My Ma's 1986 Crown Victoria LX

[packman]

86VickyLX: which part is the resistor? That knub sticking out the center of the blower motor? Hopefully not a difficult job as I am taking 7 mos. longer than I had intended.

Gadget73: Taller engine and taller valve covers :-/ I will probably do this blower motor resistor while I can still fit inside the engine bay.

[sly]

86VickyLX: which part is the resistor? That knub sticking out the center of the blower motor? Hopefully not a difficult job as I am taking 7 mos. longer than I had intended.

other side of the evap core below the heater core hoses... hopefully it doesn't look like this one I pulled off the 88 back in the day.

[packman]

Do I have to take the dash down for this? I already made a failed attempt at that when I tried to replace the heater core.

Packman

[gadget73]

No. You get to it from under the hood.

[packman]

Ah this guy. This is what we're talking about? I think I might have dragged it when pulling the engine. I disconnected the heater hoses and after it was all said and done, I found this dangling. Dunno where it was originally mounted.

[DerekTheGreat]

Nope, that's the TBL switch. Blower will still work without it, just not in the floor position. The resistor lives on the passenger side of the firewall, like right behind the rocker cover IIRC. You'll see it if you stick your head back there far enough.

[packman]

^^^^^^^^^Okay, I will take a closer look. Thanks Derek ^^^^^^^^^

[DerekTheGreat]

[sly]

just solder the wires together to bypass the TBL and plug the vacuum lines (or figure out which one goes to the vent/recirc door actuator and provide a vacuum source to a switch to that line and then you have manual control of the recirc door)

[DerekTheGreat]

Or rebuild the bhastard using the guts of a new FMC part inside your old one's body! It's what I did. I've had no trouble with mine after that and the thing works like the factory intended.

[VicCrownVic]

Or rebuild the bhastard using the guts of a new FMC part inside your old one's body! It's what I did. I've had no trouble with mine after that and the thing works like the factory intended.

Or retrofit EATC and eliminate the need for the silly TBL altogether.

As for the resistor, on the firewall area Derek described is where you want to look.

[kishy]

The real problem with the TBL isn't its loss of functionality, but rather its propensity to explode causing you to lose half your coolant and be stranded at the roadside.

Bypass it, and much more importantly, eliminate it with a hose union that can handle the temperature. Then when it's time to do your heater core hoses, buy the one for the non-ATC car and it's a single piece instead of two.

[gadget73]

I installed a new one once. It had a massive vacuum leak right out of the box, so that part had to go away so the AC worked. 3 weeks later it exploded and dumped all of the coolant out of the motor. It went away the rest of the way at that point. Whenever I'm due for a new heater hose, it'll be the one piece one to get rid of the coupler too.

[packman]

What's the function of the TBL?

[VicCrownVic]

Thermal Blower Lockout, it keeps the blower motor from running on the floor setting until the temperature of the coolant passing through the TBL becomes high enough. On newer models with EATC Ford did away with the TBL. It does not serve a crucial purpose.