[techcoze]

During a scheduled service, I came to know about blown up condenser fan motor, due to which condenser fan was not moving at all.
HASS quoted 10000/- INR for replacement, which is definitely is not a small amount. So I asked them to leave it as it is and decided to diagnose issue myself.

Effect of blown up fan motor
If your radiator fan motor is blown, immediate replacement is essential, because radiator fan plays major role in cooling.

If condenser fan motor is blown, then you can live with it for some time, unless you are not driving frequently in bumper-to-bumper traffic. This motor plays role in additional cooling in start-stop traffic when your car is moving with very low speed. I just kept strict watch on engine temp needle until motor issue fix.


Testing fan motor
First I tried to diagnose if indeed fan motor is kaput or if there is any issue with fuse or relay. On inspection found fuse to be ok.

Then used following procedure to test the fan motor directly. Easiest way is to check resistance/connectivity between both terminals of fan motor. First of all remove the power connectors of fan motor (of radiator/condenser, whichever you want to test)-




Set your multi-meter to measure resistance and connect both multi-meter probes to both fan connector terminals. If fan motor is good, then you should get few ohms reading in multi-meter (i.e. some connectivity across motor), and if motor is gone then it should not show any reading at all (i.e. circuit break across motor).

Following is the positive test result of my cars radiator fan motor, just to show you for reference-


But my condenser fan motor test showed no reading at all, which is best sign of kaput motor.

If you don't have a multi-meter, then you can simply connect both connectors of fan motor connector to +ve and -ve terminal of battery, directly, using some spare cable with clamps (take care to not short cables). No need to take care of battery terminal polarity, if you connect to opposite terminals of battery fan will just in opposite direction. Fan should run properly after direct connection to battery, if not then motor has gone bad and it's time for replacement.

Replacing fan motor
First remove the black front grill cover on top of the radiator. You simply need to remove 5 plastic clips on this plastic cover and 2 more clips at the left and right side. After removing clips, simply pull out this plastic cover.



After removing front grill cover-


Remove the fan motor connector-


To remove condenser fan shroud, you simply need to remove 2 bolts on top of the fan shroud assembly, refer following diagram for finding location of bolts-


After this gently pull out fan shroud assembly, it might not come out very easily due to radiator/condenser bracket mount on top, take care to not damage any alluminium AC lines while taking out fan shroud assembly.

Removed fan shroud-


Remove 3 small screws which you can see in in centre plastic fan in above image. After this you will be able to separate out plastic fan part.


Then remove 3 screws which secure the protective metal plate on back of assembly-


After removing protective metal plate, remove 3 screws holding the motor. Following is the removed fan motor which needs replacement. I did cut the wire between motor and the connector. Later new motors wire was soldered together + tape insulation.


Local auto-spare part quoted 3000/- INR for new motor (Honda service center quoted me 10k for same!!), but he did not have it readily available in stock. Since I was planning for upcoming trips, and since car was also opened up, I decided to go with alternate temporary way and source used fan motor from local car junk yard. Took out my motor-bike, went to Nana-peth area which is famous for used car parts. Got a used original motor from a wrecked car parts.

One of the junk yard store-


Used Denso motor bought-



Refit the motor and other parts in reverse order as explained above. and refit shroud assembly and top black plastic cover.

I was not expecting much from this used motor, and my original plan was to use this motor for couple of weeks and then replace it with new aftermarket motor. But I found it running strong without any niggle for many weeks. So eventually thought of replacing it only when it dies. Now it's been more than 3 years post replacement, and it's still running healthy. (Note that this is almost 3 years old DIY)



Total cost involved:
Used condenser motor: 400/-
Insulation tape: 10/-
Soldering gun and related material: n.a. (already had it available)
Some elbow grease

[Mr.Boss]

Neat, simple and cheaper solution. Congrats buddy
Good that the DIY & used motor is doing the job pretty well after 3 years.

Originally Posted by techcoze

I did cut the wire between motor and the connector. Later new motors wire was soldered together + tape insulation

Any specific reason to cut the wires instead of removing the assembly along with the socket? Is that (socket / part of harness) is pasted to the shroud?

[techcoze]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Any specific reason to cut the wires instead of removing the assembly along with the socket? Is that (socket / part of harness) is pasted to the shroud?

Only reason to cut wire was that wire connector clip from new-used motor was bad, do had to discard it and planned to use original motor connector.

[Anuruddhs]

Thanks for detailed explanation for replacing the fan motor . I have got changed in my manza at least 3 times in last 7 year and after two times changing the whole radiator fan assembly last time I also searched for a cheaper option and got the motor only changed which was 30% of the cost of changing whole assembly .

[swami69]

Hi Great DIY and very nicely put together. I recently bought a 2007 Civic and while carefully observing every noise (not much actually ), I could hear the A/C condenser fan noise inside the car while driving (without any music) - is that normal or should it be dead silent in Civic ?

If it is getting noisier, i will go with your route of DIY and change the motor. BTW, when you face the car from front, is it the fan on right side which is Condenser fan (smaller one) ? Please let me know. Thanks.

Swami

[techcoze]

Originally Posted by swami69

Hi Great DIY and very nicely put together. I recently bought a 2007 Civic and while carefully observing every noise (not much actually ), I could hear the A/C condenser fan noise inside the car while driving (without any music) - is that normal or should it be dead silent in Civic ?

If it is getting noisier, i will go with your route of DIY and change the motor. BTW, when you face the car from front, is it the fan on right side which is Condenser fan (smaller one) ? Please let me know. Thanks.

Swami

I won't say that condenser fan is dead silent, I do notice it going on and off while running car (at low speed and when music system is off). But in case my car I won't call it loud either.

To clarify, condender fan is on driver side and radiator fan on the passenger side.

[risham]

Hi.
My alto 2006 petrol which is used as a beater car was making some loud noise off and on from engine bay area. Had co-related it with the operation of radiator fan. This was since a couple of weeks. did not get around to fixing it due to some other engagements.
Yesterday the car leaked coolant.
Went to my FNG and the leak was diagnosed as being due to a failed elbow joint in cooling system. This was a metal elbow fixed to the engine block and a hose was placed over it. Near the alternator.
The elbow had simple broken into two from near its attachment to engine.
Apparently, this is a common failure point and the elbow is readily available in spare part market. Got a new elbow and it was fixed in place of the old one and also got a new hose. (Old one was 12 years old like the car!!).
Got new coolant and good to go.

As was about to leave, the mechanic mentioned that the fan noise is too loud. Probably a bearing needs replacement. Remembered the noise problem and mentioned that I have been noticing it for a few weeks.

His take is that a new radiator fan motor is around Rs 2000 plus labour around Rs 500.
Instead he can open the motor and replace the bearing. Cost Rs 600 inclusive of labour.

I told him I will think about it and get it done in a few weeks.
Any inputs? Which option should I chose?
1. Repair the motor.
2. Get a new motor.
3. Get a used original motor from a car dis-assembeled for parts. (There is a market for such parts in chandigarh)
Thanks in advance

Mods please put in an appropriate thread if required. I put it here" Re: Honda Civic DIY: Replacing the condenser fan motor" as a similar problem was being discussed here. Regards.