I have had my dico parked and decided to drive today. The heater is turned on but blows only a trickle. What could be the issue? Is there a way to help it start up more powerful?

 

How long was it parked? Most likely, critters have lined the inside of the blower motor cage. It still spins freely but can't force out any air. Just the other day I had to clean out my blower motor. It looked like critters had used the nylon filter in the cowl for bedding in the blower motor cage. Wonderful. The blower would be on full blast but little or no air came out of the vents.

If this sounds like something that might have happened to you, you're going to need to gain access to the blower motor cage so you can remove whatever the critters have lined it with. Let me know when you're ready to take on the task and I'll walk you through it.

 

It has been parked for a few months.

 

It's a nice place for a home. Pine needles in mine, they weave together in the cage fan and come out looking like a straw hat. I put it on my head too. I drive mine everyday and yet I've had a field mouse squirt out of the front bumper (hole for the plastic mid-cover) at the gas station (made it five miles). Ran right in front of a group of road construction dudes walking into the station, I was waiting to hear a scream or watch one of em do the can can to avoid this mouse rocket shooting across the concrete. I could not stop laughing the rest of the way to work....

 

^ LOL!


Ever since my kid got sloppy with a box of Jujifruits in the back seat of my truck, I had to lay down a NO FOOD law in the Disco.......it was invaded by field mice with'in 36 hours........I no longer park near trash cans either!!


Deff. sounds like a mouse issue!

 

I am going to attempt the removal of stuff in blower. How hard is it?

 

Honestly? Very easy - on a scale of 1 to 10 it's a .02. Disconnect the blower, makes it easier to take a gander at the wild kingdom in your mitt. I think it's 3X10mm hex head screws that hold the blower up. The hardest part is moving the dang wiring surrounding the dang mounting flange so you can drop the dang thing.

 

What side is it own? What does it look at it.

 

Under dash on passenger side, points up into duct. You have to remove the pressboard cover under dash to get to it (if yours is still installed).

 

I also had a bunch of mice that got into my fan. They like to use hood insulation as nesting material. I made the mistake of turning the fan on and blowing stuff in the heater box (don't do that). Stunk up the whole cabin. Rather than go to all the work to remove the heater box, what I was able to do was put a long piece of 1/2" clear hose on the end of the shop vac and by using a long harbor freight bore scope, inserted into the heater box so I could see, I was able to snake the Vac hose far into the heater assembly (from the fan mount area) and suck all the mouse nest pieces out. Worked great and saved a bunch of time because removing the heater box assembly is a LOT of work. Then I went through a lengthy cleansing/de-fuming process which was successful.

Afterwards, I installed a 1/4" mesh screen over the air intake under the hood cowl cover to keep pesky critters out. I also have several bags of bait around the engine compartment for them to chew on when they get hungry. No problems since.

Also, move your Fan speed switch back/fourth a few times. These Land Rover switches seem to gum up more than any other vehicle switches I've ever seen. Does it work on "High"? The bearings on fans do wear out after a while too and too much friction on a cold day can make a fan run slow. Usually they'll speed up once the bearings warm up though.

Good luck