doesn't rust and is easier to bend and flare. The easier flare part is important since I'll be double flaring using a Harbor Freight tool. The one caution I read about nickle-cooper is that it might work harden and crack if it's allowed to move excessively so I'll have to be careful about securing it.
That's the plan at the moment. Beside the questions is there any advice someone who's done this before would like to pass on?
Thanks for your time.
WVvan.

 

For ABS: Look at your front wheels, if you have a hose AND a sensor wire going to them, you have 4 wheel ABS. If you only have brake lines going to the front wheels, then you have RWAL/2 wheel ABS. You can also count the lines coming from the ABS pump. If there are 3, its RWAL. If there are 6, its 4WABS.

You do NOT have to rebuild the calipers and cylinders. Its a personal choice thing, I open them on older vehicles and replace their seals if they are okay. If they are junk, usually water corrosion, I toss them or rebuild them.

Brakeware is low grade clone parts. Half the time its generic fit/close enough, and the other half of the time it doesn't fit. They have no US offices and you cannot call them with fitment/quality issues. I have not had good luck with them or their service.

Wagner is owned by Federal-Mogul, and they are generally much better quality. Their parts are direct swap, and they often OEM for car makers. Their offices CAN be called in theory, but i have never had to. Their parts are often made in China as well, though sometimes they are made in the US, India, Mexico, etc. They at least know how to spell QC.

Check out rockauto for prices. Sometimes they win by quite a bit.

 

Got the brake system replacement done yesterday. 95e150CW, it was just like you said. Everything was so rusted I ended up replacing the calipers and the wheel cylinders.


Didn't document it like usual since it's a really dirty and greasy job and didn't want to mess up my camera.

cost:
Rock Auto
rear brake hose: $14.96
left front brake hose: $13.09
right front brake hose: $14.23

Advance Auto
brake caliper - $44.99 excluding core charge (needed two)
brake pads (Wearever Gold) - $37.89
nickle-copper brake line - 3/16" x 25' - $49.99 (needed two)
brake fittings - 3/16" x 3/8" (5 fittings per package) - $1.99 (needed two)
brake fittings - 3/16" x 7/16" (5 fittings per package) - $2.49 (needed two)
brake fittings - 3/16" x 9/16" (5 fittings per package) - $2.49
brass union - 3/16" x 3/8" - $2.49
brake hose retaining clip - 4 clips per package - $5.49
wheel cylinder - $15.19 (needed two)
brake drum hardware kit - $8.49 (one kit covers both rear wheels)
brake fluid - 32 oz - $5.99 (needed three)
bolts - M8-1.25 x 12mm (needed for one wheel cylinder) - $2.49

Harbor Freight
Double flaring tool - $19.99 - (See more about this farther down)

One blood blister - no charge

Following is some information that would have made the job easier if I'd known it all ahead of time:
Brake fittings and brake line runs. All brake lines are 3/16".

Rear most fitting on the master cylinder. 7/16".
This line runs to the right (drivers) side of the ABS unit directly below the master cylinder.


Front most fitting on master cylinder. 9/16".
This line runs to the top of the brake hose that goes to the drivers side caliper.


Both the fittings on the ABS unit are 7/16".
This line runs down to then along the top of the drivers side frame rail. Aft of the front wheel it runs to the outside of the frame until opposite the fuel filter then curls over the top of the rail to a union.


Top of the brake hose for the driver's side caliper. There are two 3/8" fittings here. One you can see entering at the top and another on the back. One fitting is from the master cylinder. The other goes to a brake line that runs to the passenger side brake hose. The brake line that runs to the rear wheels is visible in the ceter right of the photo.


Brake hose for the passenger side caliper. The 3/8" fitting enters in the rear.


Rear brake hose. This also a 3/8" fitting. This length of brake line runs from the union near the fuel filter along the inside of the frame rail parallel to the fuel tank to this point. One note about the rear brake hose. The old hose was so rusted to this metal support I had to first use a sawzall to cut away one side of the fitting then use a hammer, punch and some violence to get it free.


Bottom of the rear brake hose. Left fitting is 7/16". It runs to the drivers side wheel cylinder. Right side is 3/8" and runs to the passenger side wheel cylinder.


Both left and right side wheel cylinders use 7/16" fittings.


The two bolts that hold each wheel cylinder take a 10mm socket to remove.


To remove the front calipers you'll need a 13/16" socket for the brackets and a 1/2" for the caliper bolts.


To get the caliper core charge back you'll need to include the bracket. Funny thing about the core charge at Advance Auto. The core charge was more expensive than the new calipers.


Bleed screws. For the wheel cylinders it's 3/8". For the passenger side caliper it's also 3/8" but for the drivers side caliper it's 10mm.


I decided to use nickle-copper brake line as a replacement to steel brake lines for three reasons. It doesn't rust. It's easy to bend and I'll be able to make the needed double flared ends using a cheap Harbor Freight tool.


