2000, the blower won't turn off. Is the blower going bad?

 

The blower motor itself is just fine. Since you have a GLE, I think the auto climate control system is what you have. If so, there is a part called the "fan control amplifier" that has probably shorted out. It is esentially a Darlington driver transistor that acts as a switch for the fan motor.

It's easy to get to. You get down in the passenger side foot well and look up at the firewall. 2 phillips head screws hold it in.

Check out the photo in post # 13 of this link -

http://forums.maxima.org/3rd-generat...ol-owners.html

It shows the fan motor amplifier, seen through the removed glovebox opening. But you don't need to remove the glovebox.

Before you run out and buy one, follow the diagnostics in the FSM. I think the part costs around $100.

 

Sorry about the misleading profile, it's a gxe and manual climate.

 

It's my bad. Your signature says GXE.

The manual controls have a different but comparable part. It's just referred to as the blower motor resistor. It is in the same general area, but closer to the blower motor. This one is less expensive.

As with the other version, test it before buying one.

 

I've finally gotten around to changing the resistor, but the it's acting the same. Won't turn off or change speed. I've tested the relay and it's good. Could it be the fan control switch? Or try unplugging and re-plugging the resistor?

 

The fan relay could not cause the problem. All it does is provide 12 volts to the fan motor. The dashboard switch supplies ground to the motor to make it spin. The blower motor resistor creates a partial ground for the lower speeds, but for high speed, the dashboard switch bypasses the resistor and grounds the motor directly.

For speeds 1,2 & 3:
Fuses --> fan relay --> blower motor --> blower motor resistor --> dash switch --> ground

For high speed:
Fuses --> fan relay --> blower motor --> dash switch --> ground

Since you have changed the blower motor resistor, it is either the dashboard switch or the blue/white stripe wire is shorted to the chassis (ground).

If you have a ohmmeter, disconnect the wire harness plug from the dashboard switch. Then, with the car turned off, connect the ohmmeter to the blue/white stripe wire and chasis ground. If you measure zero ohms or almost zero, you have a wire problem.

To check the switch, unplug the wire harness connector. Connect a meter lead to pin 1 (solid black wire, ground) and pin 5 (blue/white stripe wire). When the switch is in any position EXCEPT high, the ohmmeter should read open or infinity. With switch in high position, the meter should show zero ohms, short.

If you don't have an ohmmeter, you'll have to make an educated guess. Unplug the wire harness from the dashboard switch and then turn on the ignition switch. If the fan motor runs, the blue/white stripe wire is shorted to ground somewhere. If the fan motor does not run, the problem is most likely the switch.

 

Thank you broski, I will test this out.