Murphy5156

The passenger side cooling fan on my 2002 Maxima failed a few months back. I replaced it with one from a salvage yard, and it worked great. Over the last few days though that same fan now sounds like a meat grinder. I know it's this fan because I opened the hood and it's obvious where the sound is coming from. It's so load that even after shutting the car off the grinding noise is heard for several seconds as the fan continues to spin for a bit after the engine shuts down.

Am I to assume this fan motor is shot? Maybe some sort of bearing issue? The fan itself seems to be working fine, it just sounds like hell. Maybe it's time to get a brand new one and replace this one too?

Anyone on the Org ever had this problem and was able to fix it without replacing the fan motor? Thanks!

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Are you running headers or no exhaust manifolds heatshields? You sure the fan motor bracket isn't melted or distorted?

mandyfig

Typical issue with the Max. Had to replace the whole fan assembly. Researched on getting just the motor, it was $170. Yikes !

$70 from fleabay for the whole set. Straight replacement, plug and play. Easy to do. There's a ton of write up on this.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I have bought 2 motors from Auto Zone, one for my 97 and one for a neighbor's 2k. I think they were around $60 each. The neighbor's fan is about 2 years old now and going strong. Not all that hard to replace.

mandyfig

I do not remember repacement motors being that cheap. Hence I ended up buying the whole assembly of ebay and everythings's new.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I always check out local parts houses prices before I order on line so that my down time is minimal.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

There's an 02 that just hit the u-pull it yard here. I could get the fan pretty cheap and test it for you. PM me if you want me to check it out.

Max_5gen

iTrader: (2)

Someone is parting out 2k2 right now and he's offering the whole shroud:
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-part-out.html

Murphy5156

I swear this car is possessed. I attempted to solve the problem of the meat grinder cooling fan today by swapping the fans. My rationale was that since it's winter only the one fan needs to be on as from what I've read the only time both fans are on is when the engine temp gets over 205 AND the A/C is on.

I could swear that when I started this whole thing the passenger side fan was the one that was on most of the time, with the driver's side fan only kicking in now and again as needed. Is that correct?

So, the passenger side one is the one that was making the grinding sound, so I swapped the driver's side motor with the passenger side and put everything back together. When I started the car I fully expected the passenger side fan to kick on....but it didn't....the driver's side fan came on.

I did everything trying to get the passenger side fan to come on, and it never did. In the meantime the driver's side one (which is where the meat grinder fan ended up) was quiet as a mouse...until today when it reverted back to it's loud grinding sound.

Why the heck would the passenger side fan be on all the time until AFTER I swapped them, at which point it doesn't come on at all?

I'm about to get two new fan motors and replace them both. Can someone tell me exactly which fan is supposed to be running when only one fan is needed? Driver's side or passenger side?

This whole thing is screwy. :-)

mandyfig

Get the fan shroud being parted out, see earlier post from reizy:

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...-part-out.html

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

You have a bad fan, no doubt about that. I bet that if you take hold of the fan blade on the "meat grinder" motor, you will be able to wiggle it around. The fans are two speed motors and I've always thought that both always came on, not just one. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know why you got different symptoms when you swapped the motors, but my suggestion is to follow mandyfig's suggestion.

Murphy5156

DennisMik,

You are correct, the "meat grinder" fan definitely has a lot more slop in it...you can wiggle it a fair amount, and a lot more than the fan not making any noise. It almost feels like the shaft the fan blade connects to is loose inside the motor housing. I want to take a look at the shroud today. If it's not broken or cracked I think I'll just keep it and then got to AutoZone and grab a new fan motor (part #PM9114) for $60 and replace the meat grinder fan and see what happens. Thanks!

Murphy5156

Seems to be fixed now. I went to AutoZone today and bought two new replacement fan motors ($60 Each) and replaced them. No more meat grinder sound, and both fans kicked on immediately, so for now anyway it seems to be fixed.

Thanks to everyone for all the help and suggestions!

spock

iTrader: (5)

Both fans kicked on immediately? Mine hardly ever come on in the cool/cold weather. Maybe the sensor to activate them is faulty?

mandyfig

I remember checking with the BM on fan motors and could not find anything. At any rate, $60 x 2 =$120.00. I bought the whole shroud for $70 at ebay. Plug and play. No dis-assembly required.

So for other, keep this in mind, this is also an option. But if you have no time to wait, Autozone is the place to go.

Nelsito65

I agree with spock. Unless your engine is really hot at start up, there is no reason for both fans to kick on immediately. If the engine is cool, the cooling fans don't need to be operating. Something is definitely not right there. Usually only the driver side fan is the one that comes on most of the times to cool off the engine. The other one is the AC fan and comes on mostly only when the AC is on. Perhaps a faulty Coolant Temperaure Sensor?

mandyfig

Yes, has to be one fan only to start with. Did a lot of experiments on this prior to replacing the fan shroud.

pikers

Do any of you have this issue when it's cold? Mine only makes this buzzing/card in the spokes noise when it's sub-30F.