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How to: Prevent Fire (clean blower resistors)


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You might consider adding your input on the existing thread wink.gif

 

How to: Prevent Fire (clean blower resistors)

 

 

*Or to make it easier, we can just merge this one into it :aok:

 

Ah, I was looking for that thread and couldn't find it for some reason, even though I had seen it recently, so I created this one. Yeah just merge them together. Would be better!

Edited by Northernpathy
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  • 2 months later...

Ah, I was looking for that thread and couldn't find it for some reason, even though I had seen it recently, so I created this one. Yeah just merge them together. Would be better!

I assume you have pictures of your resistor pack from an R50?

Anychance those pictures still exist? I don't smell smoke yet, but I know the PO stored the rig outside, so I wouldn't doubt there'd be some debris collected in that little niche.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I assume you have pictures of your resistor pack from an R50?

Anychance those pictures still exist? I don't smell smoke yet, but I know the PO stored the rig outside, so I wouldn't doubt there'd be some debris collected in that little niche.

Is this what you're looking for?

 

th_IMG_0466.jpg

 

th_IMG_0465.jpg

 

I bought a replacement at my local Nissan dealer for $82. The new part number is 27150-0W714, while my factory original was 27150-0W712. Looking at Courtesy Parts, none of the 27150-0W714 are specifically for the R50, but whichever one Nissan gave me works fine in my R50. It's also $47-ish there, I should have bought it from CP rather than my local dealer. The 27150-0W712 is also available, but it is "uncategorized". The actual R50 part that I found looking through Body Electrical -> 270 Heater & Blower Unit is [27077] HEATER SWITCH RESISTOR, 27150-R50001 for $59.60.

 

For an R50, would I just remove the blower motor resistor pack and the in-cabin microfilter and vacuum stuff out of there, or is there more involved?

Edited by Towncivilian
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  • 1 month later...

Just did this today (only had my pathfinder for a few weeks). Don't think it'd been done before. Luckily the cage seemed to be working on the resistors and there was no charred debris, still feels good to get it out. Probably 3-4 cups worth of crap piled up there.

 

img2188f.th.jpg

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

side note - I noticed that one of the screws for the blower was missing (far right edge in above photo). Should I worry about this? anyone know what size it is (was)?

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The resistor in my 87 was open for crap to fall on it. The resistor from the 94 parts truck I bought has a mesh cage around it so nothing can actually touch the resistor wire. Might be a good idea for the older WDs to watch your pick a part for the newer WDs and get yourself a resistor with the mesh cage.

PhotoMay0170448PM.jpg

James

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I assume you have pictures of your resistor pack from an R50?

Anychance those pictures still exist? I don't smell smoke yet, but I know the PO stored the rig outside, so I wouldn't doubt there'd be some debris collected in that little niche.

 

 

Showing my ignorance here...

I tried checking this out on my R50, but I had difficulty removing the black cover (blower box?). I think I got all the screws off (after getting the glove box off), but the lower half of the box seemed stuck at the bottom. Didn't want to break it so I bailed. Is it supposed to come off after the four 10mm screws are removed...or am I missing something? Thanks!

 

By the way...this thread explains why the fan only worked on "high" on my first pathfinder (my old '88... R.I.P.).

Pretty cool to find that out after all these years.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My R50 does not have much debris:

th_DSC09253.jpg

 

And this is the blower motor, no debris found inside:

th_DSC09249.jpg

 

It's pretty dusty though.

th_DSC09258.jpg

 

Blower motor housing (I should have wiped it clean when the motor was out... what's all the red stuff? :scratchhead:):

th_DSC09251.jpg

 

1-year-old NAPA Gold filters, they still seem serviceable for 6 months (sorry about poor lighting here, forgot to turn on flash):

th_DSC09255.jpg th_DSC09254.jpg

 

I tried unsuccessfully to remove the bottom airbox assembly to better access the area to vacuum, but failed. I removed the front clip and the 4 visible screws, but it didn't come off with a little force so I gave up and buttoned it back up.

 

I found this TSB that speaks of some blower motor noise (ticking, humming) at lower speeds (1 or 2). Looks like I'll be needing the cover. I recorded a video of the noise:

 

Edited by Towncivilian
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Evaporator core was full of it, and it took a lot of vacuuming from the shop vac to get it cleared out.

 

DSC04493.jpg

DSC04494.jpg

DSC04495.jpg

 

Pulled out the blower while I was at it. Didn't have much in it, but was still worth pulling it out so that it was clean.

 

DSC04498.jpg

 

Now with all that clean, and the melted plastic fumes making me dizzy, I now had to look at fixing the blower box.

 

DSC04497.jpg

DSC04496.jpg

 

Fire had made a nice hole in it.

 

After cutting off the melted plastic on the outside, I got a piece of aluminum and cut it to size. I then used high temperature sealant and some self-tapping screws to hold it in place.

 

DSC04499.jpg

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Ready for re-install.

 

Have left the truck sitting with the windows open for a few days to try and air it out. Still stinks, but not as bad. I have to bring some febreeze or something to shoot in the truck to try and get rid of the smell. Also have to spray it in the blower box or else I will get the smell every time I start up the truck.

