760 GLE 1990 B280E ECC (working, sometimes)

[Laird Scooby]

You should be able to remove the plastic shell off the rear of the motor easily Steve, you may have to remove the patch lead that is often fitted if the motor has an oval power connector.

I'll try and get some photos tomorrow but once the plastic shell is off the back end, you can easily see the bearing in the motor end plate. Likewise you should be able to squirt some oil between the fan and the motor housing on the front end.

Try spinning it by hand, does it move freely? Normal direction of travel is clockwise as you view it in your photo.

If it's a bit stiff to turn, i would think adding some lube to the bearings as described might help clear the 233 code if it is stiff to turn. There is something else that might help but i'll need to look at my old one to see if that could even be possible before i suggest it.

The 161 code is the sunlight sensor in the front left speaker grille on the dash top. Nothing to worry about, ideally you need to shine a bright light onto it to prevent the code appearing but for now, you can more or less ignore that one.

The sensor you found and cleaned is the ambient air temperature sensor and will generate code 122 which mine was doing this evening when i tested mine to see what fault codes were present - i'm going to retest as i'd had the heater on.

Knowing from the aftermarket internal/external temp display/voltmeter/clock that the area in the footwell where that sensor is can get to quite a high temperature (40-50C) and for the purposes of extracting the codes, the temp selector has to be on minimum, it might be throwing me a curved ball.

I'd definitely try to get some oil onto the fan motor bearings and also check the heater box in the area of the fan to make sure there's nothing that could obstruct the fan blades.

[Laird Scooby]

As promised Steve, some pics of the motor.


Fan end ^^^^^




Fan ^^^^^

Note that that fan is from a 940 so the blades are the opposite way round to yours and is designed to run anticlockwise. However the profile etc is the same as the 760 fan.


The back end of the motor - note there is usually a simple plate on the end with the bearing in the centre, i removed it hoping to find the brushes on mine.

This is what you see when you remove the plastic cover from that end of the assembly.

[diccapilly]

Hello Dave,

Thank you for your response and for uploading the pictures.

Yes, I managed to take the rear shell off the motor, it was, as you say, easy and I was able to oil the rear bearing.

I was however unable to lever off the fan. I did not feel confident that I would not break it, even after soaking the spindle for a couple of days in WD40.

The fan at first suggested the slightest hesitation/resistance in moving. It has improved after the oiling. I oiled the front bearing as you suggested.

I also cleaned out the heater box. The replacement NRVs arrived and I dealt with a small split in one of the vacuum connectors with glue, a temporary fix until replacement/s are sourced.

Yes, the fins are the opposite way round and the motor I have, looks exactly the same as yours. I recognise the bright blue internal part and the copper wire and I can see where the simple back plate marries up with the motor casing, it is the same on mine. I did not think I should take the simple plate off the back of mine as I was not sure I could get it back on - without it falling off.

I have now put everything back together and I can very happily say that it is now operating as it should.

Like you I was particularly worried about condensation on the windscreen. The code I am getting now is a 161 but I know that is ok.

The other thing I did was replace some perished foam at the bottom right side of the rear shell, where there looks to be a drain hole. The foam sits between the shell and the heater box.

Thanks for your help. It is very much appreciated.

All the best.

Steve

[Laird Scooby]

Glad you got it sorted Steve and that the simple fix of lubing the bearings seems to have worked.

The fan takes some levering to get it to shift, i put the motor in a vice and used 2 tyre levers, both 24" long to evenly and simultaneously lever between the motor and the edge of the fan. Turned the fan a few times to ensure i got it all the way round and eventually it flew off like the Apollo rocket lifting off!

If it does happen that you need to replace the motor at some point, the good news is you can use the later 940 fan (but must be from an A/C car) but you need to swap the fans over and also reverse the polarity on the motor by changing the terminals round on the connector on the loom.

That's fairly easy to do, there is a cover/retainer on the plug that clips into place between the wires on the back end of the plug. Once released, get a paper clip and bend the end over with a pair of pliers and get the two lengths of the paper clip wire tight together side by side so they form a flat (ish) prong.

On the front end of the plug, you'll see a small slot underneath the terminal, slide the paper clip prong under this until resistance is felt then push a little harder. This pushes the retaining tang on the terminal up over the ridge in the plug housing so wiggling the wire end of the terminal usually releases it and you can pull the wire out of the housing.

