a/c light doesn't come on and blower dead

[franklinpoole]

My Vibe had issues recently where the repair place wanted to replace the blower motor. I discovered that the motor was fine, but the connector on the motor and the plug had both melted. I repaired that and it's been fine for about a month. Yesterday, one of my teenagers slammed the glove box door and the blower died! Another symptom is that the A/C light doesn't come on as well? Weird. Is there a relay somewhere that could cause both of these issues?

Previously, even when the blower motor wasn't working the compressor came on, the light under the A/C button worked and you could feel cool air come out of the vents.

Ideas? I would take it to a shop but the local Pontiac, Toyota and a local Christian Brothers Automotive have all done a dismal job of properly diagnosing problems in the past.

Franklin Poole
franklin@biggarage.com

[trb]

So I'm assuming the compressor is not engaging anymore? If so, it does sound like there is a power issue to the whole AC system. I'm also assuming you checked the fuses. I wish I had the wiring diagram to see what could be out, been meaning to at least buy the Chiltons book with them, but I know a few guys on here do have it.

My son's blower has gotten weak or something since at times it will not blow UNLESS you hit below the glove box and then it starts turning. I have a blower motor I'm going to order for it to hopefully fix it.

Good luck!

[joatmon]

welcome to genvibe

if anyone asked me, I'd tell them to not post an email address in a post. multiple search engines index this site, and there are apparently lots of automated processes out there mining email addresses. Usually a good, if somewhat paranoid, practice to not make it easy for them

Anyway, you didn't say what year your Vibe was, so the following only applies to 03-08 ...

Yesterday, one of my teenagers slammed the glove box door and the blower died! Another symptom is that the A/C light doesn't come on as well? Weird. Is there a relay somewhere that could cause both of these issues?

As it turns out, there is a small relay block just above the glove box, and in that relay block there is a relay that controls the power source for the blower motor. Here is a picture of the top of the relay block (you may need to click on the picture to show the whole thing)

viewtopic.php?t=5078" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; describes how to get it as loose as shown in the picture, but it could be that the Heater relay has just backed out of the socket some and you can reach up/around and pull the relay back into the socket.

I don't have the wiring diagram for the Vibe, but I do for the Matrix, which is effectively the same car. The matrix AC system is a little different, but in the Matrix wiring diagram (049AC.pdf from viewtopic.php?t=30023" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) shows that the power for the light in the AC button also comes from the same Heater relay, so it could be the Heater relay causing both issues.

[franklinpoole]

Thanks for the thoughts. I know about that relay having replaced it once 'just because', when I couldn't figure out another problem I had. Regarding posting your email address? Mine are out there on thousand of websites and you'll never hide your trust me: I work in this field, getting your email address is no big deal. Besides, I have an awesome spam filter

[joatmon]

my other motive for not posting email is to keep people from answering questions by email, and the info never making it to the forums for the next person with the same issue.

Any luck with the blower yet?

[franklinpoole]

No chance to check the relay yet. I'm going to 'sic' my son on it this week while I fly around the country on business.

[franklinpoole]

Just got back in town and took a look at the Vibe (2006 by the way). It was indeed that relay. I turned the key on and the A/C on and as soon as I touched the relay everything turned on! I wiggled the relay around quite a bit to get good contact for it and it all seems to work fine now. It all makes sense as well since my son said it all stopped when his friend slammed the glovebox door! Probably dislodged the relay and wasn't getting good contact.

Good call!