Huh, very strange. No fuse ever blew?

I'll keep an eye out at junkyards for that connector. It should be pretty easy to chop it off and solder on a replacement.

Thanks for your help. I will keep you posted once I find a replacement at a junkyard. Your right that it should be pretty easy to replace the connector. No fuse ever blew which added to the mystery.

I just picked up a control unit from ebay motors including the connector/harness for $28. I'll let you know how it goes once I get the part delivered and installed. Thanks again for your help.

Replaced switch with the used one and voilà! Good as new. Thanks for your help.

Solara wrote:Because of this thread and Andrew224's detail explaination....I've saved at least $700 from the Inifiniti dealer by fixing my fan blower not working problem. So I decided to take pictures of each step to help out this very comment problem of QX4/Pathy and hope those who are not really CAR friendly ppl can do this by themself.
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Thanks Google, thanks Nicoclub forum, but most of all thank you Andrew224 and Solara for the details and pics.!! Saved a me a considerable wad.

I have a 1995.5 Pathfinder that experienced the same scenario. Was happy to find out I was dodging a$700 bullet by going the Courtesy parts route. But I went even further and went the low road to the junkyard.

They have two sections. One full service where they pull the part--and one "U-Pull-It". The Full Serv side had a 2002 Pathfinder. The U-Pull-It had 4 94-96 Maximas. The minimum charge for the Full Serv was $50--but at least I knew it would work/fit. The U-Pull-It charge on the Maxima amp was just $4. Being pig in pokeville and "no returns on electrical", opted to go gouge on the Maximas to see what I would find.

First one was a '94 and bonus...it already had the dash and glove box out of my way. Two screws and I'm outa here! However once I had it out, it didn't look the same. It was the same size but had a very different heat sink. It was rods instead of fins.

Hrumph! That's no good me thinks. Off I go the the next Maxima...a '96 hoping that might be the correct/exact match to the Courtesy part. No luck, it was the same. Different part no. and rods instead of fins for the heat sink. My concern wasn't so much about the heat sink.....but would the electrical specs, MOSFET, and resistors match up with my Pathy's head unit. ???

Meh...it's all of $4 so I snatched it to bring home. Once I had the bad amp out the Pathfinder and pulled the cover...everything (ring colors, etc.) seemed to match up board wise (aside from the blue capacitor). The Maxima's blue cap was just a shade smaller.

In any event, I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't blow anything up or freak out the head unit and plugged it in. Fired up the A/C and bam! Works like a charm!

Thanks to all mentioned....I'm now a $4 hero vs.a $700 chump..

Pwnin O'Brien wrote:

John2000Path wrote:You are absolutely correct in that the HVAC controls are manual. Is the resistor unit difficult to change out and where is it located? Thanks!

The blower resistor is actually very simple to replace and only takes about five minutes and no dis-assembly is required! If you look under the glove box area you can see the blower motor. The blower resistor is located on the other side of the blower motor (on the firewall side) and it's held in with two screws. You just have to remove those two screws and pull out the blower resistor. Here's a diagram to help you locate it better:



If you have a multimeter you can test the terminal resistances to see if this is actually your problem.

I have a 2000 Nissan Pathfinder SE with the manual system. I have been trying to figure out this issue for quite sometime. My fan blows on a medium setting on all selection levels even off. Sometime it won't work at all. I have been thinking it was the fan switch itself but came across this thread and learned about the resistor issue behind the glove box. Is there a way I can tell if the resistor is shot? I unscrewed the two screws and removed. The flat piece of metal which I guess is the resistor gets very hot with power to the fan. Is that normal?

Yes, the resistor is supposed to get hot. Check page HA-166 of the factory service manual for resistance values to check if your resistor is within specification.

Thanks for the link. I will check the resistance.

I also want to check the continuity of the fan switch as illustrated on that same page, but I'm not sure what the diagram is asking me to check. For example the in knob position 1 it says 5 - 1 - 6 under the continuity column. Any idea what that means? Thanks for the help.

Can't find my ohm meter. But I pulled the resistor and tried to operate the fan and there was nothing on any setting. I read earlier on in this thread that the fan should go to max with no resistor. I'm pretty certain it's the switch.

The second column tells you which pins of the switch should have continuity when the dial is at a certain setting. I believe you should backprobe the connector to determine which pins have continuity, as you'll need to have the connector plugged in to the switch to select a speed of course.

Welcome to NICO, by the way.

I see, thanks!

Went and bought a new replacement fan switch from the dealership for 80 bucks and popped it in. Success! It's working great.

Thanks to this thread I learned a lot about the system in my pathfinder and some of the common problems with it. Maybe it should be pinned. Thanks again.

