If you are an owner of a treadmill, sometimes you might want to open up the motor hood or base cover of the treadmill.
I have a NordicTrack treadmill, and in my experience, I usually want to remove the motor hood due to following reasons:
- Checking running motor
- Checking incline motor
- Inspect electrical board
- Routine maintenance
- Common problems troubleshooting
- Checking if the motors overheating
Here is the video on how I removed the motor hood on my NordicTrack treadmill.
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For safety issue, I would suggest you to never run on a treadmill with motor hood removed.
Make sure to install the motor hood back before starting your exercise sessions.
Steps to remove motor hood on NordicTrack Treadmill
Here is the step-by-step guide on how to remove the NordicTrack Treadmill’s motor hood or base cover.
- Turn off the power supply
As usual, safety is my number one concern when dealing with any type of maintenance work.
Please make sure you turn off the power supply as shown in the image below.
To double check the power supply is 100% turned off, in case you have a voltage stabilizer, please make sure the voltage stabilizer does not show signs of electrical power.
- Find the motor hood
I believe the motor hood of most treadmills is located at the front of the treadmill as shown in the image below:
You may use a clean cloth to wipe the surface of the motor hood to remove the dust.
- Remove the screws of the motor hood
The number of screws that hold the motor hood is different based on treadmill model.
For my Nordictrack treadmill C700, there are total 5 screws on the motor hood that need to be removed.
First, unscrew the RIGHT screw using a suitable screwdriver.
Next, inspect your front motor hood screws.
There are 3 front motor hood screws in my case.
I removed the leftmost screw first as shown in the image below:
There are another 2 screws to be removed.
The last screw for my treadmill is located at the LEFT side of the motor hood.
Overall, it is quite easy to remove all the screws of the motor hood.
- Remove any extra connectors or wire
Next, you should carefully inspect if there is any connector or wire attached to the motor hood.
If there is any, remove it before opening the motor hood.
- Lift and open the motor hood carefully
You should be able to lift and open the motor hood by now.
Do not rush, lift and open it gently, and also inspect if there are any connectors attached to the inner part of the motor hood.
In my case, motor hood of my treadmill does not have any extra connector attached to the motor hood.
- Perform your task
Now the motor hood is opened, you can perform any tasks that you wish.
Either is regular maintenance like cleaning, or performing troubleshooting related tasks:
- Check incline motor if the incline function is not working
- Check incline motor if it is stuck in upright position
- Inspect if the running belt is slipping to one side
- Learn why NordicTrack treadmill belt is not moving
- If the treadmill is not turning on, inspect any damage on the power input and reset button
- Check if there is any obstruction if the NordicTrack treadmill is making weird noise
The image below shows the components of the treadmill under the motor hood.
It consists of:
- Motor belt – Connects motor to the running rod and running belt
- Motor – To provide force to move the running belt
- Incline motor – Lift the running deck up and down, for treadmill’s incline function
- Electrical board – For electrical signal and electronic related functions
- Power input & Reset button connector – This part is where the power comes in, if this part is damaged, normally the electrical board won’t show any signs of electrical power
- Install the motor hood back
After completing your tasks, please install the motor hood back before start your workout sessions.
This is very important for safety.
Imagine if the motor hood is opened, and you accidentally put your foot inside the moving parts of the motor.
This is quite terrible to imagine how serious would you be injured.
To reassemble the motor hood back, just put the motor hood back to its original position.
Reattach any connectors/wire to the motor hood and tighten all the screws.
The motor hood is now in place and the treadmill is safe to use.