Heater/AC Fan Removal?

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Graycenphil

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
209
Location
CT USA
Heavy vibration from my fan, especially at high speeds. Maybe a mouse got inside?

Does anybody know how to remove the fan, or access it to see what the problem is?

Thanks.
 
Okay, I figured it out. There was a mouse nest in the fan. How they can get in there, I have no idea. The grid over the fresh air inlet below the windshield seems plenty small enough to keep them out, but apparently not. Maybe I should put some screening over it

Relatively speaking, it was pretty easy to remove the fan. I'll try to explain it, and I took a few lousy pictures. I don't now how some of you get such beautiful shots.

First remove the glove compartment.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=166628" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Next you have to remove this electronic unit. Unscrew the two Phillips head screws, pretty visible on the left in this picture. There are two little metal tabs that secure it in place; they will release just by pushing it up. Set it off to the side; no need to disconnect the wiring.




Here you can see it unscrewed and set off to the side, resting against the side of the console:





The fan is up to the left, pretty much behind the radio. It is basically a round plastic housing with an electrical plug near the bottom/front (front meaning toward the engine). Sorry the picture isn't better:



It's a bit easier to see than it seems in the picture. If you have a small head, you could actually get inside the glove compartment frame and really see it well. I could just about have done it, but had visions of the fire department coming to cut apart the car because I couldn't get back out.

Now you have to pull out that plug. It's a bit stiff, but there is no latch on it. Just a regular two conductor plug, like you find on older cars and washing machines. Pull it straight out (pull toward the glove compartment).

On top of the fan housing is a latch to hold it in place. I think I just squeezed the latch a bit while turning the fan housing. (Clockwise, I believe, but I'm not sure about that. It only turns one way.) Maybe 1/8 of a turn and the motor is free. It takes a bit of finagling to get it completely out from behind the dash.


Installation is just the reverse. The only worthwhile tip I have here is to secure that electrical plug when you are putting in the fan - it wants to get in the way. I just tucked it behind the padding till I seated the fan. Give the fan housing another 1/8 turn and it locks right in place. Plug it in.

The whole job took less than an hour. I wonder what it would have cost at the dealer?
 
Thanks for the nice write-up. Do you know if all the LEAF models and years are the same arrangement?
 
I do not, but suspect they are the same. Mine looked like what I saw in the writeups on how to chane the cabin filter. Everything seeemed to be in the same place.
 
This thread saved me a pain$ul trip to the dealer. 2012 Leaf - same general location of all the relevant screws and latches - I didn't have a glove box light to worry about and I also didn't need to move the electronics to remove the blower motor to clean out the debris. My blower motor power connector does have a latch to release the cord. Total time less than 30 minutes.

I simply didn't know that that plastic mesh in the engine compartment was the only "filter" before going straight into the blower motor assembly - I'll keep that cleaned out better from here on out! It was pretty wild looking up through the glove box hole and out the blower housing and seeing daylight...

So... If your dash starts shaking when you turn on your defroster or heater - a very simple and straight forward article to save the trip to the dealer just to clean out the leaves/pine needles and acorns that rolled down your windshield and into your blower motor assembly!

I saved probably >200 due to this article. Thank you all.

LeafyOne
2012 46K 11 bars
 
My 2012 had a locking connector on the fan. Just grab it and squeeze to unlock it.

Other than that, the instructions were perfect. Thanks for the help!
 
Thanks to Graycenphil for the detailed instructions.

I own a 2014 Leaf.

I was away for less than a week, and a mouse got all the way in into the ventilation blower, leaving droppings, acorn skins and leaves. My quiet fan was suddenly rattling loudly.

Following the given steps, I was able to get to the fan, and cabin air filter, and vacuum all the debris left by the critters. Now My fan is quiet again.

These are the steps to get to the fan:

First step is to remove the glove compartment.
1. Remove the plastic panel under the glove compartment pulling downwards. It looks like this:
23013879016_f835245a30_z.jpg


2. Remove 4 screws under the glove compartment:
23013879986_54af02a7af_z.jpg


3. Open the glove compartmet. Remove 2 screws inside:
23026382482_3303af888c_z.jpg


4. Remove 4 screws across the top:
22418739143_3f7d830dd1_z.jpg


5. Pull glove compartment towards the front. It is held in place by 1 plug on the left, and three on the right. This is how the glove compartment looks when removed:
23039907925_ba80a72e41_z.jpg


6. A circuit module is in the way. By removing these two screws, it can be moved down. No need to disconnect any cables:
23013884166_27bfc69469_z.jpg

This how it looks when the circuit module is out of the way:
23026380092_7c84e130b0_z.jpg


7. This is the blower fan. Disconnect the connector at the right. It has a latching tab:
23039909745_6bd4e331d0_z.jpg


8. Remove the fan by pressing on the tab located at the top, and rotating to the right a quarter of an inch or less. The fan assembly comes out effortlessly:
23039911335_24e07b8e28_z.jpg


