Hi, I'm gradually sorting out the little things on my new-to-me 1986 W201 190D. It's a Euro model, grey market import from Germany (although some things like the headlights are not stock).

One of the things that doesn't work on the car is the heater blower. It has positions for OFF, 1, 2, 3, Max, and nothing happens in any of them. Poking around looking at the fuse box, I see that fuse number 3 looks kind of funky. It's a red 16 amp fuse, but the strip is shriveled down to almost nothing (other 16 amp fuses have a uniform width strip). The fuse is labeled "auxiliary fan" on the nice US-style fuse box lid that Jetmugg sent me - is this the heater blower then? The German fuse box is labeled Zusatzlüfter, which translates as "Auxiliary exhaust" using babelfish.yahoo.com. I normally would have associated the words auxiliary fan with something electric under the hood near the radiator, but in this instance it seems like a little too much coincidence that I have a fan that doesn't work, and a fan fuse that looks funky.

Assuming that the two are related, does this indicate that I probably need to replace the heater blower motor, via access from the engine compartment? I think that I recall reading that when the brushes get low it blows fuses, so perhaps that is how I got to the current situation. I'm also wondering if I'm going to have a big "ouch" when I go to order one - being a Euro model are the fans different than U.S. models?

Thanks for any advice you may have,

Kurt

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- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

Axillary fan is usually the electric fan in from of condenser at the very front of vehicle. Replace the fuse and see!

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1987 300TDT - 195,000 (Original #14 head)
1993 190E 2.3 - 105,000
1981 300D - 250,000

That's what I thought, too, except... there's no electric fan up there in front of my OM602 engine! There's just the mechanical fan driven by the serpentine belt (this car doesn't have air conditioning, by the way).

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

Interesting...I guess being a Euro model and no A/C that changes things. Try swapping another fuse and report back. Someone will chime in soon with something conclusive.

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1987 300TDT - 195,000 (Original #14 head)
1993 190E 2.3 - 105,000
1981 300D - 250,000

Can you identify the fuse for the AC or heater circuit? Don't just look at it, swap it with a fuse of the same rating from a circuit that works, or a new fuse.

It's probably not a bad resistor pack if it doesn't work in max. Sounds like the blower motor needs new brushes, bearings or flat out replacement. Hopefully it's the same motor as US 201s.

Sixto
87 300D

Sixto, is the need for brushes or bearings usually pretty evident once you take the blower assembly out?

I'll get a pack of fuses in the morning, and see what I can figure out.

Kurt

__________________
- '79 240D - engine swap complete! Engine broken in! 28-31 mpg! Lovin' the ride!
- '86 190D (W201-126) - 2.5 NA engine, 5 speed, cloth interior, manual climate controls, 33-34 mpg (sold to forum member).

Not necessarily. You can check for axial and radial play in the motor shaft, check if there's any binding or seizing spinning the cages by hand, etc. I don't know if the motor has to come apart to inspect the brushes.

Before you remove the blower motor, see if you can get power directly to the motor bypassing the AC controls, resistor pack or blower controller and anything else in the way. If the 201 is setup anything like the 124, there's a connector on the US driver side of the wiper box. You can't simply apply +12V if it has a solid state blower controller right by the motor. You should be able to if the system uses a resistor pack. Proceed with caution. This will save you the 30-60 minutes it takes a first timer to get to the blower. I strongly recommend practicing on any 201 at the pick-n-pull so you know what can and will break on your car.

Sixto
87 300D