Pervert!

Damn' rumbled!

wibble wibble!

Watchdog, Vauxhall zafira resistors look pretty similar, possibly cause of catastrophic fire. I wonder did they not bother with a thermal cutout?

They have a thermal fuse in them. Or should have. It could be

1) shonky thermal fuses
2) aftermarket tat
3) bodging it by bypassing the fuse

Am very interested to see how this thread is going!

I'm a bit confused as to all the different types of heater resistor packs, particularly the early ones:

######
"Type 1"
######
CH 388000-?? (approx 79-??)
Part 3296539 replacing 3278499
no cage, 4 terminals, fixed into the side of the heater housing - I guess the dash has to come out to access it.
Picture from the 76-79 part manual:


######
"Type 2"
######
for the new type of engine bay air intake box (can be removed from the engine bay, different "radial" fan) roughly 81-86 (B14 nordic and B19 CH 545500- , other B14s CH 566248-)
caged, three terminals

Part 3296897 CH -858342 (to mid '84?)
Picture from a "green book" service supplement from August 80:


Part 3207725 CH 858343-154579 (from mid '84 to mid '86)
Picture from the 80-84 parts manual:

Picture courtesy of mac (3207725):


######
"Type 3" AC
######
85 to mid-86
CH -154579 AC cars
no cage, 5 terminals
Part 3342055
Picture from the '85-'91 parts manual:

Picture courtesy of macplaxton:


######
"Type 4"
######
mid 86 on
CH 154580-
caged, 4 terminals
Part 3210094
Picture from the '85-'91 parts manual:



Pre '79 cars (CH -387999) don't seem to have a resistor "pack" at all, and I have no idea what the differences between the two "three-terminal" types are (3296897 vs. 3207725).

Mac/RJV, are you concentrating on the 86 on 4 terminal types for now, or are you doing the 3 terminal types as well?

All the best

Tom

Hi Tom,

3 terminal and 4 terminal - will be on an exchange basis.

Mac

Thank you mac, that's good news.

In that case I'll wait with the postage of my dud post '86 4-terminal one for the moment - if I manage to remove the resistor pack from my '82 DLS in one piece I'll send that on to you as well ...

I'll be in touch.

Tom

I have a Volvo 360 (1988)
Would it be possible to change the blower, only the parts in the engine bay, plastic+blower to an early type, not sure about year but say 1985?

I've noticed there seems to be a difference in the no. of terminals on the resistor packs. My 1988 having 4 terminals and older units seems to only use 3 terminal type

Whilst the heating and vent systems are different pre and post 1985 (1986 year model) the later system can be fitted to earlier cars (I have fitted a complete 86 system to an 84 car and can see no reason why the earlier under bonnet air box and fan cannot be fitted to a later car.

The heater resistor packs may look similar but the resistive coils differ, as do the wiring, and whether speed 3 is routed through the thermal cut out. There are basically three versions - early 3 terminal, early 4 terminal and late 4 terminal.
The PCB boards differ slightly and so does the mounting method.
In all three variants speeds 1and 2 are protected by the thermal cut out and fed directly from the fan switch. On 3 terminal units speed 3 is fed by a relay controlled from the fan switch but is not routed through the thermal cut out.
On 4 terminal packs speed 3 is again relay fed but is also protected by the thermal cut out.

If you intend to modify your vehicle make sure the fan resistor pack is compatible with the fan motor being used - and note that some re wiring may well be necessary. (Easy enough however).

Mac.

Thanks! I have loads of swedish green books and I found this in one of them

No idea of the schematic on top of the page, maybe it's for later cars like mine (1988)?

On the bottom left it says the schematic is for axial fans up to 1983
On the bottom right, radial fans up to 1983