Remember the colour codes of the wires as you need to swap them round. Repeat the paper clip procedure on the other one so you should have the two wires separated from the plug. Use a small screwdriver to ease the tang back out on the underside of the terminal then refit the wires to the plug in their opposite positions.

Refit the retainer clip on the back end of the plug and connect it.

Hopefully you'll never need those instructions but in case you do, there they are.

[diccapilly]

Hello Dave,

Thank you for your post and for the instructions on how to replace the motor with one from a 940.

Quick question - are you able to replace the bushes on these motors?

I notice in one of your pictures you say "hoping to find the bushes".

I ask because once again the intermittent element has returned. At the moment it is as good as gold but since the lubing there have been 2 occasions when the dreaded flashing light appeared - with the 233 error code.

I'm thinking, worn bushes but are there replaceable?

All the best - Steve.

[Laird Scooby]

I'd certainly agree with worn brushes Steve, i never did find the brushes in the motor and experience suggests to me that a degree of destructive dismantling would be needed to find them, quite probably to the point that couldn't be returned from without the original machinery/tooling to rejoin the various case parts.

Even then you might be lucky to do it succcessfully.

I'd suggest investing in a 940 (with air con) fan motor and swapping the fan onto it.

[diccapilly]

Hi Dave,

It is good to receive your prompt response, it is much appreciated.

I'm going to see if I can get to the bushes and if possible to replace them.

Obviously, I'll need to send the fan into orbit and take off that simple back plate.

Your account on that matter will come in handy, so thank you for that.

All the very best.

Steve

[Laird Scooby]

In case it all goes horribly wrong and parts end up disappearing at a rate of knots into the great unknown Steve, this might help :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940...n/153398606604

There are a few cheaper ones on fleabay but they're from Lithuania and the guys feedback isn't great - non-delivery, broken/non-working items sent and so on.

There is another from a Volvo breaker i've used many times as well :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-940...1/401373114265

Only a penny more and i've never had any problems with that seller.

[diccapilly]

Hello Dave,

Thanks for the information and links.

Recent Developments.

I have sourced a new fan. Surprise surprise it is behaving in exactly the same way as the old fan.

One discovery of interest, which I think is revealing, is that both the fans work perfectly when the ignition key is in position 1. I can even adjust the strength from 1 upwards and the fans comply happily. The fans seem to be fine!

Except when the engine is running. What happens is, with the engine running, I turn the control from 0 to 1, after a moments delay there is a brief rotation of the fan, then it stops and then the blue light starts flashing. When testing for the fault code I get 233.

I think the source of the problem must be electrical but where to start?

I'm pretty confident that the fan/s are fine.

Any ideas/thoughts would be most welcome.

Cheers

Steve

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by diccapilly

Hello Dave,

Thanks for the information and links.

Recent Developments.

I have sourced a new fan. Surprise surprise it is behaving in exactly the same way as the old fan.

One discovery of interest, which I think is revealing, is that both the fans work perfectly when the ignition key is in position 1. I can even adjust the strength from 1 upwards and the fans comply happily. The fans seem to be fine!

Except when the engine is running. What happens is, with the engine running, I turn the control from 0 to 1, after a moments delay there is a brief rotation of the fan, then it stops and then the blue light starts flashing. When testing for the fault code I get 233.

I think the source of the problem must be electrical but where to start?

I'm pretty confident that the fan/s are fine.

Any ideas/thoughts would be most welcome.

Cheers

Steve

That's a new one on me Steve! Leave it with me, i'm not going to be able to give it any coherent thought tonight (short storty is i'm suffering with my back at the moment and have taken some pills that are meant to be muscle relaxants - they're "me" relaxants!) but first thought suggests a dry joint somewhere in the control system. As the battery voltage is lower on pos 1, the current draw will also be lower. Start the car and the battery voltage will be higher so higher current draw, warms up the dry joint causing high resistance on it.

Question is where is it likely to be first and second, if that's the most likely problem. You could try pulling and refitting the heater fan fuse a few times, see if that fixes it, i've had a lot of faults recently on both cars due to oxdisation on the blade fuse blades through age, pull and refit a few times, problems solved.

Worth giving it a try while i become human again!