 

Lesson here: CLEAN YOUR BLOWER BOX OR YOUR TRUCK WILL CATCH FIRE.

 

I was VERY LUCKY the truck didn't completely catch fire. Could have also been really bad if it had happened while I was driving on the road and the cab filled with smoke.

 

The truck had always heated up very well, and I didn't have any problems with not enough heat. So I never thought it had that much crap in there. It only takes 5 minutes to check. Just pull off the glove compartment door and undo the two screws on the sensor so that it pops out and you can see inside.

 

Is it possible to get these pictures somehow? I have to repair the draintube and i think there is some clips lurking behind there somewhere

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  • 3 months later...

Cleaned mine out today, having stumbled onto this thread. :) Dead simple, maybe fifteen minutes and a little shop-vac time. It wasn't high enough to hit the resistors yet, but it was getting close.

 

Meshing in those vents is starting to sound like a really good idea.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Doing some of my cold weather is coming preventive maintenance today and this was part of it. I clean ti bi-anually though so not a big deal and fairly clean but just a reminder to some people to do it!

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  • 1 month later...

SO used this and thought I would help out with some images.

 

First to remove the glove box you must reach behind the box (from the bottom) and in each corner there is a small black lever. Rotate down and then pull it out (there will be a slight pop)

6514064285_aaf7c611d5.jpg

Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

 

From there, once you remove both sides, the glovebox will pretty much just fall out exposing a black metal panel with 6 screws (4 of which are 10mm heads)

6514065513_d3ea163fb8.jpg

Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

 

After you get the panel off you will find the heater core, A/C and venting as stated in one of the other posts above. Right in front of you should be a metal piece that has a wire clip plugged into it. You will be removing this.

6514065873_98424970b0.jpg

Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

 

Once removed, stand back and exclaim "(Expletive of course)!!!! There is a lot of CRAP in there. Now grab your trusty shop vac and go to town. Note: there are 4 small clips that hold the bottom section of the heater core cover to the top. It looks as though there are two screws on the bottom as well and if you removed all this you should be able to get the bottom tray off and do a bit better job cleaning.

6514066273_fa8924849d.jpg

Untitled by renofizz, on Flickr

 

You should be good to go now, reverse your order and put everything back together. Remember to full install the glovebox prior to putting the retaining pegs (or whatever they are) in place as it will align the holes properly.

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  • 6 months later...

I just bought mine recently, so not much tree parking.

I did this and found 2 pinestraw and one leaf. But the coils did have a lot of fine junk matted to them. I vacuumed them off so it wasn't a wasted effort. :)

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  • 5 months later...

I just bought mine recently, so not much tree parking.

I did this and found 2 pinestraw and one leaf. But the coils did have a lot of fine junk matted to them. I vacuumed them off so it wasn't a wasted effort. :)

Preventive maintenance is NEVER a wasted effort!

 

We can't pin everything, or there would be no room for normal threads ;) So we bump certain threads now and then :aok:

Exactly, some threads (like this one) tend to get bumped on their own enough to keep them live enough to find for new members as well.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for posting links to this topic...holy crap, i did the above and had a crap ton of trash in there....I actually did it 2 times b.c I got a little freaked out when i smelled something burning AFTER I did the clean..so i torn it down again and hit it aging used a brush on the fins inside to get as much dust and such off then re vac'd it out.

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  • 2 months later...

I noticed there's a crap ton of leaves just behind hood - the little holes with the hood open just big enough to put your finger in, I can feel that there's at least 2" of crap in there... is there a way to get to that stuff? I guess I'd have to remove a body panel to get to it............ I haven't had to use the heater but once but I'm sure there's crap near the heater core too....

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  • 8 months later...

Saw something mentioned about fires in another post, so I searched and found this thread. Man am I glad I did. The plenum in mine was full of leaves and other crumbly combustible goodness, along with the blower motor itself being filled to the top. The heat has gotten much better, along with peace of mind for me. For only taking 25 minutes on my lunch break I would highly recommend doing this on your rig if you haven't. Thanks again guys.

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  • 1 month later...

I am so glad this bumped to the top again. Had a strange noise and odor start on New Year's Day, and sure enough this was the issue. 10 minutes of work took care of 23 years of accumulated stuff. HVAC is purring like a kitten now.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just spent today doing the same after a stale odour started coming out of the vents (I don't use the air con that often). To access it was a little different to the pics posted up - for a '95 Terrano V6 auto, the release for the glove box is from the inside/side and just simply pops out allowing for the glove box to drop down completely exposing the two hinge screws for removal. Then the black backing plate consisted of 7 screws - 4 screws were similar to the pics posted but there were another 3 screws up around the glovebox latch area as the backing plate was a single unit extending right up to the latch.

 

However there wasn't really that much gunk inside but I did a vacuum anyway and cleaned as much of the build up on the coils.

 

Finally, got a Glade 3-in-1 disinfectant/deodoriser/sanitiser spray, put the air con on full and from the outside I blasted the spray into the external vents below the windscreen until I could smell the spray scent in the car. Also went through all the fan settings just to be sure that any germs built up in any of the vents over the last 18 years are history!

 

 

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