Stuck in heater matrix replacement...

[martin calva]

My V90's heater needs replacing. I have followed the excellent and clear advice of keithC70 https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=61218

I quickly (ie a day and a half of work) removed the seats, the antifreeze-soaked-carpets, the panelling, the centre console, the radio and other parts.

I should now be at the stage where I can remove the matrix housing to get access to the heater matrix. I can see the screws at the bottom and at the right side that need to be removed. But I can see only two of the four screws at the top. The other two are behind an air duct to the windscreen vents and another duct to the right hand face level vent. The following photo shows the two visible screws and the ducts.


I'd be very grateful for any advice from anybody who has actually done this job. What am I missing? At the present point I am simply stuck.

Martin

[martin calva]

After another day of uncomfortable contortionism, while trying to do the equivalent of solving a 3D Chinese puzzle in the dark, I finally managed to extract the tenth matrix housing screw. So my V90 heater matrix replacement project is back on the rails.



I had undone a screw that holds the duct running to the windscreen vents in place and tugged the duct to give some additional space. With the extra space available, I could just touch the head of the tenth 5.5mm screw with my fingertips. After trying a number of different approaches, I managed, entirely by feel, to seat a 5.5mm socket on the screw head and, via a ¼" universal joint and several ¼" extensions, with a ¼" ratchet wrench, slowly unscrew it. Because of the use of the universal joint, it was not easy to get the socket to stay in place on the head of the screw. The photo above shows the duct in its original position, before being tugged forward.

A helpful forum member had previously told me about the screws: "There will be the few hidden on top of the box that will be a bastard to remove." An understatement, to say the least. He also said, later, "One of the few times I fell out of love with my car...".

In my view, scandalous that Volvo should make it so difficult to replace a part that is almost bound to fail two or three times in the life of the car. Anyway, I should now be able to continue the process of replacing the matrix, following keithC70's instructions.