Blower motor sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but I've replaced it twice in a month.

[lordzeus]

I have a 2016 Dodge ram 1500, V8, and about 3 months ago I had the blower motor completely stopped working. I picked up a new one at O'Reilly's, installed it, and was good up until about 2 weeks ago when the blower motor would occasionally stop working. Sometimes it wouldn't start immediately when I start the truck, it would come on a few minutes later, and other times it would just seem to randomly die, no matter the temperature or the fan speed.

Last week I finally replaced it for now the third time, twice this month, thinking I'm somehow might have gotten unlucky with the first two blower motors which is very unlikely. I'm now getting the same issue. I don't believe it's a fuse or anything because it happened the other day and when I got home I left the engine running, disconnected the cable that plugs into the blower motor, and tested with my multimeter. I was getting like 14.2 amps so I know that power is sufficient. With the motor off I was getting around 12.4ish

I'm not really sure what my issue could be now. It does blow cold, it does blow strong, but randomly it will just die on me. I replaced my radiator and my thermostat last week as I had a radiator leak, and had a shop do it. This issue has been going on longer than that repair, and I asked them to look into this issue, but since it was working at the time, they didn't really have anything to diagnose.

It's a shot in the dark, but does anyone have any idea what could potentially be causing this issue?

 

[bm02tj]

Test the voltage when connected and turned on with fan not running then you know if motor or power from switch ,relay or rheostat speed control

 

[Sherman Bird]

I have a 2016 Dodge ram 1500, V8, and about 3 months ago I had the blower motor completely stopped working. I picked up a new one at O'Reilly's, installed it, and was good up until about 2 weeks ago when the blower motor would occasionally stop working. Sometimes it wouldn't start immediately when I start the truck, it would come on a few minutes later, and other times it would just seem to randomly die, no matter the temperature or the fan speed.

Last week I finally replaced it for now the third time, twice this month, thinking I'm somehow might have gotten unlucky with the first two blower motors which is very unlikely. I'm now getting the same issue. I don't believe it's a fuse or anything because it happened the other day and when I got home I left the engine running, disconnected the cable that plugs into the blower motor, and tested with my multimeter. I was getting like 14.2 amps so I know that power is sufficient. With the motor off I was getting around 12.4ish

I'm not really sure what my issue could be now. It does blow cold, it does blow strong, but randomly it will just die on me. I replaced my radiator and my thermostat last week as I had a radiator leak, and had a shop do it. This issue has been going on longer than that repair, and I asked them to look into this issue, but since it was working at the time, they didn't really have anything to diagnose.

It's a shot in the dark, but does anyone have any idea what could potentially be causing this issue?

The blower always has B+ on these new-fangled, fancy-schmancy vehicles. The ground side is what is modulated... thus, the blower resistor is a very likely culprit... so is the possibility that the connector is melted AT either the blower motor or the resistor block.

 

[BWL]

There's a few different blower motors for the rams depending on the cab size, climate control vs conventional etc. Wrong one might work for a bit before it fails. Aftermarket ones are a bit hit and miss, but shouldn't get 2 failed in a row. If it's working for a few months after swapping I'd suspect low quality product or quad cab fan in a crew maybe as I think the crew puts out more volume to feed the rear seat ducts, which the quads don't have. Haven't looked into the fans since I swapped one in 2012 though so my memory is fuzzy on it.

 

[JDunn]

I have a 2013 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 4x4 diesel crew cab. My blower went out a while back and I installed a new fan motor and resistor from O'Reillys. It worked great, for 3 days. I bench tested the blower and it was fine, so I pulled the resistor and brought it back to O'Reillys. They exchanged it with no issue. It has a lifetime warranty. I installed it and the it has worked ever since.

 

[GTyankee]

I know that you Bench Tested the Fan Motor with the proper Tools
&
I suspect that you looked at the RockAuto site to find parts information for the best parts companies & their price choices

 

[lordzeus]

I have a 2013 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 4x4 diesel crew cab. My blower went out a while back and I installed a new fan motor and resistor from O'Reillys. It worked great, for 3 days. I bench tested the blower and it was fine, so I pulled the resistor and brought it back to O'Reillys. They exchanged it with no issue. It has a lifetime warranty. I installed it and the it has worked ever since.

Was your resistor attached directly to the blower motor? I believe mine is, and I have looked online to see if there is another resistor somewhere else, but I can't seem to find one. I didn't think it was possible to get three bad resistors though, I also bought mine from O'Reilly's

 

[Chukbacca]

I had this exact problem on my 2015.

Find the blower relay in the fuse box. If the vehicle is on (not necessarily running) the fan should be on if it’s switched on-manipulate the relay (push down hard, wiggle it, etc)
If your fan turns on due to the manipulation, the relay socket is probably fnorked. I put in an external relay, but it took a couple of attempts as something in the system didn’t like what I did and the air bag light would stay on.
If I recall correctly, I eventually wired the new external relay in a manner that would allow the old relay to work in theory but left the old relay out.
It’s been a couple months and I’ve had no further issue.

 

[GTyankee]

Are there any resistors or fuses, or anything else, over in the passenger side kick plate, near the door ?

 

[JDunn]

The resistor is mounted separately right next to the blower. My truck is a Laramie Longhorn which has the auto climate control and has a different than the regular resistor. It cost about $94 at O'Reillys which was more than the blower!