A few weeks back, the air conditioning in my 12-year-old Kia Soul started acting up. Sometimes it worked great. 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. (Unsurprisingly, this started happening right around the time New York City began getting hit with heat advisories.)
Last week, I thought I was finally cooked (figuratively, but also literally): The AC worked on Tuesday, then it never worked again. After four sweltering days and a few long sweaty holiday weekend drives, I took it to a mechanic, who checked various fuses and relays and determined I needed a new blower motor, which would cost more than $1,000, most of that for labor. (Apparently a Kia Soul is built weird and is hard to repair.)
So I went home and did what I should have done in the first place: I began frantically researching the problem to see if others were in the same boat. And it turned out a ton of folks have a problem with intermittent AC functionality—not just with the Kia Soul, but with different makes and models. And the same advice kept popping up again and again: Try giving the front center console a real good kick.
You'd think we've moved beyond the era where devices were simple enough that hitting them would make them start working, but I had nothing to lose except the cost of a $1,000 repair, so I tried it. (Well, technically I thumped it hard with my fist; I was stopped at a red light and couldn't get good leverage for a kick.) Instantly, the blower motor switched on and a blast of cold air filled the car.
The lesson here is twofold: 1) when in doubt, consult the internet for advice before shelling out big bucks for a repair, and 2) sometimes a kick, smack, or thump really will fix the problem.
Turn to the collected wisdom of the internet
I'm not suggesting 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 a logical conclusion. But being the kind of person who drives a 12-year-old car (a cheapskate), I wanted to more thoroughly exhaust my options before spending a bunch of money on someone's best guess. Because even accounting for experience and expertise, some mechanics, when faced with a problem that might take hours to properly diagnose, will just rely on intuition. And sure, maybe their fix will work—but that doesn't mean it was the cheapest option, or even necessary.
In this case, my research turned up many other Kia owners who'd experienced similar AC issues: The air would blow cold, but only sometimes. Our symptoms didn't match up with descriptions of a failing blower motor, which usually involve weird noises, smells, and gradually weakening airflow. And lots of these hot and sweaty folks noted that giving their car a really good smack would solve the problem. It turned out the collective wisdom of a bunch of frustrated folks turned out to be more useful than the opinion of a single mechanic who didn't have all day to research my issue and find the solution that would make him the least amount of money.
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:
Google your problem + Reddit, which will guide you to any established communities where people are discussing the kinds of problems you're facing.
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.
Google your problem +YouTube for (possibly) helpful repair videos—though finding one that will actually be helpful can be a challenge.
Like turning to WebMD every time your stomach hurts can convince you you're dying when you just ate a bad taco, the repair suggestions you get on the internet won't always be the right ones—but if they're simple enough to try yourself (hitting something; replacing a cheap part), you might as well. At worst, you can take your research to a certified repair person to help them more capably diagnose the issue.
Also: Unless your repair need is dire, a second opinion, or at least a brief cooling-off period—no pun intended—is never a bad idea. (For what it's worth, a second mechanic quoted me $300 for the same repair, but I'm glad to have avoided spending even that much for now.)
Why hitting it made my car's AC work
So why did a thump to the center console fix my AC? I don't know—and no one on the internet really knows either. Those who suggested it were either working off the advice of others (one said a Kia technician at his dealership told him to try it) or are apparently just well-versed in the tried-and-true method of hitting your tech until it starts working.
Possible causes posited included a loose wire, a melted or otherwise faulty connection, a grounding issue, and, yes, a failing blower motor, all of which can be temporarily remedied with a little percussion. Short of a more in-depth diagnostic, though, it's hard to say. Many of these forum threads do provide suggestions for how to look deeper into the issue. Maybe I'll do that someday—when just hitting it stops working.