ok My a/c went out and i did some research and found out that it was NOT the blower motor that is at fault but the blower resistor..... I have a 2000 maxima and went to the dealership to purchase the part, it turns out my sisters 96 max had the same problem but she never really cared about fixing it cuz her "4" setting on the a/c worked just not the others. On my 00 max, the whole climate control didnt work (turned on all the lights on the climate adjustment area, just no blowing air). I replaced my sisters 96 max in less than 2 minutes , its literally unscrewing and placin in the new part. On my 00 max i tried the same and even looked up in the book where the resistor is located to see if its different then the 96 max and it showed the same pic as the 96.... The parts the dealer gave me are almost exactly similar just different model numbers or wheatever they are on the resistor chip. When i looked under my glove box to take out my resistor i found a different block then what i received from the dealership when ipurchased the resistor for my own plus it was different than the 96 resistor chip. the 96 is simply plastic on the outside and a chip that is conected to it , my 00 that i removed from MY car is a clearish white plastic at the end and only has half the prongs as the 96 max.... plus on mine the chip is surrounded by a metal shielding that is kind of coroded. Obviously this has lots of detail and only a few of you maxima enthusiasts will know what im talking about but if anyone is familiar with this can you explain or tell me if the 00 maxima's resistor is different then the 96 or any 4th gen or am I just completely missing where my resistor is even though it is showing me in the book that thats where it is....I also have pics from my digital cam of the parts the guys at the dealership sold me (96 and supposbly 2000 maxima resistor) and i have taken pics of my gutted dash where the glove box is and the blower motor is located and resistor. If anyone can help or would like to see the pics just let me know, i dont want to upload and post them on here if no one even knows what im talking about and wont respond back. Thanks

PS: i think the dealer guy gave me the wrong part (wrong resistor) because it just doesnt match up, this seems the only reasonable solution unless someone can tell me other wise. im gonna go either way tomorrow morning after my classes to go talk to nissan stealership

 

Just guessing here...
Not entirely clear from your description but it sounds like the older car has a manual a/c and the newer one has auto climate system? Is that the case?
The manual a/c will have a genuine resistor pack - 3 coils of wire that need to be cooled by the airstream from the fan. Should have 4 or maybe 5 connections, depending on the exact details of wiring in that particular model. The fan worked only on high because the resistor pack went open, but on high the resistors are bypassed and the fan gets full battery voltage.
The auto a/c has a FET amplifier - I believe it should have a heat sink (possibly the "corroded metal shield" that you mention) and it will have 3 connections. This makes it possible for the auto a/c control unit to have many fan speeds, and also it dissipates less heat. However it requires a pulse-width modulated drive signal which is not available unless you have the automatic control unit head.

They are not compatible and no simple way to make them so.

This may all be off-base if those are not the systems you have....

 

Hey thanks Imjd for your help, it turns out your exactly right. The 96 a/c is manual adjustment and 00 a/c is auto climate control. sorry i forgot to mention that in my post. I didnt know the 00 max had a amplifier until i went back to the dealership today and told them the resistor they gave me didnt work and it turned out a guy in the back had to explain to the service guy selling me teh part that 00 maximas have amplifiers like you said. I didtn know this I must have looked over it in my maxima manual book i have but oh well at least i went to the dealership, traded my part for the right one and installed it about 30 min ago it works fine all my fan speeds work great and it was very simply to install didndt have to even remove the dash even though i did because it was easier but thanks again for your help imjd.