Blower motor rattles. Worth a trip to the dealer?

[elementCX5]

I can't imagine the cabin filter causing a problem.
Do you live where there is a corrosive atmosphere, or near the ocean? Maybe that could do something, but it seems there are more than one bad motor in inventory.

I live in Phoenix so temps are pretty hot. Could be causing excessive heat to the bearings or motor?
But vehicles are stress tested in hot climates though and I never had issues with other vehicles. If the heat was causing the issues I would imagine it would be affecting many vehicles in the south west.
I also use a sun shade most the year to keep cabin temps down and so the dash isnt getting beat on by the sun.

 

[chickdr]

Plus, I would expect to see others popping up here saying, yes, I live in AZ, NV, NM and I had the same issue. There is something off on your car. I felt the same way about the front brakes on my '21. It had a repeated issue with a brake shudder which did not happen on my 19 with smaller front rotors. I suspect there was a caliper issue or something else which was causing a shudder over time.

 

[abab9090]

They are not replacing mine. They say it is due to debris inside the motor. I just bought and used car 27k miles driven.

The part seems to be expensive, any aftermarket dealer I can buy this from?

 

[chickdr]

You could likely vacuum it if that is the case. Not too hard to get to. Check YouTube.

 

[GFrosty]

They are not replacing mine. They say it is due to debris inside the motor. I just bought and used car 27k miles driven.

The part seems to be expensive, any aftermarket dealer I can buy this from?

Had some minor "clacking" noises from mine, then it finally gave up the ghost. Had to replace it. Opted for a VDO/Continental after-market unit from RockAuto. Much less expensive than the dealer one. And, months later, it's still purring away.

For my 2016.5 CX-5 at least, the spot is easy to access. Removed the glovebox door, then removed the handful of screws for the unit and its electrical connector from the lead. The unit just falls out, at which point you can shake/vacuum out whatever leaves might be stuck in the vanes. If going with a new unit, just swap-in the new, reinstall the screws, reattach the electrical connector, then put the glovebox door back on. About a half hour's effort, more or less.

I would guess that your specific model would be equally simple to accomplish. Could do the removal and vacuuming, to see if that's all it is. If it's not leaves and is instead the motor itself, then it's simple enough to then purchase an after-market unit and do a second install.

G

2013~2016 Post in thread 'CX-5 HVAC stopped blowing'

Dec 23, 2025

I am thinking of going with an aftermarket blower from Amazon.

Recently had the blower motor fail in my 2016.5 CX-5. Replaced with a VDO/Continental unit from RockAuto. Works great.

In my case, the temperature control still showed it was creating hot/cold air from the system (easily found 'leaking' from the vents when at highway speed). It just wasn't blowing that air into the cabin. I installed the new blower, along with the two heater/AC related fuses in the engine bay's fuse block. Those fuses weren't "blown", but all the fuses in...

• GFrosty

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[dunhillmc]

They are not replacing mine. They say it is due to debris inside the motor. I just bought and used car 27k miles driven.

The part seems to be expensive, any aftermarket dealer I can buy this from?

I just check the OEM pricing. Seems like it's gone up about $70 over the last few months