Hi folks,

I did a few searches through the forums using the search tool, but didn't see anything similar to my problem....so,

Today, I experienced an issue with my A/C fan that I've not bad before. My Mazda 3 is a 2008 with 127,000 miles. Last week, the air wasn't blowing very cold so I added 1 can of r134 and got the pressure within range and it started blowing very cold again. This was Saturday. I didn't drive it much the rest of Saturday or Sunday, but this morning, I put about 70 miles on the car with no noticeable issues.

I let it sit for about 2 hours while I was with a client then started a 300 mile trek. Somewhere around 1/2 way through, I noticed that the fan didn't seem to be blowing hard. I could turn it on high and hear the fan motor (I'm assuming) but very little movement out of the vents. I messed with all the switches, nothing changed. I just turned the whole system off for about 30-40 minutes, then turned it back on and I had full air movement. Over the next 30 mins or so, I noticed that the air movement kept getting lower and lower until it was back to hardly any output.

Once again, I turned the whole system off for a while and Voila!... it's back again.

Any ideas? Is something freezing up? Relay? Fan motor? Something that I won't have to tear half of my car apart to get to?

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Tim

 

I'll take a guess that the evaporator is freezing up. Duplicate the problem, shut it off and watch to see if the water drain under the car looks like a open faucet. That would be the ice melting off the evaporator. There is a temp sensor in the ducts between the heater core and the evaporator that should control freeze up. If it has failed, dash out it the only way to service it.

First route I would go is to have the R134a evac and charged with a machine to assure proper amount and your not causing the problem with an overcharge. If the charge on it is good, I'll take pic's of where and how to check the temp sensor

 

Hi Sparky! Thanks. I'm out of town (thus why I was driving so much today), but as soon as I get back into town later this week, I'll definitely start working through your advice.

Will it hurt anything by running it as is and shutting it off when it starts blowing less, then repeating?

 

Maybe? I don't want to give you a false sense of "nothing bad will happen" when I don't know definitively what's causing the freeze up. Set the air intake to fresh and not recycle, that should help. Excessive and extended head pressure times is where any damage would step in. Personally, I would run it rather than sweat and take my chances.

 

Basically, I have the same issue with my CX-7.
The blower motor does not start until car warm-ups (takes 5 - 10 minutes when outside is around 0 celsius ) and after the car/engine warm-up, it works absolutely normal. I can turn it off and start again and it will work instantly but as soon it cools down I need warm up the engine, it used to work instantly even when outside was -20 celsius. I have replaced the blower motor resistor (100$) but it did not help. The issue still persists.
Just to clarify, it is not related to the cool or hot air, because it works fine it just not blowing.

Does anyone be able to pinpoint the issue?
I would really really appreciate some help with it!!!!
The car has climate control A/C.

My next bet is the blower motor relay (I tried to heat the relay box with a hair blower and it helps blower to start almost instantly).
Can anyone help me locate the blower motor relay?
I did find some info in the manual but it is very confusing and has no information on the relays location.
In particular, I need to replace motor blower relay for Mazda CX7 (most likely it is the same for Mazda CX9 and Mazda 6).
Your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hi, for anyone experiencing the same issue - it was fixed with appropriate relay replacement - you do not have to get original, I got mine from the hardware store for 5 bucks. Just make sure the pins have the same pattern and it rated 12v (99% relays works the same way so see diagram on the original one and check on the new one).