A/C Problems in 2006 KIA Sorento

[Capt.Propwash]

hey guys,

i thought i would try here to see if any one could help me with an Air Conditioning problem.

I just found out tonight about an hour ago that my A/C no longer works.  When i turn it on, I here the compressor kick on under the hood, but the blower is not blowing.  I have located the AC Blower Relay, but i have no clue as to if it is bad or good (it is solid color light grey on ALL sides and top).

My question, is the relay a N.O. or N.C. (Normally Open / Normally Closed).  I do have a OHMs meter / multimeter so I can check it for continuity, just i dont know if it is N.O. or N.C..

If anyone knows anything about car electrical relays, it would be appreciated. Thanks.

[eno]

I'm no auto electrician so my first port of call would be to phone Kia, or a local garage and ask them

[gtirob01]

You could just buy another relay as they are pretty cheap, but before even doing that.... look around the fuse/relay box and see if you can find a relay just like the one for the blower motor. You can simply swap the relays to see if anything changes on either end. If the relay is indeed bad, then the component that you now have it plugged into will not work, and vice versa. Not having the proper electrical schematics its kind of hard to speculate the problem, but to me its something in the motor, and not even A/C related.

On Honda's its pretty common for the blower motor resistor to go out. When this happens, an easy test is to simply turn the fan speed all the way up to see if it comes on. Doing this completes the circuit with no resistance, allowing the motor to come on. Of course, it can just go out completely as well. Not sure if the Kia's have a similar setup or not... but it would be something to look into.

[Ivan]

1: Does the AC work even whitout the blower working (still cold air from the vents)
2; Do you still have the max speed setting of the blower.

For 1:
If it works, its not the switch that has gone dead (AC should give cold air on any setting except zero)

For 2:
If you still have max blower speed then its the speed resistors that have died / melted.

Usually the big relay boxes have multiple relays... so if one went dead there should be more inop devices

[Capt.Propwash]

well.... its more #1... but not so much anymore.

4 fan speed levels on the dash.

[gtirob01]

You can absolutely use jumper wires from the battery directly to the blower motor. You should be able to tell which wire is power, and which is ground. I use this method often to diagnose blower problems. Direct battery voltage to the blower motor will not harm it, as it would get that voltage anyways in normal use. If the blower works, then your eyes will do this  haha

[Capt.Propwash]

thanks for the help guys.  I recently took out a hair bit of frustration on the blower motor tapping it somewhat gently but firmly... then I put it back in just to try it.   Low and behold.. the darn thing works now.    < me going crazy    Thanks anyways guys

[gtirob01]

If tapping on it made it work, then that will mean your blower motor is going bad. Likely some bad or broken contacts inside causing the problem.

[DALflier]

I have a similar problem as reported in original post.  Blower works okay in position 4, but 1-3 are dead.  Ivan suggests speed resistors are dead.  Is that part of the switch or a relay?  Where do I start digging to find out?   Thanks.

[Ivan]

@dal: In my car its a pack of resistors plugged in the circuit that lower the power in the low range. They were located on the side of the ventilation splitter box on the passenger side

Usually that thing is located somewhere close to the blower motor or the switch. Depending on your car you have to remove part of the dash, or you have to reach the resistor pack from the engine side

Best tip: search for "[your car type] fan speed resistor" (excluding the quotes)

[The Ruptured Duck]

Autozone could probably help you with this one.  They have been very helpful in my experience