Blizzard check-in

I'll be warm while driving soon. This is the replacement part for the one that failed. It's a blower-motor resistor. $32 at Auto-Zone. I just hope that I don't find any melted wires when I get up in there to replace it. A new connector-harness kit is double the money.

Not a whole lot to complain about around here. The temps through January have been mostly above average with some pretty damn cold days thrown in. February has been somewhat below average. Supposed to go down to -9°F tonight with wind chills around -35°F, high of 2°F tomorrow, maybe a little snow. Typical for January. We are below average for snowfall. The snowmobile trails up north have been having trouble, many are closed. Most of the ski hills around here are set up to make their own snow.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/roseville-mn/55113/february-weather/338892?monyr=2/1/2015

Admin wrote:Not a whole lot to complain about around here. The temps through January have been mostly above average with some pretty damn cold days thrown in. February has been somewhat below average. Supposed to go down to -9°F tonight with wind chills around -35°F, high of 2°F tomorrow, maybe a little snow. Typical for January. We are below average for snowfall. The snowmobile trails up north have been having trouble, many are closed. Most of the ski hills around here are set up to make their own snow.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/roseville-mn/55113/february-weather/338892?monyr=2/1/2015

Jacob.. I always feel funny, posting about any extraordinary New England Winter weather.. knowing full-well of your typical Winters in MN. We've had a Winter here.. that I only remember the "likes of".. when I was very young. (of course.. I was a lot shorter then) Snow accumulations that you actually have to "wade" through.. we haven't seen here for decades. It doesn't bother me like it does most people. I'm much more cautious when I drive though.. especially at night.

The high was 46F today.. (we got 2-3 more inches of wet snow last night) so I cleaned up the walks/drive and after making an auger-drive linkage repair to the snow-blower; decided to R & R the blower-motor resistor in the 2005 Chevy.

Here's the failed part.




It looks like it overheated.. maybe more than once. There weren't any dis-colored/brittle wires in the feed-harness.. so that was a relief.



Tomorrow I plan to check the cabin air-filter condition. I don't have a meter to check the amp draw from the blower though. A clogged filter causes the blower to work harder and draw more amps than spec. A worn-out blower will draw more amps than spec. The resistor-block takes the punishment.. as well as constantly being exposed to the elements. It's location is directly down-stream of the fresh-air duct in the cowl below the windshield.

This looks melted to me.. 4 noticeable hot-spots.. either speeds 1-4 or 2-5? I had none of the 5 speeds when the trouble started. I did have all 5 intermittently though..



It took me about 45 min. to replace the part. A kick-panel (2 screws-2min.) drop glove-box door (1 min.) remove defective resistor block and disconnect harnesses (1 min.) "Roddie observation" (25-30 min.) Install new part (10 min.) Test... JOY!

getback wrote:Good Deal Roddie , how many years did you get out of the failed part ? I does look pretty darn rough as in wanting to explode or catch on fire.

I'm guessing it's the original resistor-block Eric. The vehicle is a 2005.. so the part lasted 10 years. There's a code that would suggest a production date sometime in June/July of 2004.. if the "26" represents the week.



It's colder today (26F right now) and slated to drop into the teens by nightfall. I could've used 12 more hours of yesterday's milder (46F) temps.. to get our driveway scraped-down to the pavement. Freeze-thaw cycles are brutal when there's this much snow. Catch-Basins are buried.. so there was a lot of puddling on the roadways yesterday. When it got colder in the evening, the roads got treacherous. The municipalities have used more salt/sand on the roads in the last 3 weeks.. than they've used in the last 3 years.

Snow-blowers have become targets for theft. The retailers are out of stock.. and the manufacturers can't keep up with the demand.

getback wrote:Sunday 56 , Mon, 46 snow gone *** This morning 20 and 1 " or more on the ground lots of accidents, Glad I am not out there ... but my dad and I are suppose to go to the food lion today 36 this afternoon  

Hey Eric, after taking your Dad shopping.. stop off and have a cold one and a big bowl of hot chili for lunch with him! My dad and I do breakfast every know and then.. but not enough.