I just did the struts, lower ball joints and wheel bearings yesterday on my 06. When I went to test drive it I did not have anything coming from the vents. I did not have this issue before I started the work.

After testing various fuses and relays I finally pulled the plug on the actual motor and I have 10.2, 10.4 and 10.6 volts going to it on 3 positions (except on high, the resistor on step 4 is bad and I’ve known about it).

I am not one to believe in coincidences. I am not sure if 10 volts is enough to power this up, I thought perhaps one of the struts had some sort of ground issue that I did not do right. Or maybe there’s is something I am overlooking.

What are some opinions before I blow more money on it (pun intended)

And for any future searches on lower ball joints, if you have aluminum LCAs then replace them with the ball joints already installed. Don’t even attempt to remove the existing riveted ball joints. I just about lost my religion and it took 2 full days

 

What matters is the voltage with the motor connected, not with it disconnected. Depending on how the motor speed is controlled, a normal volt meter may not give you a very clear indication of functionality.

 

Good point. So now I am leaning towards the “it has volts going to it, so it is probably the motor itself” theory

 

Direct connection to the motor will tell you if that’s the issue.
the struts and LCA locations aren’t near the ground wires for the blower motor. Check the back of the hvac module in the dash board waterfall for melted plastic

as for the ball joints, drill the rivets out , I’ve done a lot of them myself, I first grind the rivet flat , then centre punch the centre and drill a 1/4 inch hole, then 3/16, then 3/8 . I use an air chisel to remove the head of the rivet and drive the rivets out. Once you prep an LCA you can just change the ball joint as needed.

 

I should have removed the LCAs it would have made the job much easier. And perhaps a drill press and a bearing press might have made short work out of it. But I basically did what you said except my drill bit selection sucked. And I kept dulling them quickly as I went. The hardened steel of the rivets made it too easy for the bit to “walk off” and drill through the aluminum even though I used a punch and a smaller bit.

I ended up with offset holes that I had to burr out somewhat to get them to line up with the new ball joints.

I kinda went into the job half blind, not doing my homework as usual, and didn’t even know they were held in by rivets until I got there. By then., I was pretty much committed as we needed the car fixed but if I had to do it over I’d definitely buy the LCA assembly verses all this work.

 

Problem is most lca suppliers have crappy ball joints.

 

The fan control switch switches path to ground through the resistor pack. High speed is direct to ground, I.E.: no resistance. The orange wire on the motor is ground, the brown wire on the motor is hot when the relay is energized.

There is a link in my sig to FREE shop manuals, schematics included.

 

I ordered another resistor pack as well as the blower motor. Hopefully shotgunning these 2 parts will just fix it. (Ive been meaning to change out the resistor pack for a couple years now anyway). This heat out there was killing me today. It’s been 102 degrees with high humidity the past few days and the ball joints took the heave out of my hoe. I usually like to diagnose things properly before I fix them. This time I don’t care

 

What about the butyl patch under the windshield cowl? That is the source of most 2006 blower issues.

 

I have not noticed any water leaks anywhere, perhaps this butyl patch is something I should fix as I do the blower motor. I assume I pull the wiper blades and cowl to get to it? I recall some talk about it here in the past. I attempted to look into it a few years back but could not get the frozen wiper blades to come off the shaft so I gave up. Looks like I am doing it again, the hard way