A few weeks ago, my 12-year-old Kia Soul's air conditioning started acting up. Sometimes it worked great, but other times the blower wouldn't turn on at all. There was no discernible pattern - it would work right away or not at all, or suddenly turn on while I was driving. This started happening when New York City began experiencing heat advisories.
Last week, it stopped working entirely after briefly working on Tuesday. After enduring four sweltering days and long, sweaty holiday weekend drives, I took it to a mechanic. They checked various fuses and relays and determined that I needed a new blower motor. The cost of the repair would be over $1,000, with most of that for labor. Apparently, the Kia Soul is difficult to repair due to its unconventional build.
After returning home, I finally did what I should have done initially: I started researching the problem to see if others were experiencing the same issue. It turns out many people have faced intermittent AC problems, not just with the Kia Soul, but with various car models. The recurring advice was to try giving the front center console a solid kick.
It may seem outdated to think that hitting a device would make it work, but with a $1,000 repair cost at stake, I had nothing to lose. I decided to give it a try. I thumped it hard with my fist (as I was stopped at a red light and couldn't get leverage for a kick), and to my surprise, the blower motor immediately started working, and cold air began to fill the car.
The lesson here is twofold: firstly, when in doubt, consult the internet for advice before spending a significant amount on a repair, and secondly, sometimes a kick, smack, or thump really does fix the problem.
Turn to the collected wisdom of the internet
I'm not suggesting that the mechanic who told me I needed a new blower motor was trying to rip me off. Assuming he actually checked all the electrical issues he claimed to have checked, "motor bad" seems like a logical conclusion. However, as someone who drives a 12-year-old car and tries to save money, I wanted to explore all my options before spending a lot of money on what might be just a guess. Some mechanics, when faced with a problem that might take hours to properly diagnose, might rely on intuition. Sure, their fix might work, but that doesn't mean it was the cheapest option, or even necessary.
I discovered that many other Kia owners had experienced similar AC issues. The air would sometimes blow cold and sometimes not. These symptoms didn't match up with the typical signs of a failing blower motor, which usually include strange noises, smells, and gradually weakening airflow. Many people with these issues found that giving their car a good smack would solve the problem. I realized that the collective wisdom of frustrated Kia owners was more helpful than the opinion of a single mechanic who didn't have the time to thoroughly research and solve my problem.
Typically in these situations, I'm looking for advice from a mix of experts and laypeople, and the internet is full of both. Here are some good tactics to try to find what you're looking for:
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Google your problem + Reddit, which will guide you to any established communities where people are discussing the kinds of problems you're facing.
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Look for forums aimed specifically at owners of whatever it is that's giving you a headache. In my case, that was Kia Soul Forums.
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Google your problem +YouTube for (possibly) helpful repair videos—though finding one that will actually be helpful can be a challenge.
Just like looking up symptoms on WebMD can make you think you're seriously ill when you just have a stomachache from a bad taco, the advice you find online for fixing things may not always be accurate. However, if the repairs seem s
imple enough to do yourself like hitting something or replacing a cheap part, it's worth a try. If it doesn't work, you can always take your findings to a professional to help them diagnose the problem better.
Also, unless the repair is urgent, getting a second opinion or taking some time to reconsider is always a good idea. For example, I got a second quote from another mechanic for the same repair, and they quoted me $300, but I'm glad I held off on spending even that much for now.
Why hitting it made my car's AC work
I hit the center console of my AC unit and it started working. I don't really know why, and nobody on the internet seems to know either. Some suggested it based on the advice of others, while others just seem to have experience with hitting tech until it works. Possible causes mentioned include a loose wire, a faulty connection, a grounding issue, or a failing blower motor, all of which can be temporarily fixed by hitting the unit. However, without a more thorough diagnostic, it's hard to say for sure. Many forum threads provide suggestions for deeper troubleshooting, which I might explore if hitting it stops working.
