Goodman gas furnaces and central air conditioners are a common pair in San Leandro homes, along with Goodman heat pumps, air handlers and package units. Most calls come down to one failed part: a flame sensor or igniter in the furnace, a capacitor or contactor outdoors, a clogged condensate drain or a refrigerant leak. Many of those parts are standard, and the technician carries the common ones, so a lot of Goodman repairs are finished on the first visit.
Which Goodman unit you have
- Air conditioners — single-stage units such as the GSX16, and higher-efficiency GSXC18 models.
- Heat pumps — such as the GSZC18, usually paired with a Goodman air handler.
- Gas furnaces — 96% condensing furnaces such as the GMVC96, and the GCVC96 counterflow version for homes whose ducts run under the floor.
- Air handlers and package units — the indoor half of a heat pump system, and all-in-one units that sit outside.
Goodman’s higher-end equipment uses ComfortBridge technology, where the indoor and outdoor units share data and report faults as codes. On those systems a replacement board has to match and be set up for the system.
Condensing furnaces: the drain, the vent and the pressure switch
A 96% furnace pulls so much heat out of the exhaust that water condenses inside it. That water runs through a trap and a drain line, and the cooled exhaust leaves through plastic vent pipe. Three common problems follow from that design:
- A plugged trap or drain. Water backs up toward the inducer, the pressure switch cannot prove the draft and the furnace locks out — often on the first cold mornings of the season.
- A blocked or sagging vent. Debris at the outside termination or a low spot holding water produces the same pressure-switch fault.
- Cracked or water-filled pressure-switch hoses. A small part that can stop the whole furnace.
So before any part is ordered, the technician checks the trap, the drain, the hoses and the vent run. In a hall closet over a crawlspace duct system, a counterflow GCVC96 has the same parts in a different orientation, with the blower on top and the drain routed differently. More on furnace repair, and on typical costs in the furnace repair cost guide.
Air conditioner and heat pump calls
- Outdoor unit hums, fan still — usually the run capacitor, sometimes the fan motor.
- Nothing runs outside, thermostat calling — a pitted contactor, a tripped breaker or the outdoor disconnect.
- Long run times, ice on the copper line — low airflow or a refrigerant leak; the leak is found before any refrigerant is added.
- Heat pump will not heat, or ices up — the defrost control or sensor, or a reversing valve stuck in one mode.
See AC repair and heat pump repair for how these are tested.
The compressor warranty question
Goodman has offered a lifetime compressor limited warranty on qualifying units, and many owners remember that the day the AC stops. Three points to know:
- It applies only to qualifying models, normally only when the unit was registered after installation, and coverage can depend on whether you are the original owner.
- It covers the compressor itself. Labor, refrigerant and other parts are usually not included.
- Most no-cooling calls are not the compressor. A failed capacitor or contactor can keep a good compressor from starting and look exactly like a dead one, so testing comes first.
Other replacement parts keep the manufacturer’s parts warranty, and our repairs carry a 90-day warranty.
What to have ready
Photograph the data plate on the side of the outdoor unit and the label inside the furnace’s front panel; both list the model and serial number. Note the blink code on the furnace board if there is one, and find the registration confirmation if the system was registered. The technician can then confirm the model and explain the parts options before quoting.
Repair or replace?
One failed part on a sound system is worth fixing. A cracked heat exchanger, a failed compressor out of warranty or repeated breakdowns on an older system are when replacement usually makes more sense. Our furnace repair-or-replace guide explains the usual deciding points, and we handle furnace installation and AC installation when it is time.
Local notes
In San Leandro and San Lorenzo, many post-war homes have ducts in the crawlspace and the furnace in a hall closet or garage. Heating runs mostly from November to March, and cooling peaks on warm late-summer and fall afternoons, so a fall furnace tune-up and a spring check of the outdoor unit catch most Goodman problems before the season does.