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Hello everybody. So, I've attached a few pictures below that I need help with, since it would appear the person who owned this vehicle before me decided to Frankenstein the driver's side blower.
The picture above is still part of the OEM harness, from what I can tell. However, beneath the dashboard, I cannot find where these would connect to. That being said, the picture below might shed some light on my situation as those wires could potentially power the motor. Although I still don't know where the black female connector will find its male counterpart.
The two wires pictured above run to the blower motor itself; one secured to the back of the motor and one secured to the body, or ground. Now, would I simply connect the corresponding wires in the two pictures above to get power to the blower motor? I have the original blower motor but everything has been cut/broken off of it so I have no template to go off of.
Next picture, which is below the dashboard. I've found something that might be nothing, or it might be something. Does anyone know what this is?
I don't know where it goes, it is conveniently snug once it reaches the area to the left of the hood release.
I've got some more things to figure out, but this is the only thing that is preventing me from enjoying this vehicle in the mornings when it's below freezing in the middle of April because Canada is a tropical destination.
Thanks in advance to everyone that provides insight into this.
Welcome to the Jaguar Forums! It's great to have you with us.
Since you only mention the driver's side blower, can we assume your passenger side blower is working properly on all speeds and not only on HIGH?
It does look like a previous owner did a number on your blower wiring. A common problem is failure of the Darlington transistor and/or a resistor or diode or two in the speed control circuit, which is mounted in the air passageway of the blower motor housing. There are also two relays inside the housing, one of which tends to burn out over time. When problems arise, some owners have been known to "hotwire" the fan motor so it always receives 12V so it will run on high. That may be what your previous owner was attempting to do.
First of all, here are a couple of photos I borrowed from eBay listings showing blowers purported to fit an '88 XJ40. You can compare the two electrical connectors to what you have, and you should have a harness with mating connectors that extends from the Climate Control Unit in the center console:
Secondly, register at Jag-Lovers.org (it's free and there's a huge archives of XJ40 information there). Check out the Air Con Blower Motor section of the Jag-Lovers XJ40 eBook:
Thirdly, I am not aware of an online Electrical Guide for the XJ40, so I would highly recommend you purchase the XJ40 Supplementary Model Information DVD from the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, which contains the electrical schematics and many other helpful documents:
In the meantime, you can open the blower motor housing by removing some metal clips and a few screws (if I recall correctly). Test the motor by first checking to see if the squirrel cage fan will turn freely. If it will, apply 12V directly to the motor terminals and confirm that it runs. If the fan won't turn freely, do not apply 12V. Instead, remove the three (?) screws that hold the fan/motor assembly in place and feed some light machine oil (3-in-1 oil, sewing machine oil, etc.) into the bushings at both ends of the shaft. Do not attempt to remove the fan from the motor shaft because it is balanced at the factory. Use a straw or WD40 applicator tube to feed oil through the fan onto the shaft bushing. The bushing on the other end is easily accessed. Allow the oil to soak and then gently work the fan, apply more oil, work the fan, repeat, until the fan will turn freely. Then test the motor with 12V.
Once you know the motor will run, you can temporarily hotwire it with 12V so it will function while you're working on a permanent solution that will provide all three speeds.
Hopefully some of our early XJ40 owners will reply with additional suggestions.
I will definitely follow your guidance, much appreciated. The passenger side blower is on its way out as well, or there is an electrical gremlin somewhere. It works on all speed settings, but one the vehicle reaches operational temperature the speed adjustment knob does nothing and the blower itself stops or changes speed whenever it pleases. I'm left with turning it OFF or turning it to any speed setting and letting the Jaguar tell me how it's feeling at the moment.
As far as the unit, it is an extreme hack job. The housing itself has been cut away to accommodate the larger blower motor, which looks very similar to the one I had in my '86 Chevy, and the open areas have been covered with duct tape. I also noticed that the wiring was labelled incorrectly; they tagged the ground wire as the hot wire, so maybe that will solve the blower motor woes. However, I took a look in the housing itself; everything is gone. The two relays that are in the housing are sitting in the trunk, both with the wiring cut. I'll pull the circuit board from the airway and let you know if anything has been burnt or bloated.
So I believe I have two options at this point. First one being to hot wire the blower (once it tests OK to do so, that is) motor directly to the harness and settle with high-speed only.
