The fan selector speed on my '87 190e suddenly froze. I can only slide it from the lowest speed to the next speed. It is stuck at that point and can not increase the fan speed.
Anyone know how I can easily access the control and how to correct or look for? Any assistance is appreciated.
If you have the North American fan selector switch, the slide switch, not the European rotary, then the sticking switch is the result of the metal contacts inside the switch binding and getting out of alignment. If not too far gone, the switch can be disassembled and the guides and contacts can be put back in place. It will require removing the switch assembly from the center console.
MTI in Europe the fan speed is a slider control, mines a bit wonky as well.
Speed setting 2 is the same as 1. I took mine out but could'nt see anything wrong. Prolly a failed contact.
The typical symptom for the switch failure is when you notice that the fan does not engage at the low speed and you have to "kick start" it in a higher speed then slide it back to low. That is the symptom that the copper contacts inside the switch are about to fail and jam.
There are plastic and copper spring tab indents that the switch stops and rests on at each of the blower speeds. The copper parts are the electrical contacts for each speed. At the lower speed setting, a piece of one of these plastic stops breaks, stopping the switch at the lowest setting.
The switch unit is held in by two screws. Carefully lift off the wood trim cover and remove the A/C controls beneath the switch. Remove two screws and it comes out throught the A/C openning.
You'll have to cut a small opening in the upper left region on the side where the low speed setting is. Bend the first (low speed) copper tab slightly so that the selector piece rests slightly beyond the original stop.
Linear Mode