The reviews for the Double Flare tool on the Harbor Freight site show that it's not tough enough for steel brake line but I hoped it would work well enough with nickle-copper. Almost. A lot of the reviews complained about the small post on the round die snapping off. I was careful with the tool as I made the flares but on, what I thought would be, my last flare the same thing happened with the post snapping off. So I took a larger sized die and used my metal lathe to reduce the diameter of the center post.


Here is the broken die next to the newly machined one.


I'd like to say that everything was just right when I went to bleed the system but that would be a lie. Two of my flares leaked and needed redone. Here I am under the van doing the one that attaches to the rear brake hose.


I'm being closely watched to make sure I get it right this time.

 

Are those lines the European spec "cunifer?" I've seen some builds online from Europe that used it, looks like nice stuff!

Time and rust is hard on brake lines, when I got my pickup the line to the back brakes was rusted clean in half!

Sam

 

Before I decide to use the nickel-copper lines I did some reading on the subject. High end European models have been using nickle-copper line for many years. In the USA prior to 1930 brass and copper brake tubing were used but after WWII the car companies realized they could save money by switching to the steel lines even though the steel rusted while the copper didn't.
After having used the nickle-copper I wouldn't go back to the steel. It's so much easier to work with. I know the purpose of the double flare is to strengthen the end of the brake line so to prevent it from splitting on the seam. Since the nickle-copper doesn't have a seam I wonder if it's needed. I'm not going to stop using the double flare, just wondering.

 

I've gotten a few private messages worried that something had happened since there hasn't been any new Hal postings in a while. Mainly I've been doing a lot of traveling. That and with the shorter days it's dark by the time I get home from work which always puts me into a bit of a funk this time of year. Well things are now looking brighter. According to the U.S. Naval Observatory today is the last day this year when the sun sets earlier than the day before. By 12/9, in these parts, the sun it will start setting later making it seem like the days are starting to get longer. They won't since the Winter Solstice isn't until 12/21. The days will continue to get shorter until then but that will be from later sunrises. But that's OK. I already feel better!

Back to work. With all the interstate traveling I've been doing in Hal lately there is a steering problem that's really started to bug me. At speeds above 60 MPH the steering wheel has a slight back-and-forth shimmy that's tiring on a long haul. I've previously had the ball joints and alignment checked and tires rebalanced but it won't go away. I'd read about adding a steering stabilizer so decide to give it a go. I should have done this years ago.

I used this thread from https://www.ford-trucks.com as my guide for this project.

Here are the three main components needed for the steering stabilizer.


Same parts, different view.


The two brackets I ordered from www.silverstatefordparts.com

Part #s
F2UZ3E652A $38.10
F2UZ3E652B $56.70 (The "B" bracket is the one with the two U-bolts)

The Monroe Magnum Steering Damper came from my local Advance Auto.
Part # SC2955 $33.99

First off is to locate the "A" bracket. It goes on the the left hand (passenger side) chassis frame at the front. Here are the three mounting holes on my van.


There were rust issues with Hal when I bought it. I've covered the exposed metal with Rust Bullet to deal with the rust. Need to first knock off any surface rust before installing the bracket so do some chipping. Next take a 3/8" tap and clean up the mounting holes.


After checking the metal vs rust ratio in the tapped hole I had my doubts about the threads holding power.


So I threaded in a 3/8" bolt and tried to see if I could strip the hole.


Yep I could.


Went back to my tap set and found the next largest size which is 7/16" and used it next.


Can't tell from the pictures but I'm using cutting fluid with the tap.


This time the tapped holes looked a lot better. Tested them the same way as before but this time with a 7/16" bolt. The holes didn't strip.


Bolt the "A" bracket to the frame using three 7/16"-14 X 1" bolts with lock washers. All the hardware store had in that size was Grade 8. Bolts were $1.09 each and washers $0.22 each.




Do the "B" bracket next. First off I measured the max extension of the piston on the steering damper. It's around 8".


Before proceeding, turn the wheels all the way to the right. This is needed to align the "B" bracket.

Next is to attach the damper to the "A" bracket. I used a 1/2" bolt but it had to be pounded through the Monroe damper. A better fit would be with a M12-1.75 bolt but I didn't have any on hand.


Extend the piston about a 1/2".


Then use that to line up where the "B" bracket should be bolted to the drag link on the van.


Since the "B" bracket can be rotated on the drag link while still keeping the piston extension at 1/2" it's not obvious what the best position should be. I used the rubber radiator hose as a guide so none of the steering damper parts would rub against it and possibly cause a hole.


The bolt that extends from the "B" bracket through the Monroe damper is a M12-1.75. I paid $1.04 for a pair of nylon locknuts for it. Snug up all the nuts on the "B" bracket but don't do a final tighten yet.

Turn the front wheels all the way to the left and check the fit.


Here's why I measured the max piston extension earlier. Can check if the damper is fully extended. There is still have another inch if needed.


It would probably be best to have someone observe the the steering damper as you turn the wheels back and forth. When you're sure everything looks good tighten it down.


Take it for a test drive. In my case the steering damper has made a major improvement in the steering wheel shimmy. It's not totally eliminated but much better. I've read of other benefits but haven't had a chance to really test it out yet.

That's it.