Second one, and correct me if I'm wrong, is to wire directly into the main harness, or off the battery, and run a separate multi-speed switch for the driver's side. The difference in blower motor and fan size is pretty significant and I don't want to overload the climate control system.
I shall post this evening with any more roadblocks I come across, but preferably it will be a problem solved post. Again, thanks for the help, it's greatly appreciated.
All right, so the blower works when provided with direct power, so I'm going to hot wire it and deal with acquiring an OEM unit with an unmolested harness hopefully still attached to it. Problem dealt with.
Now, the passenger side is still doing its own thing. In the mornings it works just as it should. As soon as some heat gets into the system then it goes all haywire. It will vary between a slow speed, gradually increase to maximum speed and keep doing that. No pattern though, it's completely random. The climate control settings are set to MANUAL, AIR and ECO modes with the speed control on DEFROST. Again, when cold you can change everything to whatever you want and the system cooperates, but once a bit of heat gets into the system it does its own thing.
Any idea? Or should I just hot wire both sides and run them off of a multi-position switch and call it a day?
All right, so the blower works when provided with direct power, so I'm going to hot wire it and deal with acquiring an OEM unit with an unmolested harness hopefully still attached to it. Problem dealt with.
Now, the passenger side is still doing its own thing. In the mornings it works just as it should. As soon as some heat gets into the system then it goes all haywire. It will vary between a slow speed, gradually increase to maximum speed and keep doing that. No pattern though, it's completely random. The climate control settings are set to MANUAL, AIR and ECO modes with the speed control on DEFROST. Again, when cold you can change everything to whatever you want and the system cooperates, but once a bit of heat gets into the system it does its own thing.
Any idea? Or should I just hot wire both sides and run them off of a multi-position switch and call it a day?
I'd have to go back and review the info on the system operation, but when you set the speed control to DEFROST, the cylindrical blend "flaps" in the dash rotate to close off air flow to the dash face vents and the defrost vents in the top of the dash open to direct airflow to the windshield/windscreen. On most XJ40s, one or both of the defrost vents have broken actuator mechanisms so air is always leaking anyway, but having the fascia vents closed isn't going to do anything to help your comfort.
You'll get your best airflow from the fascia vents by setting the fan on HIGH. However, because the system is designed to have the airflow from the two blower motors blasting against each other to create a strong flow from the vents, when one blower is not working, the airflow decreases by more than half because its pressure escapes through the fresh air inlet vent at the other blower motor housing , and you get a very weak flow from the one working fan.
Your symptoms of the system behavior changing once it heats up could have something to do with the amibient air temperature sensor (mounted on the recirculation flap of one of the blower motor housings, if I recall correctly), the interior air temperature sensor (on our car it's mounted on the underside of the passenger knee bolster), the solar sensor (mounted on the top of the dash), the water temperature switch on the heater core, or something else I can't think of.
I don't know if they'll be of any help, but the photos at the links below will at least show you some of the components of the system and how the blend flaps work:
So new development, now the passenger side blower (still wired properly) will only work on defrost; not on high, medium, or low.
I read on another forum someone dropped in a replacement dash with all of the HVAC plumbing and blowers for relatively cheap, so I think I'll go that route and hot wire in the mean time.
Thanks for all of the input and advice. When I get a replacement unit I'll give it a go through and check all of the things listed above prior to installing.
I read on another forum someone dropped in a replacement dash with all of the HVAC plumbing and blowers for relatively cheap, so I think I'll go that route and hot wire in the mean time.
That black wire that's hanging by the hood release looks just like the Dealer Installed Alarm system antenna that was also hanging around by the front pillars in my '92 Soverign. They would try to snake it up the pillars, and across under the headliner to get good key fob reception. Looks identical to the one I yanked out after I removed the dealer alarm and put in a Viper unit.
I read on another forum someone dropped in a replacement dash with all of the HVAC plumbing and blowers for relatively cheap, so I think I'll go that route and hot wire in the mean time.
I'm not sure why you would need the entire dash, since the blower motor housings aren't actually attached to or part of the dash. They attach to the firewall/bulkhead and connect to rubber ducts that extend from the Climate Control Unit, which is also not technically part of the dash; it's housed in the center console.
It might be best to just diagnose the problems you have - worst case you might just need working blower motors/housings if you can't repair yours.
04-13-2015, 09:18 PM
Problems. Pictures. Pictures of Problems.
