number 9 fuse keeps blowing in VR Statesman

[Youngblood]

otherwise known as number 9 heater ac auto a/c cmpr 25a/10a fuse

was working fine then climate control wouldn't turn on at all, found it was a blown fuse, fixed it, worked fine for a day, then blew again, now when I replace fuse, turn ignition on it blows instantly...any ideas, maybe faulty climate control switch? nothing has been done to vehicle for this to occur, just came out of the blue, any help is much appreciated as the nights are really cold with no heater. cheers

[accentstencil]

My guess is a short at the wiring to the compressor or in the compressor itself. Disconnect the plug at the compressor and see if the climate control still works without A/C.

[Youngblood]

I think compressor bearing is siezing up every now and then cause the tensioner sort of jump and clicks eery so often, I changed the tensioner pulley an it still continued so I put it down to air con pulley or water pump, you could be spot on there, although I dont have to start the car for the fuse to blow oly turn on the ignition which led me to look past the air con, I'll go try it now and repost in half hour. cheers

[Youngblood]

ok no good, I disconnected the wire running to the ac and even pulled out the relay under the bonnet fuse panel and still the fuse blows the instant I turn the key to accessories, I'm thinking it can only be the climate control switch, any more ideas before I spend money on another climate switch?

[accentstencil]

Disconnect the climate panel and see if a fuse still blows, if not then it looks like the panel is no good.
There are usually plenty of panels on ebay cheap, probably cost a fortune at Holden.

[Youngblood]

I'll do that today and post the progress. cheers for the helpful info

[RX25SE]

Blower motor?

You could wire up a globe, such as a 21w indicator globe, across the terminals in the fuse box (globe replaces fuse).
While the circuit is live and the short exists, the globe will light up.
Start disconnecting components from the faulty circuit until the globe goes out.

If you require more current in the circuit, use a globe with a higher wattage. (an old sealed beam headlamp works well)

[Youngblood]

thats a handy idea, save me blowing fuse after fuse after fuse, I hope its not the blower motor, thats a bigger job that i would prefer to avoid as apposed to climate switch, my luck it will be the blower motor and the biggest job it could be

[moff_man]

blower motor isnt a big job.

[Youngblood]

ok, I thougt the whole dash has to come out, to replace the blower motor, I just drove to geelong in 9 degrees outside, no heater and had to have the window down so the windscreen doesn't fog up, I gotta repir this problem asap, my feet are still slightly numb with a tingle of where warmth is coming back

[moff_man]

from under the passengers side dash, there should be 3 bolts, undo these and the motor should come out the bottom.

[Youngblood]

ok folks, strange things happened today.....I disconnected the plugs for blower fan, tested fuse, didnt blow, plugged back in, still didnt blow, worked fine for 30 min then fuse went again, I repeated this 3 times today, the last time I left the fan disconnected to just allow warm air in whilst driving, worked fine for 20 minutes then blew fuse again, I dont know where to go from here......HELP!!! where do I start??

[moff_man]

first thing you need to determine is what is run on fuse 9. a wiring digram will be needed. than put the light glove over the fuse contacts and whilst the thing is faulting start to unplug each item and corresponding connector. you might have a rubbed through wire running to one component causing a short to earth which blows the fuse... good luck

[Youngblood]

I dont have the electrical diagram but I have plugged the blower wires back in and replaced the fuse and it hasn't blown as yet but Im not using fan, just blow through air, I will see if it blows with no ac or fan use, I also replaced the blower relay under bonnet, dont know if faulty relay coud cause this problem but I'll see what happens, I'll have to go to supercheap and look at the vr book for the heating wiring diagram, not that I'll undrstand it but I'll give it a go.

[Youngblood]

havent used fan, only blownig air whilst driving and its been fine, could replacing the relay have solved the problem? find out in due course, will start using fan over weekend and ee when and if the fuse blows again.

[Youngblood]

found the problem, the stereo had cut into wiring loom beside between climate contol and stereo which was earthing out climate control, hope this helps anyone in the same situation coz having no heater in this Melbourne weather was doin my head in, so wrapped I have a heater again, thanks for the suggestions guys, hooking up the test light to both sides of the fuse holder helped me eliminate the cause. cheers