Heater blower motor 2001 Cavalier

2001 Chevy Cavalier. The heater blower motor on my daughter's car does not come on at all. Today she said she heard a grinding noise and then it stopped. Additionally, She only had high speed control for the last several months but no low speed control. I checked the fuse and it is fine. Approx. how much would it cost to replace the blower motor control switch and the blower motor?

Frank

 

If she only had HIGH speed control, usually that is intuitive of a faulty thermistor on the fan housing. Since you said the fan was making a "grinding" type noise, it probably is the fan itself.

These repairs can be very labor intensive. It usually requires the removal of the complete dashboard just to remove the HVAC assembly. To also remove the HVAC assembly, it requires you to bleed the a/c system along with the coolant system to a proper level.

Most likely, a mechanic or dealer will charge you at least 6 hrs of labor, if not more. We are talking upwards of $900 or more just for labor.

 

Is this another classic case of a car manufacturer making it difficult to change out a part? On my 79 Chev pickup, the blower motor is held in by 5 or 6? screws to the firewall in the engine compartment, nothing in the way and you could remove and replace it yourself in minutes.

Car manufacturers will start knocking this non-sense off, by making parts hard to change, if the public clamps down and starts boycotting.

My next door neighbor had to pay a mechanic $200 to change out plugs and wires in their Ford Windstar because the mechanic said he had to jack up the rear of the engine to do the back plugs. *I* used to change out plugs and wires in 70's vehicles in no time flat for almost no money!!