V70 Climate blower fan - Blow me down with a feather.

[MG68]

So, this morning, went out to find the car caked in frost. Hadn't driven it since Friday.

Started it up, and went to pop the fan on full. Nothing. Green lights lit up all around the button but zero output. Great, supposed to be taking the missus over to the IOW for her business meeting, so she left in her BMW which I hate driving as the seats are so uncomfortable. While I looked for a solution...

Checked and replaced the 30A fuse, just in case. Nothing. Took it for a drive once the sun had done the defunct blowers job, just in case it might spring back to life once back up to temp. Nothing.

Spent the morning searching on here for answers. Nothing obvious. Spoke to various garages about diagnosis, my friendly breakers yard (Huddersfield Volvo Breakers) about a replacement blower motor. No garages had space this week anyway. Even called the local Volvo dealership, they couldn't help this week, but could book me in for a diagnostic hour at £103 inc vat after Xmas Sir.

So, bottom line, was looking at leaving the car on the drive for Xmas period, and another small investment to keep the 629k-er moving. (NO fan in the winter not good).

Then happened across a comment on Matthewsvolvosite.com. Underneath the PDFs for removing various dash parts, just in case I felt brave enough to find what I thought might be the offending article, the blower motor.

"...Tip 1. It might not be the blower. After I did all the above I saw another post. My friendly mechanic had done a full DTC scan, gratis. Under the Climate Control Unit I had DTC code 0001 Blower Fan Motor Signal Too Low, and DTC 0003 Blower Fan Motor Passenger Compartment Temperature Sensor: Faulty Signal. Turns out, inside the CCU, there is a little fan that blows cabin air across a temperature sensor. There is a tiny 1 cm x 1 cm grill with 3 slots on the front of the center console unit. After I did the above blower out and back in job, thanks to the Internet, I discovered that the ECU monitors whether that little fan rotates. If it doesn't, it essentially shuts down the whole climate control system. Dust bunnies. I could see them on the outside of the grill. They had essentially accumulated enough to stop the fan from turning. Holy crap! Pulled out the Hoover, sucked out that dust, and low and behold, the whole thing's working like a charm. You probably could pull the CCU and do a more thorough job of cleaning, but I'll save it for a warmer day..."

There was a load of dust and crud on said aperture. Just gave it a..blow job..for better want of a description as the vac was out of reach.

And knock me down with a feather, the fan kicked straight back into life.

I think I might start to believe in Father Christmas again.

Enjoy the Xmas festivities one and all.

[JamesD]

Nice job

[MG68]

Yep, feels like I've won the lottery, well at least 4 numbers up.

I guess the moral of the story is keep those flaps free of dust..;-)

[oragex]

I wonder if all models had this small fan? This one didn't appear to have one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riC13zbjdgg

[MG68]

That remedy didn't last long - went out this morning, nice and frosty and no blower fan again. It was a little slow off the mark the other day, only starting up after about 10 miles, when it felt like it.

I think, sadly, the time is nearing for the car and I to part company.

[oragex]

Replacing it with a used unit is doable, a few Youtube videos show it.

A used unit must be tested for turning easily as these have a tendency to seize with time.

If you decide the scrap the car, it would be cool to make a short video with a short drive and upload it on Youtube, to share this high mileage car. I think people will enjoy watching it

There is not other 2001-2009 Volvo with so many miles https://www.volvoclub.org.uk/miles.php

[MG68]

Thanks for the info.

Who mentioned scrapping it? I bet it drives better than many out there with a fraction of the miles.

No, I'll get the heater blower fixed and then take a view on it.