The power windows and the heater fan motor on my 2002 Tracker stopped working at the same time. Coincidence?

I have checked fuses under hood, all good. Under dash they are good as well. I guess I could replace the 30 amp under dash for windows. The other 15 amp htr under dash I swapped around to no avail.

Looking for mouse evidence now and shorts.

Anybody have a better direction?

 

The power windows and the HVAC blower do not share power or ground. They don't have wires running through a common connector either. Their simultaneous failures may just be a coincidence. The blower circuit is simpler so find the fault there first. Start by looking for 12 volts at the 30 amp blower fuse on the relay rack. The 30 amp fuse is inside the small black plastic box shown below.



The 30 amp fuse connects the 60 amp heater fuse to the blower motor (through the blower motor relay contacts).



Put a voltmeter or better yet a 12-volt trouble light on the exposed metal tabs of the fuse (see example below). The 30 amp fuse should be 'hot at all times."

 

As stated earlier the blower motor and power windows do not share a common power or ground source.



However on further review it turns out the defroster (DEF) fuse and the power window (P/W) fuse share a common power source. The DEF fuse feeds power to the blower motor relay coil. If the line from the ignition switch (say at connector C218 pin 2) were open, the blower motor and power windows would both stop working at the same time.




A quick check would be to look for 12 volts at the DEF fuse on the junction block.

 

How about this…

I just learned if I have the engine running and back the key off (like I am going to turn engine off) just a little, everything works! I am not familiar with the ignition switch but it would seem there is something about to fail in there.

Is that electrical portion of the switch separate from the tumbler part? Or is it all combined?

Thanks for the earlier reply and input!

 

Good catch on the ignition switch. RockAuto replacements are about $200.



The switch and lock are one unit. New keys are included.



Switch replacement is doable but it requires special tools and plenty of determination. Watch this video to see if this job is within your skill set.


I can provide additional instructions from the factory service manual if you decide to go forward.

 

O'Reilly's did not have an ignition switch listed online but AutoZone did so that's another option.



Also, the guy in the video pulled the steering wheel but the service manual does not require it.