1993 Q45 Climate Control/Fan Issue

[dvorkink]

I have an issue with my 93 Q45 where the fan is only working part of the time. The climate control unit lighting has been out for years (it comes on randomly for a few seconds at a time) but the climate control has continued to function properly until now. Now the fan only seems to work part of the time and there seems to be no logical reason for when it will or will not work. I just took it to my mechanic and he thinks the climate control unit is burned out (circuit board is his guess). Has anyone dealt with this issue before? Does anyone have an idea where a used climate control can be found? Any suggestions or thoughts would help. Winter in Utah without a functioning defroster is a scary thought. Thanks.

P.S. I am not mechanically inclined and will have to have my mechanic do any work that is necessary.

[qship96]

Most likely it is the blower motor starting to fail as the brushes are wearing to the point of making intermittant contact- common on old Q, replace blower motor with brand new unit or take old motor to a electric motor repair shop and have new brushes installed.

[Q451990]

Dito on qship96's thoughts. I think you have two separate issues... a bad controller display and a fan motor on it's way out.

Heath

[Q45tech]

Depending on hours of operation you should at least be on the 2nd fan motor [17 years]. I have already worn out 2 fan motors and am on number 3 NOW!

Everything know about Q45 is listed here is previous 8 years of posting just skim the previous 100,000 posts for EVERY PROBLEM and the usual SOLUTION.

Many don't realize their spare time is better used by working overtime at what they know and using the money made to pay an expert in solving automotive problems.

[dvorkink]

qship96, Q451990 and Q45tech:

Thanks so much for the responses. It sounds like the best/safest way to proceed is to get a replacement climate control unit and blower motor and then instruct my mechanic to replace both items. Assuming the replacement units are in working order that would seem to be the most efficient way to fix the issue/problem. The car is used for a daily commute for my wife and cannot be out of commission for long without causing problems.

Are there any special issues or steps to replacing the units that I should alert my mechanic to? The shop I take my car to is great and they specialize in Japanese cars. They charge me less than 1/2 of what my local dealership does while doing better work.

Is there someplace to find used blower motors or I am better served pulling out my existing unit and having a local electrical shop fix it? I want to fix the problem right but I have limited funds to do so.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks again!

[qship96]

Your BEST bet if you are trying to save $ is to purchase a brand new blower motor from http://www.everythinginfiniti.com and replace it yourself, it is extremely easy to get to, just remove glovebox and it is staring right at you.....20 minutes tops- part is about $130 if I recall correctly.

The control unit is a little bit more difficult to reach, but simple if you follow directions....the part is quite a bit more expensive to purchase brand new, but there is a member here who is selling refurbished units- someone will chime in with his name/contact info!!!!

[dvorkink]

I just looked up the blower motor part on the site you linked. After shipping the cost is around $200.00.

Would it be less expensive to take it to an electrical shop and have new brushes installed? If it is less expensive to repair the existing unit is there a downside (i.e. reliability?) versus buying a new one?

If I am capable of following directions, where would I find find step by step (repair for dummies) directions about how to replace the blower motor or climate control unit myself?

Thanks again!

[goody90q45]

....the part is quite a bit more expensive to purchase brand new, but there is a member here who is selling refurbished units- someone will chime in with his name/contact info!!!!

Heath (Q451990)

zerothread?id=449899

....The control unit is a little bit more difficult to reach, but simple if you follow directions....

Another 20 minutes. Pry up the shifter surround, unplug the window switches, and remove 6 screws holding in the large curved bezel surrounding the head unit and HVAC controller.

[Q451990]

Here's a thread with removal instructions for your fan motor:

zerothread/262029

and one for the controller:

http://www.carstereohelp.com/s...o.htm

Just remove the four screws for the controller instead of the radio in the last step.

Heath

[dvorkink]

Thanks for all of the replies/suggestions.

I removed the blower motor yesterday using the step by step directions that Q451990 linked. It had so much dust inside when fully disassembled that you couldn't even see the motor. I cleaned it and reinstalled it and it now appears to be working flawlessly. Next project will be replacing the climate control unit to relearn the joys of having a functioning display.

Thanks again.
Modified by dvorkink at 8:42 AM 11/3/2009

[lino]

Many don't realize their spare time is better used by working overtime at what they know and using the money made to pay an expert in solving automotive problems.

[Skibane]

I removed the blower motor yesterday using the step by step directions that Q451990 linked. It had so much dust inside when fully disassembled that you couldn't even see the motor. I cleaned it and reinstalled it and it now appears to be working flawlessly.

Cleaning it probably won't extend its life by much. Brushes wear out, and bearings run out of oil. The only permanent fix is replacement.

[Q451990]

Not sure how my old Q made it to 200K on the original fan motor, with no attention at all... Maybe the previous owners didn't use it much for the first 83K miles of it's life? I leave mine set on Auto with the fan running 99.9% of the time.

Heath

[kdkrone]

Try calling Jerry Tucker's All Import Service in San Diego. Jerry sold the business about 2 years ago or so to one of his mechanics, but I suspect he is still available (Jerry wanted to concentrate on his business of building small fire trucks, a business which received a boost from the San Diego fires a couple of years ago). Jerry repaired the climate control units (mine included) and warrantied his work. Won't hurt to call

http://jerrytucker.net/