Fan now sounds like a DC3

Nissan Rogue forum - Includes Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Dualis as well.
roguetoad
Posts: 77
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:20 am
Car: 08 SL AWD

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Don't see another post about this exactly, so here goes:

Yesterday when I turned on my fan (slow speed and vents) it reminded me of a helo, an updated DC3, or like driving over those lane edge rumble strips. It makes the whole car buzz. Very unpleasant.

The sound doesn't change with respect to car speed or operating temp, or whether or not A/C is on. 2200 miles

Quite disconcerting, but does give you a good massage. Like Magic Fingers.

No sign of damage anywhere in engine compartment. No odd smells. No Squirrel dung, mouse scat or any of that sort of effluvia. So nothing obvious.

It'll be going to dealer, but has anyone else experienced this?


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Leo2005
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Not yet. 12k miles troubles free except paint scratching under the door and paint tears from idiots that park next to me.

philipa_240sx
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I just recently started to get that 'thumping' noise from the fan. Not sure why it's started, it just appeared.

roguetoad
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Car: 08 SL AWD

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Phil, all my ducts/grilles/intakes (at least the ones easily inspected) are pristinely clean. Yours?

Mine also just appeared out of the blue.

What it reminds me of is an old kitchen fan where one blade cracked and following that the bearing seemed to go into an out-of-balance mode, however, the Rogue has a squirrel-cage fan and they don't normally go out of balance easily and rarely toss a fin.

I did near a "cracking" noise from the cowl vicinity well before the thumping, but thought it was just a loose pebble in the tire treads. Maybe not! Maybe the cage itself cracked. Unfortunately, it's a semi-major job getting that out for inspection.

Getting at the intake filter is also a chore, although I doubt it is a contributor.

roguetoad
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Car: 08 SL AWD

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Phil,

Did you ever check into the fan noise on yours?

My dealer has ordered a full replacement which will go in this week. Don't know what the problem is, but they heard and felt it and sent for the replacement unit. From the parts schematic it looks like the Squirrel Cage, motor and attachments are sold/installed as one unit.

Will update when they get it out. we'll see if it's a broken vane, bearing, or what.

philipa_240sx
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Curiously, mine stopped making the noise a couple of months ago. It has never returned.

F=ma
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Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 4:34 am
Car: 2008 Rogue

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We've had the problem twice...Took it in, dealer tore apart the dash each time to get to the fan & found a wad of floor insulation in the shape of a mouse nest. We have four vehicles sitting on a grass/gravel driveway and never had this problem. (Four out of five mice prefer the Rogue?)

roguetoad
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Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:20 am
Car: 08 SL AWD

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Sorry for the delay in replying.

Must be pretty dumb mice if they prefer Nissan. I'd have to guess, based on my experiences with Nissan, that, unless you actually saw the stuff, they're trying to cover up something.

In my case with the blower, they swapped in a new SC assembly and the noise and vibration went away.

The defective assembly showed nothing anomalous: no broken vanes, no diced roadkill, no furballs, nothing.

So the parts were shipped back to Nissan and we'll never hear anything more about it because Nissan doesn't give a d&*m about their customers or letting dealers know anything.

I think we're going to dump this car as much as I like it because Nissan's customer service doesn't exist.

As I posted above in the satisfaction survey, first they tried to cheat me out of double-billed lease payments, now they're incapable of shipping the correct parts for a fuel sender/pump unit that needs replacing on this car.

They've forced me to lose two days of work, twice drive 175 miles (RT), sit around for ten hours and the bloody car still isn't fixed.

It's not the dealer's fault as we verified the correct part numbers, it's because Nissan can't read a parts order right and don't care a bit about their customers or proper dealer relationships.

Like with the lease payment, I've called Nissan every day for a week to try to get something resolved to fix this car, but they don't respond.

In both cases I got to the first level and had a file number assigned and the matter then being assigned to a "specialist". In the former case it took weeks and threats of serving papers to get my money back.

