I joined this forum for some help on an issue with my mom's Protege5 (2003). I am not new to car forums for I drive a 2008 Mustang GT and Mod bug has hit me way early on. So mainly just here for little issues that I am not so familiar with on her car considering it is getting up there in age though has never had any problems. 8.5 yrs old and has 45K on the ODO.

I already found a few threads about the main issue I joined but if anyone knows the exact fix for this problem, would appreciate a PM or reply.. basically the number 2 speed on the AC goes out. The light engages for a moment and then off, yet air still blows. Speeds 1,3,4 are just fine and blows cold air.

I've read it is a Blower motor resistor, but before I change anything or buy anything, I will take it out and clean all the connections.

I look forward to this forums knowledge on anything else I run into down the road.

 

ahhh I actually found a TSB out for it but I cannot find the new part number replacements anywhere.... and im sure they will be very expensive from Mazda. I will just clean the connectors and possibly re-solder the connection if that is the case once I tear it apart rather than spending the money on something that may not fix it!

 

I applaud your attempt to fix it. That's rare these days.
If your repair fails however, I was able to find a replacement part on AutoZone's site for $19 special order of course... and the way their site is these days, it wasn't easy.

Santech/Red dot units 71R-1450 blower resistor block (MT0972) | Relay and Resistors | AutoZone.com

 

Thank you. Appreciate the support. Ok, after researching even more, I believe I know exactly what the problem is and wont be able to confirm until I take the parts apart

Basically since the fan is still blowing on all speeds, just not getting cold air because the AC switch keeps deactivating on speed 2, it is not the blower resistor, nor the motor.

Mazda claims it is a faulty logic in the heater control unit which costs $285 from Mazda. I cannot find it anywhere else. the part number for that is

BL8W61190F (amber lighted unit)
BL8F61190D (green lighted unit)

Now, I had found a picture of this entire thing online (below is the posted picture of it) and the information I have read from a ton of forums was that the issue isnt really with any of the parts being "faulty", but with the Male connectors and female spade connectors on the wire harness that connect to the back of the FAN SWITCH (61-200 in the picture) are just dirty and need to be cleaned up and retightened do to becoming a bit loose over the years. Sometimes it does really melt the connectors and is very apparent it needs to be tended to.

To me, it looks as though the entire heater control unit (61-190 in the picture, basically the entire picture), is just the housing of the FAN SWITCH and all it does is simply house the switch and the wire harness in back doesn't tie into any other pieces in on the heater control unit.

I called a few different Mazda dealerships to get their technical insight of what I think and only one someone heard me out but wasn't helpful. I told him my thoughts about just replacing the fan switch instead of the entire unit but he said there is a reason they did the entire thing (YEA, MONEY... and you don't have to probably take off any ***** .. disassemble anything, like you would if you were just to replace a FAN SWITCH).

Now if you did want to replace the FAN SWITCH just for the hell of it, it is $26.86 from 3 out of the 4 Mazda dealerships I have called. No biggie, but I would definitely try cleaning it first, which is what I am going to do soon enough. I will most likely start a thread on all the information I gathered with all the references and maybe we can make it a sticky so the issue is addressed and very little money needs to spend on the fix and Mazda does not benefit from others that are not aware of other possibilities than the "fix" they give.

what do you think?

 

Since the rest of it seems to be cable controlled (mechanical rather than electrical) I would say that's a very good place to start.
Again, should that not work perhaps a local or online junkyard could help you with a good used part?

 

How did you make out?

I was having the same issue on my '01 Protege for a while but have just been ignoring it. A while ago, the issue spread to the 1 and 3 fan positions as well.

Now, the fan doesn't work at all but the a/c light comes on in all positions.

A few months ago, I replace the fan resistor.

Anyone have an idea of what the problem may be? Thanks.