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Climate control problem?

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Old Feb 5, 2007 | 05:44 PM
  #1  
auggie721's Avatar
auggie721
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From: GA
Default Climate control problem?

Hi Everyone,
I just bought a 2003 IS300 last month and I absolutely love this car. There is a possible issue with the climate control system that I am hoping someone can help me answer. When I start the car in the morning, the fans will not turn on in auto or manual mode no matter what speed I select. The outside air temp is below 32 so I usually have the temperature dial cranked up to max. About 10-15 minutes into the drive I notice that the fans come on and operate as normal (both auto and manual mode). Is this by design or I do have something wacky going on with my fan controls?
thanks in advance!
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Old Feb 5, 2007 | 06:33 PM
  #2  
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Faymester
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From: Vancouver, BC
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yea, that's normal ... your car cant warm up you until its warmed up

because the engine is cold and your car is using a lot of its energy to warm up the engine so you dont break it, your climate control system wont start pumping warm/hot air until the engine is sufficiently warmed up.

i'm not sure 10 - 15 min is normal though ... mine doesnt take that long, but i park inside ... it would be logical that the colder the engine, the longer to warm up ... so if u park outside that might have something to do with it

hope that made sense
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Old Feb 6, 2007 | 04:37 AM
  #3  
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auggie721
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From: GA
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That explanation makes sense but I agree that 10-15 minutes is a bit long. So on the drive to work this morning I observed things more carefully and it took about 5 minutes to get up to operating temp. But to my surprise the fans did not come on at all for the entire drive. So I definitely think I have a problem with something like the blower motor control relay or a blown fuse.

I guess I cant complain too much. I could be driving in that artic blast going through Minnesota right now! If anyone has any experience with blower motors or related symptoms, I'd love to hear your experience. thanks!
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Old Feb 13, 2007 | 02:07 PM
  #4  
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lex pilot
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From: WI
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Yeah, I have an ES300 (97) and sometimes the fan will not run unless I hold the increase button down. Then it goes to high untill I let off the button.
Sometimes it works right away ice cold and sometimes not.
I see in the troubleshooting guide there is an input from the coolant temp sensor into the ECM and a tap from there to the AC controller.
Is there a latching relay or a connection that is intermittent?
If anyone knows for sure if there is a temp limiter on the fan speed control, please post.
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Old Feb 14, 2007 | 08:22 PM
  #5  
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Carbon~IS
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From: GA
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So it's not blowing any air when you turn the **** to auto... I don't think there is a temp limiter because mine will blow cold air for a couple of minutes, but it will still blow air out like crazy (especially on auto), but hot air will come out in 2-3minutes afterwards.
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