2015 forester-High setting on blower

[mcnala]

I have a 2015 Subaru Forester, the blower motor has 4 settings, the first 3 settings are fine, the highest setting (#4) has quit working. I have checked the blower motor, the turbine spins easily, I replaced the relay with no improvement. Plenty of heat comes out of the vents. Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the problem?

 

[Stevsub4]

That's a bit unusual in that the highest setting, which is a direct connection to the motor rather than some resistance as with 1 - 3 to reduce the speed. The older resistor circuits somewhat commonly go bad, and you'll typically lose other settings but the highest is fine since that's just a metal conductor. Due to that it sounds like it could be the switch itself - but maybe more modern controls use different circuitry than I'm not familiar with.

 

[mcnala]

That's a bit unusual in that the highest setting, which is a direct connection to the motor rather than some resistance as with 1 - 3 to reduce the speed. The older resistor circuits somewhat commonly go bad, and you'll typically lose other settings but the highest is fine since that's just a metal conductor. Due to that it sounds like it could be the switch itself - but maybe more modern controls use different circuitry than I'm not familiar with.

!Thats kind of what I am thinking the next item to work on is. The resister governs the lower settings so it would not be suspect if the high flow goes out, since that setting bypasses the resister. I guess thats my next step, I do not relish taking that apart. Thanks

 

[jmcglynn]

Not so unusual based on what I've been hearing from others and reading here. I have a 2014 Crosstrek with the same problem. It's the switch. Replacing it is a bear, not to mention costly ($375) because it's a component with all the HVAC switches. I've read that some people have been able to take it apart and fix the bad contact, but getting the component out is still a bear.

 

[Dick Foster]

Auto makers make cars to be super easy to assemble, not take apart or service.