9. Clean the fan as needed. I also vacuumed the fan cavity:
23013888696_67c048bb86_z.jpg


10. Below the fan cavity is the cover for the cabin air filter. Open it from below and extract the filter. I also had mouse droppings and debris. I also vacuumed the cavity where the air filter sits:
23039911695_8bf6248d81_z.jpg



Do everything is reverse to put all back together. As mentioned by Graycenphil, the fan cable might be in the way:
22621594807_f690d6a8d6_z.jpg

Tuck it away temporarily as shown:
23013886386_97f53f90e5_z.jpg
 
Thanks all for the info on the blower motor removal/cleaning. Dies anyone have an idea on how to stop squirrels from gaining access to the blower motor area? Is that plastic grill under the windshield wipers the only access? Thanks for any info.
PS my dealer charged me $130 to clean out the acorns! I thought I had a noisy/damaged motor and they said it was a warrantee job until they had it apart! When I went to pick up the car they told me squirrel invasion not covered and had no idea on how to keep them out so any ideas will be greatly appreciated as they have been back and I really need to keep them out. Thanks!
Best, DJW. [email protected]
 
I have found no surefire way of keeping rodents out. Sometimes mothballs or pepermint oil work, but you probably don't want either near your fan. Using the vehicle frequently will discourage them. If you're parking in a garage, setting traps near the car will help too.

I planned to take my car to the dealer under warranty when I heard the noisy fan, but they were nice enough to tell me that if it turned out to ba an animal, it wouldn't bec overed by the warranty. I can't blame them for not covering it, but they really should have warned you in advance.
 
Hello.. I also had a problem of mouse getting in..
First you have to stop acceess to the place just under the windshield.
I think they get in there through the water outlet. Then it can go into the hole whare the fresh air get inside. You may cover those 2 holes by using a metel net which have drills that do not allow the troble makers to go in.

To see inside clearly you have to remove the plastic grill. It is not a difficult job.

Remove the caps of the wipers at the root by just pulling it out

And remove the wipers by loosoning the nuts. You may need to fold the wipers out side to remove them easily.

open the bonet. There are 4 clips and 2 plastic bolts. Remove them carefully.
Then you can remove the enitere plastic grill. But it has tubes connected with wires going to the mortor. So you may keep it little away and see inside.

Now you know how to get in there rather than through doors or windows.. :)
 
I appreciate all of you who have posted, especially the pictures. I had a vibration in my 2011 Leaf fan for a couple weeks, then it stopped completely. Had a mouse nest in there that almost completely filled the fan. But from start to finish, cleaning out the fan only took about a half hour. That electronic unit that some of you had to move wasn't in the way for me. Once I had the glove box out, the fan was just a twist and pull... Didn't even unhook the wire.

Thanks!
 
I found that spraying diluted Pinesol around the air intake helps. But you need to spray it every few days. Also, a piece of Irish soap would do, It smells bad, but if you get it so it "fragrance" doesn't get inside, you are OK. In general, pieces of steel wool here and there would deter the rodents.
 
I just removed the blower motor and cleaned the housing. In my case, there were no rodent artifacts, but small pointy leafs from trees here in San Diego. Leaf produced 07/2011. Didn't have to remove computer, it was against the front firewall. Had to pull the harness that was in a way and had a popup pin to one of the frames that is impossible to squeeze and pull out as something is in a way.
The key thing is that press tab on the motor, without someone prior to me in this post pointing to it I would get stuck there.
Other key point is to remove all tools, including small hanging or magnetic flashlight before putting glove box back in. Or you will do all kind of acrobatic moves with your hand laying on your back/shoulders ;-)
And, as you are already there, replace cabin filter-get one ahead of time. :p
Thanks everybody who contributed to this post and instructions !!!!!
Ivan
 
Thank you, everyone, for the easy-to-follow instructions and photos. I had a bird feather that was causing noise in my blower fan. I have no idea how something so relatively big got inside. (It was about 5 inches/13 cm long.)
 
I want to thank you guys for this information.

My fan just quit working. It started out as a weird rattle and over the next few months just quit on me.

I took it to the dealer who said it would be $800 to replace because it meant taking the dash apart.

With these instructions it took me less than an hour to get the dead fan out.

A new fan from Nissan for $160 was reinstalled in even less time.

Thanks again!
 
Glad it worked and saved you all that money. And time. I just wonder, was the dealer padding that repair? Surely they know that the dash doesn't really need to come apart. Or if they call that "coming apart", that it still takes less than an hour.

By the way, Rockauto sells the fan for about $50, if you really want to avoid the dealer.
 
i bought the Rockauto one (Four Seasons 76952 Blower Motor W/ Wheel) and it came in with a pig tail and a female connector coming off the unit, but the wrong connector.

The stock motor one is a male insert (on/in the body) that connects to the female connector coming from the chassis. Anyone know the way around this? The pigtail has a tight rubber piece attached to the unit so maybe you pull that out? I did not want to compromise the wire/unit before asking.

TIA
 
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