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Condenser fan motor: what it really costs

Looks like the capacitor. Costs about ten times as much.

$80–$300 part. $300–$700 bill. The part is about 38% of a typical bill.
The part
$80–$300
what the component itself costs
Contractor bill
$300–$700
all-in, parts and labour

What it is

The fan on top of the outdoor unit that pulls air across the condenser coil. Without it the system overheats and shuts down on high pressure within minutes.

What you would notice

  • The fan does not spin while the compressor hums
  • The fan spins slowly, wobbles, or grinds
  • The outdoor unit is far too hot to touch
  • It cools for a few minutes then trips off

Can you do this yourself?

Pay a professional

High voltage, a heavy fan assembly, and a motor that has to be matched on voltage, rotation and mount. This is real work and worth paying for — but insist the capacitor is ruled out first, because the symptoms are nearly identical and the price is not.

What to say when you call

"Before we replace the motor — has the capacitor been tested? Those symptoms overlap and the price doesn't."

Red flags

  • A motor replacement with no capacitor test documented
  • A quote approaching replacement cost on a young system

The call-out alone runs $100–$250 before any work, plus $40–80/hr on top, evenings and weekends. A whole new system is $3,800–$7,500 — compare every quote to that.

Where these numbers come from

  • Angi, HVAC repair cost guide

Did it turn out to be this?

Nobody has ever published how often an AC call turns out to be something cheap — the best figure available anywhere is one company's marketing page. So we are building it. No account, no email, and your ZIP is cut to three digits before it is sent.

← Every AC repair, with both numbers

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