2017 Pathfinder with 66.5k miles. Rattling sound with AC/Heat. Diagnosed at dealership as needing a new cooling fan assembly at $1218, almost $1294 with taxes.

Started making a rattling sound coming from the engine a few days ago. Initially, we heard a really, really loud winding sound that kept winding for about 1/2 mile until it stopped on its own while we were driving. The next day it was making a rattle when we would run the heater or AC in any way. The rattle would start when we would start up the AC/Heater, and the rattle stop when we would stop the AC/Heater. It wasn't super loud while we were driving but if you paid attention you could definitely hear it, especially in a drive thru where you are next to a block wall with the window rolled down. When we stopped the heat/cool, the rattle would stop but it would make a lasting "exhaling" sound for about 2-3 seconds. Sounded like something was coming to a stop and "exhaling".

I opened the hood with the engine running but no AC running. No rattle. I started up the AC and within a minute the rattle started. I could hear the sound coming from the front of the engine like something was loose and rattling against another component near the radiator. Stopped the AC, the rattle stopped.

The dealership (Tomball, TX) said they know of a problem like this with the fan assembly on the Pathfinders before even looking at my vehicle. After looking at the vehicle, they said the following:

"Issue: Inspected vehicle and found cooling fans out of balance and wobble causing issue. (Faulty Fan Assembly). Recommendation: Remove and replace cooling fan assembly with new to correct issue."

This was marked as critical and that it is dangerous to drive like this as it could cause damage to the rest of the engine.

I live in Arizona so AC going out is a pretty important issue. The loud vibration sound that all of the sudden started happening could be felt inside the car. The mechanic said if not repaired the fan looked like it would break through the shroud and cause other damage.

This car only has 40,000 miles on it which is way too new and early to have an AC fan go out. This is a reported problem and I found 100's of other complaints about this issue and needing to replace the entire Fan Assembly to repair it. The mechanic said they have repaired this same issue multiple times on Nissan Pathfinders. Why isn't there a recall?

The fan for the ac/heater started making a very loud noise, like it's going out. Started off just being minimal, but now as soon you turn it on it starts making the noise. Haven't taken it in to the the dealer yet, have read online it's happened to 100's of Pathfinders starting with 2013 models, usually happens around 40k-50k miles. And those that reported said it was a $1,000 fix. This is ridiculous that it's been going on for this many years and not recalled yet. Nissan does not make vehicles like they used to and they don't stand behind their product like they used to either.

Update from Jan 14, 2019: Had to replace the dual cooling fans. $900 fix. Apparently it's a problem with this model of Pathfinder.