It is summer and the country is in the midst of a heat wave. Your car, whether it’s a Corvette, a Silverado, a Ford F150 or whatever, is equipped with air conditioning, but the fan won’t turn on. Have you checked the fuses and they are fine. Have you checked the relays and they are fine too. You have determined that the fan motor is properly grounded. And that there is power to the fan switch, but the fan is not receiving power. This means that you need to change the fan switch, also known as the fan speed selector. Read on for instructions on how to change the fan speed selector on your 1986 Corvette. The steps below will also work for any vehicle with similar switches.
what you will need
Screwdriver set: Torx, Phillips and flat blade
Nut wrench set
spare switch
allen key set
Process Overview
You must remove the A/C/Heater control panel to remove the switch on the back. To do this you will need to remove the center console (around the shifter) and then the lower center dash bezel. You can then remove the control panel and from there remove the switch from the control panel.
Remove center console
You will need to remove the shifter knob/handle first. With most manual transmissions, this means unscrewing the knob. But with most automatic transmissions it will mean removing a set screw at the base of the handle and then removing the handle. T-handles should pull out, while shifters that have knobs on top will normally unscrew. The PRNDL indicator panel usually simply pops off, exposing two to four screws. The mid 80’s was a weird time so some vehicles will have Phillips head screws while others will have Torx (#T15) screws. There may also be two or three screws along the sides of the console. Once you have removed all the screws from the console, you will need to pull the console back and up to remove it. Pull out the temperature selector knobs and the vent control lever and the fan control lever. On vehicles equipped with a rotary fan control, pull the knob out and off of the switch shaft.
Remove the center dash bezel
After you have removed the center console, you will have exposed the two lower screws that hold the center dash bezel in place. These need to be removed. Next, open the decorative cover in the center of the bezel to expose the other screws that hold the bezel to the dash. Some cars will have two bolts while others will have four. One thing to note here, some cars ONLY have the bottom two screws holding the center bezel while the rest of the bezel is snapped into place. To determine which type you have, after removing the bottom two screws, pull up slightly around the edges of the bezel. If it doesn’t come loose, it has screws to remove.
Remove the air conditioning/heater control panel
The control panel will have four screws that secure it to the board, one in each corner. Again, these can be either Phillips or Torx, depending on what car you have. Once you’ve removed them, carefully remove the control panel from the dash. Look at the electrical connector on the switch. Some connectors are released by squeezing a pin, while others are released by lifting a latch on a tab while pulling straight on the switch. You should now have the control panel, with the speed selector, in your hands.
Remove the fan switch from the control panel
Most fan switches are secured to the control panel with one or two hex head screws or nuts. They will usually be ΒΌ inch. Remove these nuts or bolts with the appropriate lug wrench. Once they are removed, the switch can be pulled out of the panel. Heat and time can cause it to stick to the back of the panel, so you may need to push from the front as you move it and pull from the back to remove it.
Reassemble the control panel, dash bezel, and center console
Lever controlled fan switches will have the OFF position marked on the switch body, while rotary switches will have the shaft through the panel in a “D” shape to indicate the correct orientation. Mounting is the exact opposite of the dismounting process.
Once you’ve read these instructions, you should know how to change the fan switch on an 86′ Vette or any other vehicle you may have. The process is pretty similar no matter what you have. Every car will have minor differences, but if you have these basics, you can work out any differences with ease.
