illiniguy

Hey guys new user here, but have been lurking for the last few months, as I just bought a 5th gen in Jan. Vehicle is a 03 SE with manual heater controls.

Really hot in AZ now (108!). Just flushed the coolant and filled with OEM (read on here to avoid cheapo stuff). Yesterday when driving in town running the A/C at stop lights I was heating up. As soon as I shut down the A/C and ran the heat the engine cooled off. Also while driving and running the A/C I stayed cool.

Came home and checked the fans after a search on here. The A/C fan is not turning at all with the A/C on. I checked the fuses and they looked good.

Would this be the fan motor then? Is there additional tests that I can do before swapping the fan motor? Is this a common issue on Maximas?

Thanks for your help!

illiniguy

I did some driving this morning and checked the A/C fan. It is actually spinning, just much slower than the engine fan. Its moving slow enough that it doesnt move much air or help cool.

Would this be the fan motor?

Discipulus96

Yes. I just replaced my fan assembly last weekend. These fans do commonly go bad, and I would recommend replacing the whole assembly rather than individual motors. The one working motor will likely go bad soon anyway.

There are a couple ways you can test and confirm. Park with the engine and A/C running. Open the hood, BOTH fans should be running. If not, then you have a problem. You can also take a multimeter, remove the cable from the fan motor, and check the Ohm resistance on the motors leads. Compare the working motor to the faulty one, if they give different readings then it's definitely a bad motor.

Either way, I am pretty sure the answer is already apparent. Replace the fan assembly. Easy to do, parts cost about $100+shipping online or $160 or so at a retailer.

When installing/removing the fan assembly, you will need to remove the OEM air scoop, and disconnect the upper radiator hose. Drain some of the coolant first by jacking up the car and partially unscrewing the plastic drain plug on the bottom of the radiator.

Good luck!