hi all, changing out my dash and decided to try to fix my heater for winter, problem is the blower in the heater doesnt blow, fuses ok, whats next? there seems to be power going to the switch, it then goes to a spring looking thing(heat sensor?) that sticks into the top of the blower box above the motor for the squirrel cage fan and then to the motor. should i bypass the heat sensor?

chances are your heater core is toast :-/ worst case

but i'd replace the thermostat first if it sitll doesn't work, it's the heater core.

but on an odd note my Sammy's heat worked fine.  I lived in Anahiem California.  We'd drive to the mountains to snow board or sled or just play in the snow.  But for some odd reason, my heat ALWAYS started blowing cold half way down the mountain.  but would kick back on again at the bottom???

i can't believe air pressure would cause my heat to stop, and why would it work fine and all the sudden stop?  Bah good old Sammy's such quirky little guys.

chances are your heater core is toast :-/ worst case

but i'd replace the thermostat first if it sitll doesn't work, it's the heater core.

but on an odd note my Sammy's heat worked fine.  I lived in Anahiem California.  We'd drive to the mountains to snow board or sled or just play in the snow.  But for some odd reason, my heat ALWAYS started blowing cold half way down the mountain.  but would kick back on again at the bottom???

i can't believe air pressure would cause my heat to stop, and why would it work fine and all the sudden stop?  Bah good old Sammy's such quirky little guys.

The motor was probably getting cold because you weren't working it going down the hill and the outside temperature was low making the radiator and heater core esentially too big for the engine. Try blocking off some of the radiator with cardboard next time. I bet the heater will stay warm...

-Eric

hi all, changing out my dash and decided to try to fix my heater for winter, problem is the blower in the heater doesnt blow, fuses ok, whats next? there seems to be power going to the switch, it then goes to a spring looking thing(heat sensor?) that sticks into the top of the blower box above the motor for the squirrel cage fan and then to the motor. should i bypass the heat sensor?

Spring looking thing? I think that is a load so that you can have multiple speeds on your blower. Are you sure that your switch is OK? A common problem is that the switch stops working. Do a 'little wiggle' on the switch and see if the blower tries to start.

I'd bet the switch is dirty/broken...

Good luck, Eric.

chances are your heater core is toast :-/ worst case

but i'd replace the thermostat first if it sitll doesn't work, it's the heater core.

but on an odd note my Sammy's heat worked fine.  I lived in Anahiem California.  We'd drive to the mountains to snow board or sled or just play in the snow.  But for some odd reason, my heat ALWAYS started blowing cold half way down the mountain.  but would kick back on again at the bottom???

i can't believe air pressure would cause my heat to stop, and why would it work fine and all the sudden stop?  Bah good old Sammy's such quirky little guys.

Why would he have a bad core if his blower motor died?

Apply power and ground to the motor, if it doesn't work, replace it.

Typically, Zuks clog the top of the heater core with leaves (not related to the blower, although the leaves have to go thru the squirrel cage to get to the core) - and clearing that pile of leaves out of the core does WONDERS for your heat. The best method for this is to drill a 2" hole in the heater box (ABOVE the core, don't kill this) and after shop-vac'ing the leave out, plug the hole with a body plug, so you can get in there again.
I am assuming you are into the dash 'cause of the lack of heat?


EDIT: the spring looking thing is the in-line load coil used to drop some of the voltage so as to run the motor slower on low and medium speeds.

nice quick knowledgable responses, thanks all, just got done with the dash swap. problem was the ground to the switch solder joint fell off so i just resoldered it. took the switch assembly apart and cleaned the contacts as well, my friend erics doesnt work on high and i assume that is the problem with his. thanks again, 6feet

The Sidekicks do the same thing, I've
had to re-solder mine twice now, but it
always works after I fix it. and yes the
spring thing is a resistor wire, drops the
voltage for multi speeds.

The Sidekicks do the same thing, I've
had to re-solder mine twice now, but it
always works after I fix it. and yes the
spring thing is a resistor wire, drops the
voltage for multi speeds.

and the reason the heater blows hot going
up and cold halfway down, thermostat, could
be removed or it could be sticking open, do
sammies have a temp guage?? if so does yours
stay at about one spot?? I bet if you looked at it
going down hill it would read cold. I run a 160 Deg
thermostat, and in the winter with the heater on full
hot high, it just keeps the cab warm, not hot, what
a difference 20 Deg makes, (stock was 180 Deg)

Hey guys, long time no see.

Anyhow, I think my blower/heater motor is toast.  I pulled it out just like in this pic:



and I cleaned out some leaves and some evergreen needles that were stuck in it.

I took the metal cap off the bottom of the motor and cleaned out what looked like black soot like dust and screwed it back on to the housing.

It used to make a weird sort of grinding sound and now it's even worse.

Is there some special grease I gotta add or should I just order a new motor?

Also on a side note...I don't quite get that little spring dealy...when I ran the motor outside of the housing, that spring thing started smoking!    Why? 

get a new motor!  it should be less than 30 bucks, well... the one for my chev was only thirty, so im just assuming that.  I tried greasing my chevs blower motor and that didnt work.  If you dont replace it one these days your gonna get a big cloud of smoke fill up your samurai