2001 Nissan Xterra 3.3 2WD, Noise When AC is On (Fan in Dash Making a Noise)

This 2001 Nissan Xterra 3.3, 2WD, came into the shop for an oil service and a customer concern of noise when she would turn on her AC.

Verifying the concern, we could hear the blower motor making noise as it ran at all speeds. We set out to remove the motor to find out what was causing the noise. We suspected napkins or papers from the glove box.

First, we opened the glove box and removed the contents. On this model, to gain access to the blower motor you must remove the glove box. There are 6 Phillips screws that hold the glove box in place.

Remove these six screws.

Once the 6 screws/fasteners are removed, the blower motor is in plain view.

Next, we removed the 3 screws/fasteners that hold the blower motor in place.

When we removed the blower motor, here is what we found inside the fan assembly. I would say this would cause a bit of noise!

And, another view.

We made sure there was no more debris/trash in the housing where the fan sits. Below is a view of this chamber from the bottom looking up.

And another view of the same, from a slightly different angle and with the flash turned on, so it's easier to see.

Once that was done, we re-installed the blower motor. We then tested it to make surer it was quiet and it was. (We also went ahead and replaced the two cabin air filters while we were in the space, but we did not take photos of that procedure.)

We got it all back together and the fan now runs quietly on all speeds.