I ended up replacing the fan on our front a/c unit. I tried oiling the bearings using the oil ports on top of the motor but the bearings were too far gone. Not a challenging job but for anyone needing to replace their 90s era fan motor, there are a few that have the correct shaft diameter and length but they are a 4 wire motor. I bought a motor and capacitor on Amazon for $150. Our original was a 5 wire motor. The challenge comes in what to do with the extra common wire on the A/C unit from the thermostat as the wiring diagram tag on the new motor wasn't clear where the remaining common wire was to go. After some help from people smarter than me, I found the answer was to connect the common wire from the thermostat to the capacitor at the same side you plug the white wire from the motor labeled to go to the capacitor. The other brown wire still goes to the capacitor like the old 5 wire motor did. Easy when you have the knowledge for the job :). I'm sure most of you all already knew how to resolve this issue, but those like me, may need some help.
I've included the wiring diagram from the old unit as well in this post in case anyone is missing theirs.
$150 is a lot less than a replacement AC unit. I hope it lasts another 33 years.
Me too. This one was made in China and has no way to lubricate the bearings so it's doubtful it will survive 33 years but it works better than the one that gave up the ghost after 33 years :)
I have a new complete unit for 400$
My aircon units the last time I looked, the motor or pump had totally rusted and disintegrated away, all I had left was a powder of what used to be, I've decided its gonna be too expensive to buy and ship to UK, we don't really get it that hot even in the summer to Warrent using it anyway, I've seen these ones that work of 12 and 24 volt in trucks and I may eventually get one of those