Hello friends, I am in need of some help pretty badly.
A little over a week ago, my blower motor (I believe) gave out, I was actually relieved that the irritating whining sound I heard very often was the blower motor because as soon as it died the whining stopped.
I could still feel cool air coming out of the vents barely, but no blowing despite fan settings etc.
I ordered and received the correct blower motor and resistor, spent a little extra than the DIY motor mentioned in the forums so I could have plug and play fan and motor and do it right, didn't want to mess around with this florida heat starting to pelt.

Today I installed both, can't imagine there was many ways it could be done wrong since it is just screw in and plug in, however I did mess it up the very first start because my blower motor cable was not fully plugged in. I fixed it, started it again and still nothing, I hear some sounds coming from the area, basically same sounds as before I replaced it, but nothing.

I re checked some fuses I already checked before, mainly the AC one in the footwell that is a serious pain to get to, and the back seat one. I replaced the front footwell AC fuse and accidentally somehow bent the plastic part on the brown 5 one next to it, it went back to normal but I replaced it either way. the back 40a ac blower fuses tested fine and I rotated them just to see, when I started the car again, my screen / entire ac system buttons did not turn on. No lights, only button that lit up in the infotainment was airbag light. The last time this happened months ago, I believe it was low voltage that time and the leaper + lit buttons showed up, now it is nothing, I have a picture of all the fuses before I changed them, and they are where they are supposed to be. I know I must have done something wrong but I don't know what. My battery voltage was fine this time, and I got it OBD tested and zero codes came up like normal.
feel like I'm digging myself deeper into a pit and wanted to ask for help, pretty desperate.

Thank you

Attached video of infotainment and sound, and photo of installed motor and resistor.

 

You SAY the battery voltage is fine, but evidently you had at least one door open during the entire Fan Repair, so really, IS your voltage AND amperage okay? The problem you describe is exactly one of Low Battery Performance.

 

And to add to @Cee Jay very valid comment; it is not uncommon for the blower module/resister to fail first.

 

I replaced the resistor and the entire blower motor with fan relatively quickly, let the car run (even when it started initially it stayed 14,0, occasionally dropped to 13.9v), I later swapped it back to old to use with new fan to see if it was any combination, the old motor did seem discolored and had light corrosion on the screws from I assume duckbill drain, it also made the annoying sound sometimes when I moved it by hand. I figured it could just be the resistor but replaced both just to be sure, no luck, same symptoms of no blower motor like before. everything else works like normal

 

I did have the door open for a little, but tested the voltage immediately after, steady 14.0v, I also let the car run for a little while just to see, and later drove it around with no luck, same sound it made before which sound like a blower motor not turning on. when the last screen issues happened a couple months ago, my voltage was slightly low, and in that case even the leaping cat came on and the button lights were on, at the moment the entire infotainment system and button lights are off, just in that area, and the timing was directly after I tested and replaced the (the old but still good) fuses in footwell, which is why I don't know if I did any of the procedure wrong, or if it messes anything up if the battery isn't disconnected before replacing fuses/ bad to pull certain ones etc that I wasn't aware of.

I hope you are correct and will be using and melting in the car some more tomorrow, but I just don't know if it is battery related with these circumstances.

 

Considering the resistor’s buried in the middle of the dash are you certain that’s what you replaced? The blower typically fails due to water, did you check the old fan to see if it was really bad? And are you certain the new blower works?

 

I believe so unless this is the wrong resistor, it was to the left of the blower but a little deeper in. what I believe was the blower, had started to make shrill loud whining, and the noises got worse and worse until it stopped blowing a little over a week ago, (it's still been driven in that time, everything else was fine including nav screen and ac control lights until today, never once had the noises after it stopped blowing, so I know its at least not something in the engine bay)
a bunch of small black particles came out of it, when it was removed, and the bolt looked corroded so I assume it had water damage, when spun certain ways by hand I could hear some of the noise.
This is what I replaced:

 

No, that’s right, assuming the parts are correct (compared old part numbers to new). And you’ve doubled checked all connections and harnesses and all fuses. Assume the fan speed dial displays the fan speed as you increase/decrease it?

 

Seems to me you are checking the voltage with engine running cause you say the output is 14 volts. You need to check the battery voltage with engine off and wait a couple of hours. Better yet, check it next day and see if you have 12,6v.

 

I was yes, I assumed that with the voltage back to normal and after a good amount of time driving around at stable voltage, the things that were not working due to low voltage would be working, but I am not an expert, maybe the battery needs to be reset?

 

I'm still also curious if anything I did in my process could have ruined something (maybe known to happen) as well that I was not aware of.

 

@JeremiahLovesJags , I am afraid you are mistaken. your thinking that “driving around will…” is old thinking. And it will not work for you.
Think of a modern alternator as a “maintainer” and not a charger.
As my esteemed colleagues have stated: “CHECK THE BATTERY” means just that. Check the battery with the car not running and not concurrently being charged.
If you are not measuring 12.6v, your battery is not fully charged.

 

There's nothing to reset on your battery because your Dad's 2008 does not have the Battery Monitoring System module that was introduced with the 5.0L models.

Have that battery load tested for free at your local big box auto parts store. It could be weak and unable to hold a charge.

The first thing to do whenever there's an electrical problem is to make sure that the battery is fully charged and healthy.

 

LOL, @Stuart S …. you beat me to my next edit.

 

Tested it today, has been sitting since last nights drive, did not turn it on, just in accessory mode it was 12.5v.

 

That could be low. Mine’s typically in the low 13s but occasionally has dipped down as low as 12.65.

 

That seems like you may have used a Chineseium Cigar Lighter Volt Meter. That's not the best way to check it. I had one of those that was off by half a volt on a 12VDC check compared to my Fluke.

 

I used an OBD one, I just put the car on a trickle charger right now.

 

use a voltmeter and only a voltmeter at the battery terminals themselves, no toys or accessories that plug into ports to check the battery voltage. Those are fine for when your driving to let your understand the state of charge but that's a different topic.

 

You need to use a real battery charger, not a trickle charger or maintainer. And you need to have that battery load tested as I previously mentioned.

Terminology matters.


A trickle charger is a dumb device that produces 1-2 amps constantly, without electronic circuitry to automatically reduce the charge and shut itself off. It constantly charges very slowly, and can damage a battery because it can eventually boil out the electrolyte. Don't hold your breath waiting for a trickle charger to recharge a weak battery.

A battery maintainer is a smart device that also charges slowly, and has electronic circuitry that monitors the state of charge and vary the output to keep that battery at or near a full charge. It takes a battery maintainer a long time to recharge a weak battery, although a bit faster than a trickle charger.

A real battery charger is a smart device that produces a high output of at least 10 amps, which makes it best suited for charging a weak battery. The greater the output (amps), the faster the charge. High output models can jump start a car.

Use the right tool to get the job done.