How To Change A Goodman Air Conditioner Condenser Fan Motor
Table of Contents
If your condenser fan motor went out this article will show you How To Change A Goodman Air Conditioner Condenser Fan Motor.
This article is specifically showing a Goodman condenser fan motor replacement but the process for most makes and models is almost the same. The only big difference is the way the top of the condenser comes off to access the condenser fan motor. There are a lot of units that are much easier to change the fan motor than the Goodman.
What you will need
- 5/16th nut drive
- 1/4 nut drive
- Sandpaper or hand file
- Pliers
- Crescent wrench
- New motor OEM “Original equipment manufacturer” or Generic type. The RPM and Horsepower need to be the same as the motor you are replacing. If you are using a universal replacement you can select the wires to connect to achieve the correct HP & RPMs. The data for the motor is on a sticker on the side of the fan motor.
- WD-40 or another lubricant
- Voltage meter to ensure power is off
- electrical tape (not needed in all applications)
- 4 wire nuts (not needed in all applications)
- Single run capacitor. (Only needed with after-market motors.) If you use an OEM motor and the capacitor that’s in the unit tests well then you won’t need a new capacitor.
Turn The Power Off
The first thing you need to do is make sure all of the power is off. Make sure you turn off the power to the condenser by shutting off the breaker and or pulling out the fuses. You should also turn the thermostat to the off position and turn the power to your inside furnace or air handler off also.
Locate The Wires
The wires coming off the condenser fan motor on the vast majority of condensers are inside of a plastic or rubber round tube. The tube butts up against the condenser fan motor and runs along the top of the unit until it meets the metal housing of the condenser.
The wires you will need to remove will follow a chase down into the electrical compartment that has the contactor, capacitor, and other wires coming off the compressor. It’s not very hard to locate those wires and determine the color of the wires and exactly where those wires terminate to. If you are not familiar with where those wires terminate you will need to make yourself a record of where they go.
Remove the wires
You can use paper and pen or you can follow the wires and then take a picture of what color wire goes where. Regardless of the year and model of the system, you are working on the wires will terminate somewhere. So you will need to make sure you know exactly where the new wires go.
Go ahead and remove the wires from the capacitor, contactor, and or control board if that applies. Again make sure you remember the color of the wires and the exact location where they go back. Using your phone to take pictures is the best way to do that.
Make sure the wires are totally free and ready to slide through the hole when you take the top off and need to pull the wires through the hole.
Remove The Screws
Take the screws out of the upper housing that the fan motor is attached to. If you look at the picture below you can see my nut driver on The 5/16th screw. On the Goodman, the screws go all the way around and the whole top comes off.
Pull the top off
Be careful when removing the top. The fan blades can be very sharp. They will cut you very easily if you are not careful. Just take your time and make sure the fan blades don’t come into contact with your skin.
After you have removed all of the screws around the top you will need to pry off the top. Simply take your time and pull it up with your hand. When the top pulls off you may need to have assistance to hold the top or just balance it off to the side while you pull the condenser fan motor wires through the hole.
Be careful to not place any weight on the condenser fan blades. You will be using those again so you don’t want to bend them out of balance.
After the wires are through the hole and nothing is holding back the top from being placed on the ground go ahead and place the condenser top on the ground with the fan blades facing up.
Loosen The Fan Blade Bolt
In the picture below you see me pointing at the bolt holding the fan blade on the shaft of the motor. You will need to loosen that up almost all the way or even unscrew it all the way and set it aside in a safe location.
***IMPORTANT*** Don’t try to hit the shaft or start moving the fan blade up yet. There is an important step to do before that. If you loosen the bolt and it slides down a little it’s no big deal. You want it to slide down a little bit so you can sand just above the bolt area. Also, don’t hit the end of the shaft with anything trying to remove the fan blades. This will warp the top and make it almost impossible to remove.
Clean The Shaft
Now that you have the bolt loose the next step is to have some lubricant handy and a file or some sandpaper. Spray the WD-40 or other lubricant right on the shaft. You can see in the picture below my finger is pointing at the shaft. Spray it so it gets on the shaft and down inside the fan bolt area.
Take the sandpaper or file and sand the shaft. See the picture below where my finger is pointing. That is where you need to sand and apply the lubricant. The reason you are sanding and applying the lubricant is so the fan blade slides easily off the shaft and the new one slides right on.
Make sure you sand or file it extremely well. Don’t slack here. Take your time and sand the shaft and apply lubricant.
