Heh, I've never actually paid for a cap myself, the company buys them. But I'd be surprised if that one is more than $20. They're not hard to replace, do it wire-by-wire and discharge both of them with an old screwdriver before you start. And kill the power to your furnace via the fused disconnect switch that should be next to it.

You'll have to take the old one to a AC supply place so they can get you the right replacement, I don't believe the home improvement stores carry them, but I've never looked for them there so I may be wrong.

And I had a condenser fan doing the same intermittent screech not too long ago, I ended up replacing it.

So, it's making that noise again. I made a video showing the issue. What I turned earlier is in fact a motor, not a fan. I was able to capture what that noise was, even though it meant turning off the A/C.

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BbE7r0RboSs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I hate my voice on video by the way. Oh well, this is more important.

Heh, I hate listening to my recorded voice as well.

That finned wheel is actually your fan, it's a "squirrel cage" type fan as opposed to a bladed one. What you see on that confined side is the actual motor, and what you're using to start it is the motor shaft. It almost sounds like that fan is rubbing on something?

And WD-40 isn't a very good lubricant. I'd recommend using just about anything else.

After watching it again, I'm leaning towards the bearing in the motor being shot. If you want to try lubing it pulling the blower isn't hard, it's usually just a couple 1/4" sheet metal screws and then the whole unit will slide out. That may be an exercise in futility though.

Maybe Chief Roundup will chime in, he has quite a bit more experience than me.

I had this exact problem several years ago. It is the bearings in the motor. New motor is in order.

poop. well, rep anyway :P

So.****ing.frustrating. It was working well for a while, now... nothing. Pushing the safety button down turns the red light on the circuit board thing on for a split-second, then it goes off. No humming, no attempt to start by that motor.. nothing. I went outside to see what type of air conditioner we have; looks like an old York. There's a ton of ice around the hoses and a few components in the outside "box" unit (sorry, I'm reeruned and don't know the name for this). Two things: 1) am I looking at a new motor here, or some smaller component? I doubt the ice has anything to do with this, sounds like the motor is our culprit..

2) What's the price range I could be looking at to replace this? Any chance I could replace the motor myself, with a how-to video or something? Can I find and buy a motor and simply pay someone labor to install it?

Okay, that's more than two questions. You guys are the best.

Yikes. I'm in the middle of cooking right now, I'll try to address as many of those issues as I can in a little while here.

No worries! Your help is super appreciated already.

Ok, the ice may or may not be related to the blower. It's possible it froze up if you've allowed it to run without the blower, or it could be a result of it being undercharged. It's hard to say at this point. Have you ever noticed ice out there before?

Anyone with any mechanical skills can change out a blower motor and cap (you always replace the cap when you replace the motor). But with the time you'd spend pulling it and chasing one down, you'd probably be better off calling a pro to do it, and they can check the charge for you as well, that's something that you cannot do.

And again, I have really no idea on pricing. Depending on who you call I'd guess anywhere between $200-300 to have blower motor and cap replaced and the system checked out.

Holy crap, that's, quite literally, a small percentage of what we were expecting. I'll mentally still prepare for the worst, but that's some silver lining. I've got a guy coming out tomorrow, who was recommended by my fiance's dad (a retired contractor). Will let you guys know how it turns out. Thanks to all for their help, though!

The most expensive repairs to an AC system are the coils or the compressor. When one of those go bad is when you start weighing whether a system should be replaced or not.

Thanks Bug! Hey, can you translate this to Spanish, so then I could pass it on to the crew that comes to service my HVAC every 6 months. oh wait....

Last night SUUUUCKED. I'd be surprised if my cumulative sleep was more than a couple hours. Sweaty sleep sucks, too. Anyway, we got the guy to come over, he confirmed it was the blower motor (apparently it was much harder to turn than it should be). Had it replaced in about an hour and a half. Whole thing, plus a refill of refrigerant (I think that's what he refilled.. I R dumb.) was $300. That sound like a good deal?

Eh, he probably checked the charge and added some, which kinda worries me because you can't get an accurate charge with a lot of hot, humid air inside the house. I bet he ended up overcharging it.

I should have mentioned something about that yesterday, although it likely wouldn't have mattered because most guys aren't going to want to make a second trip out after the house is cooled to check the charge. Kind of a shitty part of the business.

Other than that it doesn't sound like too bad of a deal seeing that it was in the price range that I completely guessed at.

Oh, and obviously the drag on the blower wheel from the bad bearing is why the cap couldn't get it going. I'll have to remember that as something to look out for.