I am going to install a new capacitor to my Goodman Furnace this weekend. Any advice or suggestions as to some things I may need to watch out for or be careful with? The capacitor has two prongs on top with a wire connected to each. It also looks as if there is only 2 bolts on the top holding the capacitor in place. Is it just a matter of unconnecting the two wires and unscrewing the two bolts on top of the capacitor? Let me know..

 

1st off are you sure it needs a new capacitor ??

To replace it just turn of the power to the furnace, then short across the capacitors terminals with a well insulated screwdriver to drain any stored voltage that may be in it, remove the wires and the mounting bracket. That's it.

 

Im a newbie, can you tell me what you mean when you say "short across the capacitors terminals with a well insulated screwdriver" ?

The blower motor to the furnace is not coming on. Its making a humming noise. It still turns freely when I turn it with my hand. I disconnected the capacitor and the motor hums very loudly.. then when I connect the capacitor the humming gets lower and it sounds like it may be trying to start but there is not enough juice coming from the capacitor to make it happen. I dont have a device to check the voltages or to hard start the capacitor. Someone had just suggested to me that it may be the capacitor thats bad. And that it would be the cheapest and easiest part to change out. My house is only 6 years old, is it common for a blower motor to go out that soon? Any other suggestions?

 

Make sure the power is off. Using the blade of a well insulated screwdriver, make contact with both sets of terminals of the capacitor at the same time. This will drain any stored voltage & prevent a possible nasty shock. Just make sure you are not touching the shank or blade of the screwdriver when doing this.

It is kind of unusual for a blower motor or it's capacitor to go out in only 6 years. Not unheard of, just unusual. Make sure to take the capacitor with you when you go to get a new one. Almost any place which sells capacitors can also test them.

 

Thanks for the info.. I will take it out and go get the replacement tomorrow. I will definitely post results afterwards. My wife reminded me of a symptom that I forgot about earlier. Every now and then we would smell a burned smell in the house before we actually realized that the unit was no longer working. We are not actually sure when it stopped. Could this smell had been from us turning the heat or ac on and the blower was not working properly but still on, causing it to overheat? Of could this have been from the capacitor blowing out?

 

If you had the heat on & the fan did not run, it is highly possible this was the cause of the smell. The fan not running would have been the result not the cause of a bad capacitor.

 

Well, I took the capacitor to the appliance shop, they tested and it is NOT the capacitor. The capacitor tested fine. Now I had a tech come out today just make sure, and he told me what my buddy told me which is " The Blower Motor needs replacing." The tech said that the job would cost me $339.52. He said the price of the Blower motor and capacitor along with all the parts would be $214.52 and the labor is $125. Is this a good price..
The furnace is a Goodman Furnace model GMP100L5 Rev B
serial # 0104615993
3/4 Horsepower Motor
7 years old

Is the total he is charging me reasonable? how much does a blower motor normally cost?

 

Sounds a little on the high side but 3/4 hp motors are not cheap. Also, sometimes manufacturers use motors with welded on brackets or some other gimmick to make replacement with other than their parts difficult. If that price of $340 includes the initial service call, I'd say it is pretty reasonable.

 

What the average labor charge for a job like this? And long does it generally take to replace the blower motor and capacitor on a Goodman Furnace?

 

Couldn't begin to tell you "average" labor cost or time to do the job. Some are a piece of cake, some are a real bear. I just do them & what ever time it takes, well that is what it takes.