October 25, 2020
You expect your heater/air conditioner to work like it should. You have a control for temperature and one for fan speed. You even have a control for what vents the air comes out of.
Don't be surprised one day if your blower fan develops a mind of its own and starts going crazy. Most of the time, you may find that it starts blowing at full speed, and nothing you do to try to control it does any good. This is what may be happening.
Your blower motor has an electronic component called a resistor. It does what its name says; it offers resistance. When you want the fan to run more slowly, you turn the fan speed down. That resistor accomplishes that by turning its resistance up. When the resistor fails, the power has nothing to slow it and the fan speeds up.
It's a small part and can fail due to age or corrosion. It's usually not an expensive part, either, but it's often found in a location that's not that easy for the technician to get to. That means labor costs will vary depending on the design of your vehicle.
Occasionally, a faulty resistor can cause the blower motor not to work at all or only partially come on. But other things can cause that as well, such as a faulty fan switch or vent control.
This is where a technician's training comes in. Special equipment can track down precisely where the issue is so you can be assured the correct part is being replaced.
It's just not pleasant when the blower motor isn't following orders. Have your service facility check it out so you can be the blower's boss, like it should be.
Tuffy Chicago (Diversey Pkwy)
1400 West Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, Illinois 60614
773-929-3622

March 8, 2026
We all want to breathe clean air and keep our planet green. One of the ways to do that is by requiring all vehicles with internal combustion engines to pass an emissions test. Thats because these vehicles can be big polluters. Everyone wants their car to pass the test so they can continue the... More

March 1, 2026
Your vehicle gets its power from burning fuel, usually gasoline, and it counts on something called fuel injectors to send gas to the engine in a spray that is easy to ignite. Its a precise operation, and when its working well, you have plenty of power and an efficient engine. But after time, con... More

February 22, 2026
You may have heard someone say they just got the air filter replaced in their vehicle. But did you know your vehicle has two different major air filters and they both perform quite differentbut very importantduties? Todays vehicles have a cabin air filter, and an engine air filter. The engine a... More