I've been looking for a solution to losing my Vanagon's front heater fan low/med speeds for a couple of months. As you may know, the resistor can fail leaving you with only the high speed. This is great for defrosting or cabin air exchange, but not so great for heating.
This same problem faced me for the Scorpion, as it was broken when I got my car. Finding one used or new has been a challenge.
I searched the stock shelves of my local NAPA (great folks who occasionally let me do stuff like this) and found a heater fan resistor that resembled the one in my Lancia Scorpion, a series of resistors in a metal cage NAPA part BR85, $6.95 with my AAA discount. I experimented with it in my Scorpion and figured out how to hook it up using the one fan speed still available.
To solve my Vanagon problem I made an approx. 8" harness of 12g wires that takes the power that goes to the switch as the high speed, and the other two speeds as two lower speeds, although you have a total of four speed options with this part. The resistor is nestled just to the right of my stereo/ashtray. This area seems pretty devoid of other wires etc. which is important as the resistors do get very hot, glowing actually. Normally the resistor is inside the heater fan housing or duct where the moving air helps keep it cool, so we'll see how it works. This will also work in my Scorpion who's resistor is also broken.
The hardest part is deciding which speeds to use, I opted for the upper 3 of the 4, the lowest speed seems pretty useless in the larger volume of the Vanagon. Might be good for the Scorpion though.
This same problem faced me for the Scorpion, as it was broken when I got my car. Finding one used or new has been a challenge.
I searched the stock shelves of my local NAPA (great folks who occasionally let me do stuff like this) and found a heater fan resistor that resembled the one in my Lancia Scorpion, a series of resistors in a metal cage NAPA part BR85, $6.95 with my AAA discount. I experimented with it in my Scorpion and figured out how to hook it up using the one fan speed still available.
To solve my Vanagon problem I made an approx. 8" harness of 12g wires that takes the power that goes to the switch as the high speed, and the other two speeds as two lower speeds, although you have a total of four speed options with this part. The resistor is nestled just to the right of my stereo/ashtray. This area seems pretty devoid of other wires etc. which is important as the resistors do get very hot, glowing actually. Normally the resistor is inside the heater fan housing or duct where the moving air helps keep it cool, so we'll see how it works. This will also work in my Scorpion who's resistor is also broken.
The hardest part is deciding which speeds to use, I opted for the upper 3 of the 4, the lowest speed seems pretty useless in the larger volume of the Vanagon. Might be good for the Scorpion though.