In the latter case someone who won't give a name but who claims to be a district rep for our area called once and left a message. However, they haven't responded to returned calls and voicemails for many days, so they're either not interested, haven't got any staff to handle the matter, or hope I'll go away.

We will go away from Nissan. We buy/lease very frequently. We get decent customer service from Honda, Toyota, and even Chrysler. But we'll never go near another Nissan product because they just don't care about being on top of things, up front, or resolving problems. Too bad. They have good advertising, but it seems to stop there.

The winning car companies in this and tomorrow's economic climate are not going to be the ones who continue to disavow their prospects and customers. Looks like Nissan will have to make some changes, if they're going to survive.
Modified by roguetoad at 6:22 PM 11/12/2008

clev
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Car: 2009 Nissan Rogue SL

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Mine is an '09 Rogue with ~45k miles and it just started the roaring sound when set at high fan speed; at low fan speed, it's not so bad. Could someone provide a link for instructions/schematics for getting to the blower?

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Rogue One
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clev wrote:Mine is an '09 Rogue with ~45k miles and it just started the roaring sound when set at high fan speed; at low fan speed, it's not so bad. Could someone provide a link for instructions/schematics for getting to the blower?
This might help. http://www.nissanpartszone.com/Page_Pro ... entsNo=270
Image

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ImStricken06
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mine did it for a day and never came back. sounded like a Chinook helicopter.

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Leo2005
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Here we go again :(
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uznMaRzIVpk[/youtube]

zengshengliu
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Mine does that for like a week or so and disappear. Don't know why

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ImStricken06
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leo, congrats on the new car. mine did that for a day and then stopped lol.

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Rogue One
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It should go without saying that noisy fans are an indication that they are not working properly. On older vehicles, even though your vents appear to be clean, dust and dirt still accumulates on the fan blades throwing them out of balance which in turn destroys the bearings causing the noise you are hearing. If the fan is made from inferior parts, especially the bearings, it will make this delightful noise. Reminds me of my 5 year old laptop that makes the same noise when I start it up. I just need to cough up $50 for a replacement before it completely frys my system.

Leo your sweet ride is spankin' new, there's no reason to put up with that as it will only get worse.

clev
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I should have reported back sooner in this link on my repair. I ordered a fan and following the service manual, began to disassemble the dash to get at the fan. I 'thought' that the fan could be accessed by removing a lot of the parts on the drivers side, but I soon realized that was not going to happen. I took it to my local dealer, and a 'licensed' tech did the repair. He kept the OEM fan to show me the mouse nest that was built 'in' the squirrel cage. So yes, all the duct work was clean, but the cage was full of trash. And, the ENTIRE dash had to be removed to get to the motor. The guy did a great job, and the fan has a lot more power and air volume than my OEM. According to the tech, this is a common problem; especially if you're in an area that has mice. We live on 5 acres in the country; there will be mice. They climb up around the engine and enter the vent system through the front vent shroud.

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Leo2005
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By the time I came to the dealership the noise disappeared and I never been able to reproduce the issue again. I guess it will wait until either another noise issue come back or it will stink inside of the cabin with the dead animal.

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ImStricken06
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mine happened once, and only for 15mins. it happened only after i parked on my driveway. i turned off the a/c, opened my windows, smoked a cig, and when done i turned on the a/c. BAM... that helicopter sound. i ignored it- and then it stopped. its certainly not an animal.

side note: it almost sounds like its coming from the speakers/sub-woofer, like a grounding out somewhere. its very-very odd.

Colorado_Al
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Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:54 am
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue S AWD

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OK Folks. Here is the real DIY for fixing a blower that sounds like it is a helicopter and that your Rogue is about to lift off of the ground. It is likely caused by debris in the blower/fan. Either a critter like a mouse has taken up residence there, or it is just full of lint from 7 years of use. Whatever the case, if you take it to the dealer they will tell you it is a 4 hour job that requires dismantling the dash and removing the pedals and all kinds of scary stuff.
DO NOT LET THEM JIVE TALK YOU! YOU ARE NOT A SUCKER!

