Blower Fan Problem

[dwagenseller]

Hello everyone. I was traveling from Ohio to Kansas earlier today and the air coming from my vents stooped blowing. The blower was running because I could hear it and it would ramp up when I increased the speed but no air was coming from the vents. I've replaced the final stage resister two years ago and when I did, the issue was the blower wouldn't work at all and the new part did fix the problem. This issue is different because I could control the speed of the fan but with increased or decreased speed, no air come out from the vents. It was as if something was blocking the air from the blower to my vents. Could this be an actuator issue? If so, does anyone know which one? The backseat blower did work and would blow air.

After writing the above paragraph, I went back out to my X5 and started it up and all the sudden, air is now coming from the vents. Any ideas?

I have a 2001 4.4i X5. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NOVAX5]

same thing, the final stage resistor is going south again. i had the same issue, order a brand new fsr for 80 bucks with 2 days shipping. it fixed the problem.

[dwagenseller]

Thanks, I will order one tomorrow and let you know if it corrects the problem.

[mtimperman]

I think I am having the same problem that you describe. Everything will work well for about 2 hours of driving. Sooner or later air flow will stop, however fan appears to be running. Manual speed up/down causes recognizable fan motor response but no air flow from vents. I thought that cabin temp sensor might be flaking out. Did changing FSR corrent your problem?

[pedson]

I have this problem..what fixed yours?

[Weasel]

The cause is the evaporator freezing over (condensation formed on the evap freezing, blocking air flow) and the fix could be a temp sensor, but proper diagnosis may be needed. On some newer models the minimum allowed evaporator temp can be raised a couple degrees via programming.

[klavermi]

I have the same problem as described by Dwagenseller with my my 2000, 4.4i.
What I can add to the symptoms is that the problem appears only after 30 to 40 Km at the motorway (90mph) and not while driven same distance on secondary road.
When the problem appears shutting off the engine for 10 seconds will fix it. Cold air is flowing again like before, but it only helps for again 30 Km. This would point into something electrical, since I do a reset while shutting off.
It also helps to shut down the AC and press the button for defog the front window. After 1 or 2 minutes of warm air through the system I turn on the AC again and problem is fixed for a short while. This fix points into a freezing problem I think.
Hope this helps in diagnose the problem?
Besides I notice that when parking the car there is quit a lot of condens-water dripping underneath. Also after a short drive and after an average drive on secondary roads. Could this mean that the temp of the evaporator is not managed well?
Outside temperatures are 70F to 90F.

[pedson]

Yes..I have VERY similar problems..on my 2001 X5 4.4i. Lots of condensation underneath the car...let the car rest a bit..and goes back to beign nice and cold until I drive at high speeds, too.

[x5inCT]

I'm new to this forum. Don't know if you are still having this problem, but I had the exact same issue with my 2002 x5 4.4 last year in the heat of summer. It was, as Weasel mentioned, the evaporator freezing over. That's how is started out, then was only blowing cold from the drivers side vent and hot from the passenger side. I could leave the system on, let the air blow full-blast and just turn the A/C off for 5 or ten minutes and it would start blowing cold again for a few minutes. I thought I was in for a huge bill for the repair, but it only needed a recharge. Low charge was causing the freeze-over, and I was told that the system blocks out the passenger cold air as sort of a "limp-home" feature when it senses a lack of performance.

Anyway, hope this helps before you spend thousands trying to fix it....check the refrigerant level/pressures or have them checked.

[pedson]

Had all levels checked..looks good...My A/C is now blowing out random white flakes???