S60 no cabin airflow

[Fanfare5826]

Hi all,

Recently purchased my first Volvo - 2012 S60 D4. Loving it other than one thing. Forgot to check the cabin fans before purchase, and none of them work. Great for our record setting heatwave over in the UK . I can turn on the fans to max speed and on any speed setting, hot/cold, A/C on/off, none of the vents have much airflow at all. I think I can feel a slight bit, but I might just be imagining it.

I'm about to pull the glovebox out and check the filter and the fan motor itself, they seem easy enough to check. What else should I be looking for? I keep hearing about some door flaps that might get blocked but "behind the glovebox at the top of the firewall" is all I've got to go on and I've no idea what they should look like.

[jasmith44]

Have you got them turned on on the center console,it looks like an armchair.

[Fanfare5826]

Yep all 3 are on and no air from all 3 locations

[SnineT]

Check the fuses, it's probably a relay though, you might want to check the pollen filter isn't blocked as well,

Reasoning? all 4 vent motors appear to be inoperative, the chances of all 4 failing at once is remote assuming there are 4, I don't know the car so I can only give you ideas.

[Chrisv60]

The Volvo ventilation is pretty powerful and quite noisy when turned up full. I would imagine you'd still hear it easily with the vents or filters blocked. If you can't hear it then it's unlikely the fan is running for whatever reason.

[Fanfare5826]

Just tested the fuse for it and it's fine. I can hear the flaps opening, and I can't hear any clicking or grinding like listed in step 11 of this. I taped a bit of paper over one of the vents in the cabin and turned it up, there is some slight flow for sure.

I should have said in the OP, I can hear the fan when I turn it on, pretty noisy indeed. Definitely thinking it's the pollen filter now. Figured even if it's not that, if I'm taking the glovebox out now anyway for £15 might as well replace it now. I won't have a new filter until tomorrow but would like to get started tonight while it's cooler. I'm assuming it's safe to run the fans without any filter in place? At least that would verify the filter was blocking the flow.

[Tannaton]

So it sounds like the fans are working but there is little airflow....

What's the mileage/history of the car?

My money would be on a blocked filter. I once bought a Ford Ranger with 100k on it from a Landscaping company that serviced it in their own workshops. Immediately had issues with very poor airflow, the cause was the cabin filter had never been changed, you could have grown potato's in it....

[SnineT]

Disregard, you've since ruled that out as I was posting.


Don't run it without a filter in it you'll drag all sorts of muck into the vent pipes and probably end up with a dry leaf that becomes a cazoo when the fans are running, test it by all means but don't risk introducing contaminates into it, if you can just take the filter out and leave it to soak in some Daz for the afternoon I'M KIDDING!

Simply remove it and bang it as if you were cleaning a rug in the garden, it would help if you know where the air comes in from and hoover that area before you run without a filter for a test, a soft paint brush is ideal for sweeping out the filter.

[Fanfare5826]

Cheers, I'll give that a go when it cools off a little :P

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by Fanfare5826

Cheers, I'll give that a go when it cools off a little :P

How did it end?