help with P5 fan switch
 

just found your group- whew!

I am the proud owner of a 2002 Blue Mica P5, five speed with sunroof- Love my car, but having trouble with the fan that operates the air. Settings 1, 2, and 3 will not blow air, whether its outside air or cooled air. Ive talked to Mazda parts and they have guessed its a resistor or the fan switch.

Being a girl, I dont know if they are yanking my chain or not. I would much prefer to go to the junkyard and get one there for a fraction of the cost, but I do have to make sure this is something I can do.
Any advice?

thanks.
Amy in Central AR

They're not yanking your chain. If you can read a shop manual and use a multimeter, you can test the resistor and switch to see which to replace. You have to take the glovebox out to get to the resistor. You have to take the climate control panel out of the dash to get to the fan switch. If I had to guess, I'd say it's more likely the resistor than the switch. Someone has posted the shop manual in pdf format on the web, but I can't remember the link for it. I'm sure a search engine will return the link. Good luck!

But this is not a good candidate for junkyard parts - these parts are a known weak point in the design. Get a brand new dealer/OEM switch and/or resistor. They were redesigned to handle the load (AFAIK) . See the Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for more details.

Search this topic for more info also.

(Welcome to the ZoomZoom room (a lot of friendly advice and minimal BS;) ) !

well you guys were right- it was the resistor. It was easy to replace, located behind the glove box. Bought a new part from the dealer, still had to pay for the diagnostic check on it, but saved myself 130$ in labor- took like five minutes to install. Opened the glove box, took the screws out of the inside, romoved the housing and viola' it was right there. Now I am enjoying cool air again!
thanks guys!
Amythuey

Thanks for posting your results! I realize that I am totally bringing this thread back from the dead, but my car did the exact same thing on the way to work this morning. No fan on 1, 2, or 3. It works great on speed 4 though. I figured it was the fan switch. I didn't even think about the resistor. I'll stop and get one from the dealer and be back up and running soon!

Finally found a solution, thank you.