A fault condition is diagnosed in an electric machine that includes a rotor and a plurality of permanent magnets. To do so, the rotor is rotated so that each of the plurality of permanent magnets passes a magnetic flux density sensor, and the values of magnetic flux density are measured using the magnetic flux density sensor at a plurality of positions of the rotor. The measured values of magnetic flux density are analyzed and a magnitude of a peak amplitude is compared in a time or frequency domain with a reference value. If the peak amplitude is below the reference value, the electric machine is determined to have a fault condition.