Fishy smell from vents, bad blower?

[Zerohour3k]

Hey all.

Here's an interesting one for you guys.. maybe you could help lend a little insight as to what the issue might be. I have a "fishy" smell coming from my vents, whenever the heat is turned on. It blows nice fresh air for the first 5 minutes, but after that, it's like someone placed some week-old cat food in my dash. I first thought it was a heater core issue, but the odor is by no means "sweet", and is by every definition, "rancid".

Now, I've done a bit of research on this, and have found out that a 'fishy' smell isn't always a mildew / mold / dead mouse problem. Apparently, burning electrical insulation and burning fuses smell like rotting fish, too? I've been needing a new blower for a while (might take a roll of the dice and buy a used one off ebay for now), since if I leave the blower on "Max" for any more than 5 minutes or so, it would overheat and blow the #8 fuse (red). I'll leave the fan on "Low" rather than automatic for the next few days, and see if that helps things any.

So, is the new blower motor now a top priority (am I going to have my car catch on fire?), or can this be something else? I have a spare blower at home, but I question the condition of the brushes / commutator on that one.. not that the current one is much better.

[vstech]

before you spend money on a used blower, pull yours out and inspect the bearings. you could just be needing some cleaning and a touch of oil. there are several write ups on here about actually rebuilding the blower brush assembly. however if the bearings are worn out and there is tons of slop... give up and get a blower.

[Graplr]

Have you ever seen Grumpy Old Men?

[vstech]

heh, that trick would totally stink the car... not wait 5 minutes of blower use... it was a cute movie though...

[dieseldan44]

I had the same problem.

Check your fusebox, the smell may be coming from there. That fishy smell is the plastic on the fuses slowly melting/burning. Somehow it gets into the vents and heating system.

I pulled an entire dash/evaporator/heater core/blower motor and cleaned it enough so you could eat of of it (had to anyways). I still had the fishy smell upon reassembly - then on a whim I opened the fusebox and there was the smell.

In my case it was actually the blower motors fuse that was smoldering - but the metal strip was fine, the plastic was melting. It was an old cheap fuse. Replaced it with a new one and not a problem since.

dd

[Zerohour3k]

I guess my main concern is, "If the fuse is melting, isn't the blower having trouble and causing more resistance?". The fuse I have in there is one of those cheap copper ones that are well known (at least in my expierence) to melt from both ends, rather than blow properly.

When I get home, I think I'll see what I can do about replacing the fuse, and refurbishing my spare blower. Worst case scenario, I guess I could just oil up the spare blower and see how that one does for a while.

[vstech]

putting in a genuine ceramic fuse will help, but additionally, the blower circuit should be rewired with a dedicated fuse holder designed to handle the load of a blower.

[Zerohour3k]

You guys rock. I checked the fuse, and sure enough, it was nicely charred at either end. I pulled it, took a whiff, and it smelled like week-old halibut.

I replaced the sucker with a better brand of fuse (still copper though, but stronger bottom part), and will see how that goes for now. In the meantime, I guess it's time to price out a new blower motor. I checked the brushes on my spare, and aside from being worn down to nubs, the commutator is shot. Anybody know where I can get a replacement blower motor on the cheap? And uh.. an easy way to get that stupid squirrel cage off my spare motor?