Volvo C30 heater motor replacement

[cromaloop]

So I took the plunge and did the heater motor in my 2009 c30 as it had just stopped working. I was warned it was a dreadful job and you weren't wrong. I knew it would be bad as a volvo specialist quoted £750 plus vat to do the change.
It involves full dashboard removal starting in the glove box area, fuse box and remove everything across to drivers side and all around steering rack including undoing the steering mounts to get the access.

Under the passenger dashboard behind the glove box right up underneath you will see the tube that allows outside air in or recirculate interior air, there are 3 tiny torx screws that have to be removed with a long screwdriver and the tube taken out you can then see the fan side of the motor. Volvo have a special tool to remove this that fits through small hole in the fan and locks it into the motor unit to twist it out. It's not commercially available so I had to improvise.
On the drivers side you need a chisel and hammer and take some if the moulding on view from the hole at the drivers side foot blower tube and cut it out to the left side metal mount you can see next to the steering rack
When the hole.is opened you can feel a strengthener on the back and cut that out to the edge of the strengthener, this gives you enough room to get your hand in the drivers side of the fan. You can soon feel the lock that needs to be depressed to unscrew the fan motor and unplug the electric plug.
The fan comes out the passenger side and to replace you have to put back in and then will need a friend to gently push the middle of the fan while you use your hand to locate the fan back in then twist and a click and its locked in place then reconnect and put all that crap back together

Total job time was 8 hours and torx screwdriver set and 8 & 10mm sockets required

I'll add some photos when I figure it out

[cromaloop]

Remove glovebox and all of the dashboard


Up under passenger dashboard is the long heater inlet tube that needs to be removed by 3 small torx screws hidden around the inner edge



This will expose the fan end of the motor and this is the only way to get the replacement in or out of the car, the fan just twists into place but has a small tag that locks it into place on the other side that you need to depress to release it and also remove the electric connector


To access this you can either remove all of the steering column completely or drop the steering column and cut a hole on the drivers side of the mouldings under the dashboard to access the other side of the fan.
This is easy and quick to do and lets you plug the connectors back in
To replace the new motor you will need a second person to hold the fan roughly in the correct position while you line it up then twist and it locks in the connect the power cable

[fishbone]

Originally Posted by cromaloop

So I took the plunge and did the heater motor in my 2009 c30 as it had just stopped working. I was warned it was a dreadful job and you weren't wrong. I knew it would be bad as a volvo specialist quoted £750 plus vat to do the change.
It involves full dashboard removal starting in the glove box area, fuse box and remove everything across to drivers side and all around steering rack including undoing the steering mounts to get the access.

Under the passenger dashboard behind the glove box right up underneath you will see the tube that allows outside air in or recirculate interior air, there are 3 tiny torx screws that have to be removed with a long screwdriver and the tube taken out you can then see the fan side of the motor. Volvo have a special tool to remove this that fits through small hole in the fan and locks it into the motor unit to twist it out. It's not commercially available so I had to improvise.
On the drivers side you need a chisel and hammer and take some if the moulding on view from the hole at the drivers side foot blower tube and cut it out to the left side metal mount you can see next to the steering rack
When the hole.is opened you can feel a strengthener on the back and cut that out to the edge of the strengthener, this gives you enough room to get your hand in the drivers side of the fan. You can soon feel the lock that needs to be depressed to unscrew the fan motor and unplug the electric plug.
The fan comes out the passenger side and to replace you have to put back in and then will need a friend to gently push the middle of the fan while you use your hand to locate the fan back in then twist and a click and its locked in place then reconnect and put all that crap back together

Total job time was 8 hours and torx screwdriver set and 8 & 10mm sockets required

I'll add some photos when I figure it out

Thank you for sharing photos and an idea to cut a hole. I've done the same and finally could swap a blower fan. After check I found dead transistor on old one but unfortunally blades on new one were damaged. It works now but makes crazy noise and vibrations so I have to order new one and to do replacement again. At least now I know the way how to.

Just one question. It was very difficult to remove inlet tube and even more stick it back. There is no room to pull it out. How have you done it??

[cromaloop]

The inlet tube on the passenger side is reasonably easy it's just finding the 3 screws that hold it in place, if you can buy proper torx screwdrivers with magnetic heads that will help massively when putting it back as the screws are very awkward
You have to pull slightly then twist it over while removing and pull it down behind the torsion bar where the fuse box sits
When removing the fan the clip that locks it in place is at around 2 o clock, as soon as you find it it just pops out easily but that hole in the dashboard makes all the difference and volvo coul have left that out when making the car as it's not structural at all

[fishbone]

Originally Posted by cromaloop

The inlet tube on the passenger side is reasonably easy it's just finding the 3 screws that hold it in place, if you can buy proper torx screwdrivers with magnetic heads that will help massively when putting it back as the screws are very awkward
You have to pull slightly then twist it over while removing and pull it down behind the torsion bar where the fuse box sits
When removing the fan the clip that locks it in place is at around 2 o clock, as soon as you find it it just pops out easily but that hole in the dashboard makes all the difference and volvo coul have left that out when making the car as it's not structural at all

I could remove screws using regular lenght torx screwdriver. Just had to use smartphone's camera with LED. When installing screws back I just mounted them to the torx using tape.

One of the hardest part for me was is taking off an inlet tube and placing it back. Maybe I did it wrong but I took it all the way out.

Tomorrow I'm going to do it again. Already bought long torx screwdrivers, just need and advice about how to remove inlet tube out after removing screws and place it back.

Btw, did you switch off air circulation before the process??

Thank you

[cromaloop]

While the inlet tube is up the top you need to twist it to get it to come down into the foot well, just make sure all 3 screws are out

[Willie 69]

I replaced my blower motor after seeing this thread. Very useful instructions, thanks.
A couple of small things i found helpful, I removed a large piece of insulation from the firewall outboard of the round air diverter assembly which made refitting much easier. I refitted the insulation with contact adhesive.
I put the top torx screw of the three in by putting a dab of super glue on the torx bit and stuck the screw to it for installation.
I used a multi tool eventually to cut the hand access hole after starting with a chisel the a hacksaw blade. The multi tool was by far the easiest.
The job took me two days but cutting the hole was a bit of a saga!

[Acuity30]

Jesus christ what a terrible design