This is a 15 minute job that can be done with 3 simple tools.
1: Philips head screwdriver
2: wire snips or scissors
3: shop vac or hand vac

The blower is located behind the stereo and vents in the dash. You are going to get to it by removing the glove box.

Step 1 - Turn off your car! (A lot of people forget simple steps like this) This is very important since you will be putting your hands inside of a fan. You do not want to lose a finger or part of one.

Step 2 - Remove the glove box passenger side cover panel by opening the front passenger door and prying the cover off of the side of the glove box at the door jam
Image

Step 3 - Remove the glove box. There are 7 Philips head screws that need to come out. Then gently pull it towards the seat. Unclip the wire for the glove box light. (This would be a really convenient time to replace your blown out bulb in the glove box, if you only had the replacement bulb - which I did not).
Image

Step 4 - Locate the fan cover, and open or remove. First pull one of the wire hold down clips out to free the wire and then release the 2 retaining clips on the sides of the cover. There is a philips head screw that points towards the front of the car. If you can, remove it. If not, you may break the pivot of the fan cover (like I did). It is no big deal.
Image
Image

Step 5 - Use your wire snips to clip part of the blower cage away so you can fit your shop vac hose inside. This cage is there to prevent you from putting your hand or any other object into the blower while it is running. (You are way too smart to do that, so you don't need this cage)
PS- Look how disgusting the blower is! Who knows how long that has been there. YUCK!
Image

Step 6 - Use your shop vac to remove the debris.
Image

Step 7 - Reverse to reassemble.

Step 8 - Open beer and drink. Enjoy quiet clean air and marvel at how the dealership was going to charge you $500 to take care of it.

Take it easy!
Al

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ImStricken06
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Colorado_Al wrote: PS- Look how disgusting the blower is! Who knows how long that has been there. YUCK!
Image
looks like this car was used by drug smugglers LOL. looks like a lot of pot in there hahahah
great write up! i might have to get to this soon.

Colorado_Al
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Perhaps. But here in Colorado, no need to smuggle anymore...

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ImStricken06
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Colorado_Al wrote: PS- Look how disgusting the blower is! Who knows how long that has been there. YUCK!
Image
hey Al, question: did you have air flow issues on low, med, high- fan speeds? i want to grow a list of symptoms that may point to this issue

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darylzero
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Colorado_Al wrote:OK Folks. Here is the real DIY for fixing a blower that sounds like it is a helicopter and that your Rogue is about to lift off of the ground. It is likely caused by debris in the blower/fan. Either a critter like a mouse has taken up residence there, or it is just full of lint from 7 years of use. Whatever the case, if you take it to the dealer they will tell you it is a 4 hour job that requires dismantling the dash and removing the pedals and all kinds of scary stuff.
DO NOT LET THEM JIVE TALK YOU! YOU ARE NOT A SUCKER!

This is a 15 minute job that can be done with 3 simple tools.
1: Philips head screwdriver
2: wire snips or scissors
3: shop vac or hand vac

The blower is located behind the stereo and vents in the dash. You are going to get to it by removing the glove box.

Step 1 - Turn off your car! (A lot of people forget simple steps like this) This is very important since you will be putting your hands inside of a fan. You do not want to lose a finger or part of one.

