Synergie Blower motor cowboyed. Update... Well I never!!!

[Johnny Cogs]

Hey all!

After missing my old Xantia so much I went hunting for another one. alas all the good ones were either 'no longer available for sale' or way over my budget... so when this synergie came up i thought whot the hey, and pulled the trigger...

I'll be honest, its a bit ropey, but furiously practical.

All has been good until the rains came down!!! then i discovered the sunroofs are, lets say a bit worsde than useless, at keeping the water out!

And to add to the woes the blower gives no blow anymore!!!

ive been through the threads and the nearest likey i can find is daves xantia with the bypassed 12v supply...

After taking the dashboards apart and the heater control unit out (old basic slider job, no climate controlling electric gubbins here) i traced the sliders tracks and bridged the pins in the supply plug to try and achieve full power.... nothing...

looking at the fusebox someone has shoved a spade in to socket 3, then scothlocked to thick 12v supply wire, as seen in the pics... where i cut the wire a fuse had been fitted, 30amp, which had completely boiled in half, housing and all!!! i tried reinstating the blue wire, sans fuse, to rule out a motor fault and point the finger at the speed controller, but nothing... stone dead. Ive checked the scuttle drain, thats clear...

oh, one other symptom is that the lower dash was badly rebuilt by the previous owner and whenever i changed gear i could occasionally boost the blower speed!!!

here are a couple of pics....





Is this just an atrocious 12v bypass? or is something more sinister afoot?

Any help will be much appreciated =)

[Johnny Cogs]

ok now its being wierd... in a sinking ship fashion I had one last go, 12v feed plugged in to the r/h terminal of spare fuse slot 3, bridge in the control unit plug, ignition on, nothing, then i tried to read the voltage at the plug, fumbled, the bridge wire fell out and a polite hum of a motor came in to life :-O ??? So with nothing plugged in to the plug, as it were the motor operates at slow speed... plug the control box in and it dies, so at a guess, thats funarred... I'll pull the pcb and inspect it...

but why slow speed? shouldnt the motor be wellying out the cold air at full 12v beef????

Getting spooked now!

[Johnny Cogs]

Has anyone got any ideas? Im really struggling to get my head around it... I see that the lower voltage there is from the controller side equals the lower the speed of the fan, but no switch fitted means low speed? crazy!

[Johnny Cogs]

Hello, again.

Sorry for the very crude image, but I thought it might inspire someone to try and hell me through my blower woes...

My Blower seems less complex than the Xantia variants, with only having 3 wires into the brown plug.

I removed the 30a fuse from the engine bay fusebox and STILL the motor ran, obviously recieving a low power feed from the blue wire that has been spliced in to the RED wire and crudely shoved into slot 3 of the fusebox.

If anyone could at least help me identify why the motor, that runs on slow speed with the blower fuse and the speed switch removed stops, when the speed switch is connected, then i would be very greatful.

My highly unneducated guess is that the RED wire, which appears to be connected at the plug to a white wire, comes from the fusebox and supplies the motor with 12v+
The thin GREEN wire comes from the switch unit and provides the OPPOSING 12v which regulates the motor speed (12v = blower off, 0.9v = almost full speed)
and the GREEN+YELLOW wire provides the earthing.

Is it possible that at any given speed, when connected, the GREEN switch wire is providing more voltage than the motor is recieving from the crude BLUE feed from the fusebox, thus stalling the motor???



yours with crossed fingers...

[Johnny Cogs]

Right-o... found the means to put 12v straight to the motor... +ve to the red spade, -ve to the green/yellow.... Motor ran on its lowest speed

If I put +ve across Both the red spade and the green signal spade in the middle might I obtain full speed? Or am I resigned to the fact the blower motor is duff, due to over resisting somewhere???

[Xantidote]

Sorry you've not had any replies, and had to talk to yourself We're not being anti-social, just that Xantia and C5 models are what most of us have, and know our way around, to varying degrees.

You've probably the misfortune to have a problem with the Synergie that no-one else has encountered. Good luck with your struggles.

[Johnny Cogs]

Hey buddy! Thanks for putting my fears of seclusion aside! ha.... I think I am resigned to swapping out the motor bushes, then if that doesnt help i'll swap the motor unit. If that doesnt work then I'll buy a calor gas heater... :p

then theres the leaky sunroofs, then the sluggish starter, the knackered rear wiper motor, the high idle speed.... I should stop... what have I gone and done!!! hah...

Chris

[wotwot]

If the blower runs from another source then its not a blower fault, like you said most likely a board fault (if it has a board).
You should be able to get one from a breakers and if is the blower ! one off those as well.
And could also be a good place to have a look at one that has not been bodged.
Shoving reasonably stiff wire down the drain holes to see if they are blocked may help get rid of water before it gets in the car.
All water channels need to be checked, and if they are ok and clear see if the glass can be adjusted to pull up tighter against the rubbers.
Not many folk on here have the synergie and if they do dont have any problems with them.
Is it an oil burner ?? if so £1 a litre fuel makes it worthwhile owning.

[Johnny Cogs]

Hey there. Thanks for the reply.

Wouldnt appylying 12 volts directly to the motor not make it run at full speed though?

I had a good shove of the drains and they seem in good order.

Until i get my idle speed sorted im too afraid to shove veggie oil through it... perhaps when the weather improves... and tbh, it is a very thirsty ol girl, so im quite confident Ill make the change to bookers bulk supply asap!!! lol

[wotwot]

You did say earlier you had it at full speed by double connecting so the blower is fine.
The control system must have diodes and other electronics, all of which are most likely at fault.
If your any good with a soldering iron you should be able to repair with a few penny diodes and resistors.
If its got the bosch pump on there you will be good to go with the veggie.
Low idle should be easy enough to sort. Service it before you do anything if it has'nt already been done.
Whats yours doing MPG and is it a turbo.
My non turbo dispatch is doing about 40 mpg on veggie, very little difference on pump diesel.

[Johnny Cogs]

Ah no, sorry, I asked if connecting to both would provide full speed... I didnt attempt it as i hadnt recieved a reply and was wary about toasting something electrical....

The lump is a turbo, bosch pump and i am getting through £50-£60 in about 300 miles, so between 32 - 38mpg i guess...

[Johnny Cogs]

Well here's one for you....

The fan that gave up, well I left it in there, left the dashboard etc off and ran the bus like that for months, whilst I waited to find a 3 pin fan...

Well MOT time came around (today) so I had to just suck it up and re-assemble the dash, sans working blower...

Put everything back together and re-assembled everything I discected.... Turned ignition on to take Syn-Bus to car wash and WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH! Full Power Fan Blowage!!! Works on all settings as normal...

go figure, eh?