Testing the blower motor on the 2.4L equipped Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler Sebring Convertible and Dodge Stratus isn't difficult.
In this tutorial, I'll explain the whole testing procedure in a step-by-step manner so that you can find out if it's defective or not.
By the way, you don't need any expensive testing equipment to do it!
Contents of this tutorial at a glance:
NOTE: You can find the blower motor circuit diagram here: Blower Motor Circuit Diagram (2001-2004 2.4L Chrysler Sebring And Dodge Stratus). The following 2 tutorial will help you test the blower resistor assembly and the blower control switch:
- How To Test The Blower Resistor (2001-2004 Sebring And Stratus).
- How To Test The Blower Motor Switch (2001-2004 2.4L Sebring And Stratus).
APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:
Chrysler Vehicles:
- 2.4L DOHC Sebring: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.
- 2.4L DOHC Sebring Convertible: 2002, 2003, 2004.
Dodge Vehicles:
- 2.4L DOHC Stratus: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.
Blower Motor Basics
The blower motor on your 2.4L Chrysler Sebring (Dodge Stratus) is a simple two wire electrical component.
For it to operate it needs power and Ground. The wire that feeds battery power to the blower motor is the dark green (DK GRN) wire of its two-wire electrical connector.
The blower motor gets a path to Ground via the black (BLK) wire of its two-wire electrical connector.
To get a better idea of how power and Ground are routed thru' the blower motor, blower resistor, and blower switch circuits; check out the circuit diagram here: Blower Motor Circuit Diagram (2001-2004 2.4L Chrysler Sebring And Dodge Stratus).
Now, when the blower motor fails you're gonna' see one of the following symptoms:
- The blower motor will stop working completely.
- The blower motor will run, but run with a lot of bearing noise.
A blower motor with worn out bearings will use an extreme amount of current (from the mechanical resistance to the motor rotation). This high amperage draw can overheat and destroy the blower motor resistor.
Where To Buy The Blower Motor
The blower motor isn't an expensive part on the 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 2.4L Chrysler Sebring or Dodge Stratus. The following links will help you comparison shop and save a few bucks on its purchase:
TEST 1: Testing The Amperage Draw Of The Blower Motor
The first thing that we're gonna' do is to make sure that the amperage draw of the blower motor is under 30 Amps.
If its amperage draw is over 30 Amps then we can conclude that the blower motor is defective and needs to be replaced (even if it runs).
To be a bit more specific: Over time and use, the blower motor will wear out internally but still continue to run. At a certain amount of wear and tear (and before it completely fails) the blower motor will start to use more current to turn the fan blade attached to it.
For the most part when a blower motor uses more current than what its blower motor fuse can handle, the fuse will blow. Unfortunately this doesn't always happen. When the fuse doesn't get blown then the blower motor resistor suffers damage.
NOTE: If you don't have a multimeter and need to buy one, check out my recommendations here: Buying A Digital Multimeter For Automotive Diagnostic Testing.
Let's get started:
- 1
Disconnect the blower motor from its electrical connector.
- 2
Place your multimeter in Ohms mode.
- 3
Measure the resistance of the blower motor with your multimeter. You'll be testing across the blower motor's connector and not the vehicle's wiring harness connector.
- 4
Divide 12.5 by the resistance value you got in step 3 (12.5 is the battery voltage). The result of this calculation is the amount of amperage the fan motor is using.
To be a little more specific: Let's say that the resistance reading was 0.4 Ohms. This is what the math would look like: 12.5 ÷ 0.4 = 31.25 and this would translate to 31.25 Amps.
Let's take a look at your amperage draw test result:
CASE 1: The amperage draw is under 30 Amps. This is the correct and expected test result and let's you know that the blower motor amperage draw is within specification.
The next step is to manually apply power and Ground to the blower motor itself. For this test go to: TEST 2: Applying Power And Ground To The Blower Motor.
CASE 2: The amperage draw is 30 Amps or more. This test result tells you that the blower motor, on your 2.4L Chrysler Sebring (or 2.4L Dodge Stratus) is defective and needs to be replaced.
Even if the blower motor is running, it's using way too much current. This excessive current draw will blow the blower motor fuse and/or fry the blower motor resistor.
