and the mysterious odor
October 21, 2009 (Wednesday)
Three weeks ago I smelled something as I was driving on I10 near downtown. At first I thought the odor was coming into the car from outside, perhaps the big truck in front of me. When he went his way, and the smell was still there, I deduced that the smell was originating inside my car. What a detective am I. Just call me Sherlock.
For the past three weeks, the smell comes and goes. There was no smoke, but the smell was more like melting plastic. I decided then that it was not wiring under the dash, but must be related to some piece of equipment such as lights or radio. The fact that it wasn’t there all the time confused me. Nothing seemed affected by it; everything electrical was working fine.
I kept thinking about it, and began to notice that the smell came only when I turned on the air conditioner. But it didn’t always show up with the A/C; sometimes it did and sometimes it didn’t. I kept on searching for an answer, and finally determined that the odor shows up only when the blower fan is at the “high” position. I sniffed the switch on the instrument panel, and there was no sign of burning or melting. I deduced, therefore, that the odor was coming from something else, probably under the hood, that controls the fan speeds. Did I say, call me Sherlock?
I dialed up answers on the internet and discovered that there is a box of heavy resistors that control fan speed. It is located under the hood next to the fan motor. Obviously that’s my trouble. It still works, but is overheating. It will cost me about $10 for the part.
Now, I ask you, have you ever known of better detective work? I know what’s wrong and I have not yet even seen it. Elementary, my dear Watson.