i've always been mystified by electricity but prided myself on being able to follow directions, so i decided to tackle the blower motor/resistor pack/switch replacement last summer (wih a lot of help from many of you). finally being successful, felt pretty good about it until one night last week. on the way to the hockey rink (abt 15 degrees F) with the blower cranking at position 4, i swerved to avoid a deer and my right foot came off the gas pedal and my right knee hit the left side of the center console (below the ignition switch). when i came into the parking lot and was about to turn off the key, i noticed the rear defroster light switch was illuminated (even though i had not touched it). thinking nothing of it, i turned off the blower motor and then the key (and went inside the rink to see my kid's team lose the last game of their dismal season).

after the game i came out to the car, it started right up (the rear defroster lighted switch was not illuminated) but the blower motor did not turn on, no matter what the switch position was in. ok, probably jarred #3 fuse loose when i avoided the deer. after twirling the fuse with no change, i decided to just drive the 5 miles home with the natural flow of hot air thru the vents.

this past weekend i went to town cleaning the fuse panel and tried 4 different 25a fuses but no luck. i used the voltmeter to see if there was any power across fuse #3 and there wasnt (used several combos of ignition on/off, blower switch on/of but voltmeter never moved off 0).

decided to take off the center console cover and discovered the rear defroster time delay relay resting up against the white plastic connector from the blower motor switch (the one with the red wire which powers the blower motor and the blue wire for the a/c, i think). anyway, when i moved the relay out of the way, the white plastic connector had a burn mark in it and was melted a little bit. i didnt bother to pull the connector apart because by that time my fingers were frozen from the cold. well, i cursed my luck, retreated to the house to warm up and resolved to take it to a mechanic (with my head bent in shame...).

anyway, today is a holiday and the mechanic is closed. however this problem has been bothering me and maybe i've had a eureka moment. i never put 2 and 2 together - i mean, i just now remembered the rear defroster being on prior to discovering the the blower motor didnt work. and replaying the scene where i found the relay resting up against the white connector where the burn mark/melted part was makes me think i've found the culprit. cold the rear defroster swtich turn itself on, the relay heated up to the point where it melted the wires inside the white connector and prevented the motor from turning on (all without snapping the #3 fuse)?

whether or not this chain of events happened or not, did i fry my motor? (there was no smoke, no noise)...did i fry my resitor pack (again, no noise, no smoke)...could i get the bloody thing working again just by getting a new white plastic connector and putting the center console on back without having the relay near anything?

again, appreciate the help/advice from those more at home with electricity...
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oceanre 91 240 wagon 292k