Heater/AC Fan Removal?

Thanks for this thread and detailed pics. Made me decide not to do it, as dealer install was only $510. I'd have to pay for $141 diagnostic fee either way. They didn't find any debris in there, just a broken fin. But it's plastic like so many parts these days, so it could have easily broken off.

It's not even 1 payment on the Model 3 we'll order, so I'm trying not to be too upset, but at only 32 k mi, it seems premature to already have such issues. I didn't have AC problems on my Accord until 90 k mi.

I thought I'd add my experience with this.

I too had the problems with the fan, and removed it only to find everything completely clean. I asked the Nissan dealer, and they said it could be a fuse, or the motor could be bad. They could check it for their diagnostic fee. I declined. I took the motor out again, this time hooked it up and tried it. It seemed to spin, but not with a huge amount of power.

So I took the chance and ordered the blower motor, which now ends up at $200 with tax. And worried that it was the fuse and I wasted $200 because I couldn't return a special order item.

It was easy to replace, put it right back in, turned the A/C on and it was cold again! So it was the blower motor, and I noticed the new one has a different part number, so maybe it has been redesigned slightly.

But it was easy enough to pull the glove compartment and get it switched with the helpful photos in this thread. The only place I had a bit of a problem was removing the Glove Compartment Light, I thought I broke it but found that the little tab just hadn't snapped back out.

Those are brushed motors, so if yours is a 2012 I can see the brushes getting worn after years of running it at higher speeds. A blown fuse wouldn't allow the fan to run slowly...

Thanks to all who posted the picts and shared info. I bought a used 2015 SL about 3 months ago. This morning I turned on the AC on low speed and I heard a rattle, like a card that kids would stick in bicycle wheels (do they still do that?) I turned up the fan speed and it sounded horrendous and it was shaking the car with a nasty vibration. I did a google search and this forum entry popped up right away. My car hit 30k last month and it's due for the cabin air filter so I went ahead and followed all the instructions to get a new cabin filter installed and to remove the blower. There turned out to be a dried up leaf inside, by the looks of it from a japanese maple tree over my driveway. I reached in the chamber and found a few other dried leaves and bits and pieces of stuff. I put the blower back on and plugged it in, and fired up the fan to make sure all was good. There was another rattle again not as bad as the first time but still there. I quickly got the fan out again and there was a smaller leaf in there, it must have made its way through the system. Removed the leaf, installed the fan, plugged it and and this time the test passed, it's all quiet and normal now. This took about 1 hour for me, taking my time and cleaning as I went. Next time I could do it in half the time. Still not sure how several leaves got in there, but oh well. Sure liked saving money from the dealership and bonding with the Leaf. Thanks! Tom.

Thanks to these instruction, I removed the squirrel nest in the blower motor.

My car was stored away for the last two years, and squirrels made it a stingy dwelling area. I had to do these 1. Removing all the debris, 2. Washing the blower motor, 3. Replace the cabin air filter; 4. Clean under the windshield/wiper motor area.

After doing all these, I still smell the odor when I turn on the fan.

How to remove the odor further?
Is there a way to clean the air intake tube/track? I suspect some debris might still be in the outside air intake track.

I'll add my thanks and gratitude for this thread with all the very helpful photos and comments.

After following the procedure for our 2012, found the fan and air cavity packed with acorns and other debris.

Wound up doing the fan removal several times as debris continued to blow into the fan from elsewhere in the system as the vent mode (internal air / external air) was changed despite my best attempts at vacuuming out the fan cavity and feeling around to make sure everything had been removed.

Fortunately, I had tried the fan and discovered this before putting the glove compartment back in.

Thanks so much to the OP for the photos and explanation. There was also a YouTube video that helped a bunch too! Had a mouse crawl into my 2015 S (first time ever in the 2.5 years of ownership) yesterday. Saved me a ton of $$$! Felt a little bad for the mouse I don't mind saying...

I have a LEAF TEKNA (30KW) 5-Door Hatchback 2015. It is a UK Ireland car, which means that we drive on the wrong side of the road; that is to say that it is a right-hand drive car.

My question is straightforward. However, I can't get an answer. I need a very precise solution, as I have been working on this for two days now.

So here is my question where exactly is the blower, and I mean precisely Because? I have asked on Reddit, and everyone keeps telling me how to remove it, but my problem is much before that point. I don't know where I should put my hand to start the removal process.

From reading this post, the blower is located to the right of the glove box compartment.

I have removed the glove box and am sitting in the passenger seat. Facing forward, I can see the Body Control Module (BCM) straight in front of me.

To my left, I can see the back of the fuze box. to my right, and I can see several items. I know what they do but don't know what they are called, so I will describe them by function.

At the top, I can see the thing which moves to direct the airflow. (Airflow Director.)

Below that is an item with a barcode. Below that, and more towards the front of the car, is the air filter.

Looking further down, I see a plastic item which looks like air ducting; there is no way to remove this without removing a significant section of the dashboard.

I have attached pictures, so if someone can tell me where the blower is in the image, or if the blower is not in the picture, well, that would also be helpful to know.

I can't give you a definitive answer, especially given the possible rearrangement of the area by the right hand drive, but this video of a 2015 Leaf (Left drive) may be of some help:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGmYI9HVHqQ[/youtube]

Watching the video, if the assembly is the same, then the blower motor should be higher up, out of the photo, almost directly above the grey rectangular cabin air filter cover.

Thank you for that, I have watched that video about eight times, and it is awful and serves only to confuse.

I have downloaded the manuals for the ventilation system from https://www.nicoclub.com/nissan-service-manuals, and everything says that the blower should be in the compartment for the glove box.

However, I have not found anything which conforms to any of the descriptions anywhere on the internet. I can't find the blower motor. I can't think of any other logical place for it in the car. If it was running slowly, I could at least try and listen to see if I could find it.

I have reached up past the vent, and there is nothing up there that can be moved.

Is there a service manual for a right hand drive car?

Dammit, I lost about two posts. Short reprise: look inside the unit labeled "RHD" with black molded in letters. Visible in the third photo down, there is what looks like the blower, but it shouldn't have exposed blades like that, so it may well not be it. Look closely at it first, though, as that "RHD" assembly is likely what's different between LHD and RHD.

Naturally I have no experience with RHD cars, but it appears to me all of your pictures are too low. I sort of recall the fan being pretty high up in there. Can you get a few pics of the area higher up?

When I saw the fins, I thought that might be the blower, however they are mettle, and fixed. Seem like the fins of a heat exchanger.

I will get more pictures tomorrow further up, but if it is further up there no way it will come out of there without removing a large part of the dashboard.

The guy in the crappy video reached way up, held down a locking tab, rotated the motor about a quarter turn, and it came out. There was a wiring plug that had to be unplugged first.

I can confirm that in a right-hand drive car, it is not in the glove compartment, but it is on the lefthand side of the steering wheel.

To get it fully out I will have to remove a lot of items. So I tried my luck, took it halfway out, gave it a spin, after a little resistance, it turned.
I put it back in and what do you know it is working perfectly.

Not Shure how long it will continue to work, but I will see what happens.

Re. Osumartn

Hi, I have the same problem with locating the Motor Blower on my RHD 2015 LEAF Tekna.

Do you have any pics or could you point me to where it is and what you need to remove to get it all out?

Re: Osumartin

The only post I could find for locating the motor blower on a RHD model LEAF 2015 is by yourself.

Please could you post some pictures of where it is or contact me on ([email protected]).