Last Updated: 08/14/2022 @ 09:39 am
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Community Member Credit: DennisMik
I was cleaning out my garage and I came across an old radiator cooling fan motor that I had replaced on my neighbor’s 2000 Maxima. Since I had nothing better to do (which is why I was cleaning the garage), I decided to take the motor apart and document it with photos.
The motor was replaced because it was very noisy. If you grabbed the fan blade, there was lots of wobble, meaning the bearing was gone.
Photo # 1 – Front view (fan blade side).
Photo # 2 – Rear view
Photo # 3 – Motor split open.
Photo # 4 – Rear cover showing brush holders. Note that there are 4 brushes. That’s because this is a 2 speed motor that uses a dual wound armature to create 2 motors in one.
Photo # 5 – 2 of the 4 brushes. Note that the one on the left is only half the length of the other. I don’t know how long a new brush is, but I bet it would be at least 3 times the length of the brush on the right.
Photo # 6 – Front half of motor with armature in the case.
Photo # 7 – Front motor case with armature removed. There are 4 permanent magnets around the inside of the housing. It was actually fairly hard to pull the armature out of the housing. When I split the motor apart, it was full of a fine soot-like powder that was very similar to the powder you encounter when you work on brakes. Interesting difference with this power is that it was attracted to the magnets. I regret not taking a picture of the powder clinging to the magnets.
Photo # 8 – The commutator of the armature. The severe wear that the brushes caused is probably due to the fact that the rear bearing went bad and allowed the armature to wobble. You can’t tell from this picture, but the armature shaft is also worn to a smaller diameter.
This motor is not constructed to allow repairs. The case pieces are crimped together and when I did split the case open, I ripped 3 of the brushes off of their wires. There doesn’t seem to be any provision to hold the brushes retracted and fit the end plate onto the armature.
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