Step 2 - Remove the glove box passenger side cover panel by opening the front passenger door and prying the cover off of the side of the glove box at the door jam
Image

Step 3 - Remove the glove box. There are 7 Philips head screws that need to come out. Then gently pull it towards the seat. Unclip the wire for the glove box light. (This would be a really convenient time to replace your blown out bulb in the glove box, if you only had the replacement bulb - which I did not).
Image

Step 4 - Locate the fan cover, and open or remove. First pull one of the wire hold down clips out to free the wire and then release the 2 retaining clips on the sides of the cover. There is a philips head screw that points towards the front of the car. If you can, remove it. If not, you may break the pivot of the fan cover (like I did). It is no big deal.
Image
Image

Step 5 - Use your wire snips to clip part of the blower cage away so you can fit your shop vac hose inside. This cage is there to prevent you from putting your hand or any other object into the blower while it is running. (You are way too smart to do that, so you don't need this cage)
PS- Look how disgusting the blower is! Who knows how long that has been there. YUCK!
Image

Step 6 - Use your shop vac to remove the debris.
Image

Step 7 - Reverse to reassemble.

Step 8 - Open beer and drink. Enjoy quiet clean air and marvel at how the dealership was going to charge you $500 to take care of it.

Take it easy!
Al
Nice DIY write up!! :dblthumb: That is a lot of crap in there. I wonder if this is the issue with people who say their Rogue's don't blow out hot air very well in the winter.

Colorado_Al
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Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue S AWD

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ImStricken wrote:hey Al, question: did you have air flow issues on low, med, high- fan speeds? i want to grow a list of symptoms that may point to this issue
I did not notice any specific blower problems prior to the fan sounding like it was going to rattle the dash to pieces. I have only had this car for about a month, but I can tell you that it looked like the original owner had never changed the cabin air filter, and the AC evaporator stank pretty badly. Since the repair, the vents all seem to have plenty of air flow, but I didn't specifically notice reduced airflow prior to the acute problem.

clev
Posts: 89
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 6:41 am
Car: 2009 Nissan Rogue SL

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Hi Colorado, this was a terrific write up and the pictures added to the understanding. In addition to other things we were trying to accomplish, we wanted to clean the fan and to block any access by rodents. I noticed in your, and IM's, pictures, that the debris was green colored. The insulation material in the car floor area is gray and my wife pulled out a few pieces of gray material when we cleaned the fan yesterday. Today,14 May 2014, the fan was extremely loud. We pulled the glove box to check it and the fan was full of of the green/brown insulation material; we just cleaned it yesterday. Where does the green/brown insulation come from?

Colorado_Al
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:54 am
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue S AWD

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I'm not sure where the green insulation is coming from, but your mouse knows.
Maybe the insulation under the hood?

wills7000
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Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 3:50 am
Car: Nissan Qashqai

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Hi Colorada_Al
Well done what great info for fan problem. Fan on my Nissan Qashqai LHD in Spain new November 2011 was very noisy using your info and great photo's now sorted. In my case side panel just unclipped, glove box as your details fan on newer / European model cover to fan slightly easier to get to so no problems there. Told by Nissan garage mice in system and needed 3hrs to fix cost 150 euros. Actual fault was self adhesive foam tape stuck to the fan fault in original manufacture one thinks. Would the garage have told me that??? Now working great many thanks keep up the good work. Wills7000

88GrapIridium
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 2:32 pm
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue 2wd

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Thanks Colorado Al for the photos and walk through. My son and I used your write up and photos about three weeks ago to guide us in removing a mouse nest from my wife's Rogue's fan. We pulled a small bags worth of yellow fiberglass insulation out. I was not able to get the flap open more than a little but it was enough to fish a "grabber" in and repeatedly pull out hunks of nesting material until it was all cleaned out. How did you get the flap open so far? Thanks again.

justbecause
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Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:15 pm
Car: 11 Frontier, 09 Rogue.

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I found this thread a day late, because I already pulled my gas/brake pedals. I cant get the whole assembly out, I dont even know how its possible the way its wedged in there without taking even MORE of the dash apart... but I am down to airbag components and a steering wheel at this point...

I have access to this

Image

Last night I couldnt get that cover off, I will try again today after work.

Colorado_Al
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:54 am
Car: 2008 Nissan Rogue S AWD

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You need to remove the screw on the lower part and move the wire of as well. Then you should be able to move the part out of the way


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