If you take your time and sand or file the shaft really well before trying to pull it up you won’t need a fan blade puller. If you rush and try pulling it up without filing down that area and lubricating it you will end up needing the fan blade puller.
I change out hundreds of condenser fan blades every year and I never need the fan blade puller as long as I file and lubricate the condenser fan motor shaft really well.
Pull Off The Fan Blades
As I mentioned above be careful when handling the fan blades because they will cut you if your skin hits the fan blades fast enough or with a lot of pressure.
Now that you have the shaft clean you can proceed to pull off the fan blades. Pull off the fan blades with your hand. sometimes you may need to apply a little pulling pressure but if you cleaned and lubricated the shaft well enough it will pull off fairly easily.
Remove The Motor Nuts
After the fan blades are removed the next step is to remove the nuts that hold the Goodman condenser fan motor to the housing.
Look at the picture below to see the nuts I’m referring to.
After you remove the nuts the motor can easily be removed.
Time To Reverse The Steps
If you are installing an OEM motor the steps to put the motor back on are simpler than if you are using an after-market motor. It’s not much different than using an OEM but there may be a few small differences.
The New Motor
Take the new motor and align the bolts on the motor to the holes in the housing. You are basically putting the motor back on the location you just took it off from.
More often than not the new motor will come with some new nuts to put on to hold the motor in place. If it does go ahead and use them.
If new nuts are not provided then you will need to use the old ones if they are reusable.
After you secure the new motor on the top housing you will need to flip the top over so you can put the blade back on the shaft.
Blades Back On Shaft
Go ahead and slide the blade back on the shaft. If you are installing an OEM motor simply refer to the old motor and shaft and measure the appropriate location on the shaft you need to install the fan blades.
If you don’t get the fan blades in the exact location it’s not the end of the world. However, you should try to get the blades as close to the same distance down from the top as possible.
Even if you are using an aftermarket motor you will be able to get the blade location a similar distance as the old one.
Tighten The Fan Blade Bolt
Tighten the fan blade bolt back to hold the fan blade to the shaft. Make sure the bolt is tightened in the location where the bolt hits the flat part of the shaft. Tighten it at the correct distance.
Insert the Wires
Before you pick up the whole top you will need to get the fan motor wires through the plastic protection sleeve. Almost all condensers regardless of the brand have a round plastic or rubber tube the wires go through.
The new motor may have connectors on the end of the wires that make it EXTREMELY hard to get through the pipe. If this is the case you will either need to use something to pull the wires through the pipe or you will need to cut the ends off the tires so you can push the wires through.
If you use something like a small wire you can attach the fan motor wires to the pull wire with the electrical tape. In some cases, you can pull them all through at the same time, and in other cases, you may need to pull them through individually.
Install top back
After the wires are back through the pipe and the fan blades are secure to the shaft and the fan motor bolts holding the fan motor to the shell you will need to put the whole top of the condenser back on the condenser.
Keep in mind the location the wires are coming out of the motor.
***ALIGN THE TOP CORRECTLY***
You need to align the top so the wires and the round tube align with the location of the hole the round tube with the wires in it needs to connect to.
With assistance or by balancing the top you will need to get the tube and the wires through the hole and back to the location, it was before.
Before you fasten the top back on with the screws make sure the wires and the round tube are in place and everything is ready for the top to be secured. You don’t want to have to take the top back off.
Put top back on
Put the top completely back on and then fasten all of the screws back around the top.
Especially with Goodman, Amana, And Daiken, the tops are a pain to get back in place. Just take your time and be careful you don’t pinch your fingers.
Put all of the screws in but leave the compartment cover door off so you can connect the wires.
Connect the Goodman fan motor wires.
If you are using an OEM motor the wire’s colors and locations will be the same. Simply refer to the pictures you took or the diagram you drew and connect them back.
If you are using an aftermarket motor you will have an extra step to wire the motor back.
Turn on power
After all of the wires are safely wired back in place you are ready to turn all of the power back on. Turn on all the power. The disconnect fuse, the furnace or air handler and put the thermostat on.
You have just successfully installed a Goodman condenser fan motor.
Would be nice to have the Goodman (GN) wiring for the motor to Generic (GC) wiring pairs. GM Purple to GN white, GM black to GC black, GC brown and GC brown white to new a start capacitor ( that needs attaching to wall of the chase), GM Red capped, GM brown removed (old cap).
I will be providing a follow-up post and video with more details on the specific wiring. Thanks for the advice.
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I agree.