Hello all: Thanks for all this great info on fan blower motors. I have the same problem as many of the other posters and replaced the fan control amp, however it the fan still does not run. Here are the particulars: 2003 Pathfinder, Auto control, no navigation, compressor turns on normally, fan symbol (the blades) on the control panel light in both auto and manual. Accomplishing test per page HA-120 of the manual, the voltage accross pin 2 to ground is 11-12 volts vs. the 2.5 to 3 that the book calls for. Also, checking continuity between pin 2 & 1 of the fan control amp, I should have continuity, but do not. Could I have gotten a bad fan control amp from the dealer?

Disregard previous post.....Nissan gave me a replacement fan control amplifier and it worked as advertised. It turns out the original replacement part was bad from stock. Spent a lot of time second guessing myself, but the manual was straight forward and always pointed to the amp.

I have a 1999 Pathfinder 2wd with manual a/c controls, and a few days ago, my blower fan was working when I went to a store. I came back out, and it didn't want to blow on any speed. it turned it on and off a few times, and it came back on, and has worked for a few days now. I went shopping today again, and when i came back out, again it didn't work. This time I have not been able to get it to come on. I have checked all fuses on the vehicle ( although none of them stated they were for the fan, but there was one under the hood that said heater/mirrors, and the mirros work, and fuse is good). I have read several posts online about what various poeple think may be wrong with it, and one of them mentioned a fan blower realy that should be accessable under the dash on the righ side without taking the glove box out. I looked all around this area, and can find no realy down there. You mentioned in another post about a fan control amp that could be the culprit, but mine isn't an automatic climate control model, so that probably wouldn't apply to this, right ? We are having our 5th week of above 95-105 degree temps out here in Ca., and I would really like to figure this problem out as soon as possible. Any suggestions would surely be appreciated..... THanks

Oh yeah, the air conditioner compressor does activate when the fan switch is turned on, so I don't think it would be that, or i could be wrong.....

If your blower motor does not operate at 4th setting, which bypasses the blower motor resistor assembly completely, the blower motor relay would be a reasonable next possible culprit. It is behind the driver coin tray. You may need to remove the lower instrument panel trim - see page BT-15 of the factory service manual for details. foldout page 3 shows the position of the blower motor relay.

You can temporarily replace the blower motor relay with another one of the same color. The fog light relay in the engine bay should be the same color if I recall correctly.

Welcome to NICO!

well, my blower came back on today when I started the vehicle. Does the relay get hot, and lock up, or something like that? it's like letting it cool down and it will start working again....

Relays can become faulty over time. I'm not quite sure how, though. I would replace the relay; you can find a replacement at a junkyard, or purchase a new one from Nissan if you would prefer.

Is there any test or way to confirm this is the problem?

My air has stopped blowing completely 3 times in past week but is currently working so... Waiting for it to stop completely before doing this...

Have checked fuses and opened glove box to see if I had the skills for this project
Just waiting to confirm that I need to do it since its currently working fine

Any test they can run at auto parts store?

Is it normal for this to work some of the times as it dies?

I had another 2002 pathfinder that got stuck in high position so that's 2for2 - def seems to be a common problem.

Welcome to NICO.

You can run the self-diagnostics described on page HA-45 of the factory service manual to hopefully narrow the cause.

Thanks! All of this really helps!
Went out fourth time...
Think it's time to make the order

My blower will only work on high speed. Could it be the blower motor or the resistor

Definitely the resistor.

getting ready to buy my third blower motor...

Last one got noisy in the winter too, maybe they don't like the hot air moving thru them???

How long did your OEM blower motor last? Have your replacements been aftermarket? Do you have cabin filters and if so, have you been changing it yearly or so?

The original lasted about 160k, but I drove around for 20k w/ the noise. The new one, I can't remember where I got it but it looked exactly like the old one so I think it was an OEM part. When I replaced, that was the first time I had changed out the cabin filters and they did not look very dirty, but still replaced those while I was in that area.

Does the blower motor wiring harness look burnt or discolored in any way? Do you keep your battery terminals (both ends) free of corrosion?

To help prolong blower motor life, you should change your cabin air filter every 1 to 1.5 years. If the filter is excessively restricted, it may cause the blower motor to overheat.

No air is blowing through the vents in my 99 QX4. I replaced the blower motor and the fan control amp. The blower is working and I hear the compressor come on but no air. I'm not a mechanic and I think it might be way beyond me at this point. Any ideas?

If the fan is blowing then the air has to be going -somewhere-. Check for a blocked cabin air filter or something wrong in the air ducting.

Does the circulation button work? Do you hear the motor's slight whirring when you turn it on and off?