Hi everyone! I have a 1994 E320 coupe, grey on white, that's in mostly sweet shape. Love the side profile and the smooth, quiet ride. I'm in the Portland, Oregon area and I take full advantage of the outdoorsey goodness as well as the cool things the city has to offer. Figured I'd give the whole car fix-it forum a chance here before I end up at the dealership again... I've had my fair share of experience disassembling, breaking and fixing things. For the most part, wherever, whenever I enjoy sharing this fun knowledge with others.

Recently, I've been troubleshooting the AC fan. It quit for no good reason. There was a squeak sound on rare occassion, but I'm not sure why that would cause it to just quit. Fuses are all OK and I've checked under the fuse box for corrosion. Nothing. Anybody know what other electrical gobbledygook there might be involved in the AC fan? I also managed to disconnect the battery and freak out the radio, now it wants a 5-digit code. Any experience with that?

Hope to hear from some of you soon, Later, T

 

Have you ever changed the cabin filter in the car? it is in line between the fan and the distribution vents, if it is clogged it might have backed up into the fan. I'm no certain a 94 would have a cabin filter, don't know if Mercedes started using them back then. My wife had a 94 Audi 100 and with the Hvac auto system came with a cabin filter. the manual Hvac didn't, what a job changing that. I just changed my 99 C280 cabin filter today, took about 30 minutes as the slide that hold them in place for a person like me who has 2 right hands is awkward at best. My wife has a 04 Hundyai Xg350L an it has 2 cabin filters, both behind the glove box, snap out the box remove the covers pull ou the dirty ones and slip in clean ones, 15 minutes tops. If your car came with the original owners manual and all the other "goodies" the code should be on a detachable card. If not go to your dealer, you will have to prove proof of ownership first.
Back to the fan, it just could have bit the dust also, and a new one is needed 11 years is a long time for any oem part on a car. No Mercedes don't last forever,. no cars does.

 

Thanks, Wiz, I'll check into that filter, see if this model has it or not. I'm more afraid that the motor has actually bit it though. Another odd thing I forgot to mention, not sure if it's related or not, but it is a goofy electrical intermittantcy -- the cruise control won't engage maybe one in ten times starting the car. Odd. Well, thanks again.

 

If your have problems with other electical systems, then you could have a bad ground somwhere. I forgot to mention, when I changed my cabin filter yesterday, and I have the auto HVAC, at 72 degrees the car was freezing, last week at 72, the was comfortable. Getting back to the electircal, could be a body ground, check to see if any cables, wire that are grounded to the body are rusted, loose, etc. Also, check the fuses, they could be corroded. If there is a whitish film on a ground or fuse replace it.

 

Cool, I'm gonna check all of the above sometime tonight when things cool off a bit. About a year ago, I had our wonderful (smirk) dealership go over the cars electrical system and they cleaned up a few connections under the fuse box. Maybe some of the relatively sensitive electronic systems like cruise control are the first to go when there's a bad ground situation. I appreciate the input, Later.

 

I almost bet its your fan voltage regulator. its bolted to your fan. tells the fan what speed to go at depending on voltage. i would try replacing that before the fan motor. the squeaking sound could have been the bearings in the fan motor. or maybe the the fan cover wasnt placed on all the way and there is an air noise.

 

Thanks for helping out guys, I just managed to fix it a few minutes ago. There's a 30-amp external fuse in a small black rectangular housing just ahead of the main fuse box for the AC blower. It had a tiny crack in it, like a stress fracture. I replaced it and the fan's at 100%