Air Con: - 2004 XC70 air con sensor problem

lakey · Oct 21st, 2010, 09:37

I have recently purchased a 2004 xc70 that has been diagnosed as having a faulty air con sensor. Apparently this resides behind the little 3 bar grille on the air con controls panel. Unfortunately, I have been told you have to purchase the whole panel with all the controls on (part no. 8691876), not just take the panel off and replace the sensor! I have been quoted a price of £450 from Volvo just for the parts. I was wondering whether any of you out there may know of a cheaper alternative source for this part (I live on the Hants, Surrey, W.Sussex border).

The problem I have is one of temperature. If you set the controls to 24 degrees it blows warm as as it should, but over a period of minutes gets colder and colder and you have to keep turning the dials up to get any heat at all. In the end you are on the red maximum setting and that sets all the fans going blasting out masses of heat. Anybody had this problem before ?

Many thanks for any help you can give me.

Chris.

60041 · Oct 21st, 2010, 18:45

Have you tried cleaning it? If you look into the grille, it is more than likely you will see it clogged with fluff and dust. I cleaned mine by carefully picking all the rubbish out with a small piece of bent fuse wire and it was amazing how much I got out. My symptoms were not as bad as yours, but the temeprature would fluctuate in the car and it would need constant adjustment. After cleaning everything was back to normal.

BobS · Oct 21st, 2010, 19:14

Hi Chris,

As 60041 has said fluff builds up and causes strange problems. Try hoovering through the grill. But if the thermistor is broken or damaged see this thread
http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...ght=thermistor

Post 7 onwards.
This give the part number from RS components.

Worth a read?

Hope it helps,
Bob

lakey · Oct 22nd, 2010, 12:11

Many thanks for your replies BobS and 60041. My local Volvo specialist (RT Mechanics, I highly recommend them) have carried out all the work on my car and they have tried hoovering out the grille.

I have ordered a new part from RS. Many thanks lads!

Chris.

Jim314 · Oct 22nd, 2010, 17:15

With a non-functioning thermistor, if the automatic button is off (LED not lit), will the HVAC work like a manual one?

My 2004 V70 has the basic manual HVAC, and I don't see much need for the automatic control. My wife's 2007 XC90 3.2 FWD (US base model) has the automatic HVAC with the dual thermostat knobs (but without the optional pollution sensing system), but I don't see any real difference in performance. Just something more to have to understand the details of correct operation and something to break and need an expensive repair.

On her XC90 the thermistor is visible in between the little slats of the grille, and, because of its light grey colour, one's eye is drawn to it . Before I knew what it was I thought it was some fragment of trash and considered prying it out. When I looked closely I recognized it as a sensor and left it alone. Is the thermistor supposed to be visible or is it supposed to be back a few mm or a centimeter so that it is not visible? I'm going to leave it alone even though I have an urge to push it further back so it cannot be seen.

Addn in editing

I just tried my wife's XC90 and with no LED lit in the 'automatic' the settings of the thermostat knobs do affect the temp of the air coming from the dash vents. This still doesn't answer the question of the possible manual operation of the HVAC if the thermistor is broken.

It will really be a service to Volvo owners who care about not needlessly throwing potfulls of money at their car to discover that the broken thermistors can be inexpensively replaced.

lakey · Oct 25th, 2010, 15:08

I will let you all know soon. My replacement thermistor arrived today. Just got to book the car in now. Watch this space.

Chris.

lakey · Oct 27th, 2010, 16:38

Well, it is done......................and it works!!

Instead of £450 worth of parts and God knows how much labour, it was a £3.99 part and less than an hour!

Chris.

Jim314 · Oct 27th, 2010, 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakey

Well, it is done......................and it works!!

Instead of £450 worth of parts and God knows how much labour, it was a £3.99 part and less than an hour!

Chris.

Very sweet . . . and very annoying that Volvo doesn't provide or support such a repair.

Chris_Rogers · Oct 27th, 2010, 18:15

Very good to know that the RS part works.

It was a bit of a guess on my part (given the specs from the thread) that this was the correct part.

chiptivo · Oct 27th, 2010, 19:03

I was the one on the other thread, who pulled and damaged the thing with tweezers when trying to clean it...

I ended up getting a second hand ECC and swapping the sensor between the units (As they are hard codded to the car).

I keep meaning to order the sensor and re fit to the ECC I brought on ebay and sell it back on ebay.. And make a profit..

Thanks again, this brought back painful memories of my mistake..

Oct 21st, 2010, 09:37	#1
lakey Born again Volvo owner Last Online: Sep 18th, 2015 11:05 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Headley	2004 XC70 air con sensor problem I have recently purchased a 2004 xc70 that has been diagnosed as having a faulty air con sensor. Apparently this resides behind the little 3 bar grille on the air con controls panel. Unfortunately, I have been told you have to purchase the whole panel with all the controls on (part no. 8691876), not just take the panel off and replace the sensor! I have been quoted a price of £450 from Volvo just for the parts. I was wondering whether any of you out there may know of a cheaper alternative source for this part (I live on the Hants, Surrey, W.Sussex border). The problem I have is one of temperature. If you set the controls to 24 degrees it blows warm as as it should, but over a period of minutes gets colder and colder and you have to keep turning the dials up to get any heat at all. In the end you are on the red maximum setting and that sets all the fans going blasting out masses of heat. Anybody had this problem before ? Many thanks for any help you can give me. Chris.

Oct 21st, 2010, 18:45	#2
60041 Premier Member Last Online: Mar 28th, 2024 10:19 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: North Northumberland	Have you tried cleaning it? If you look into the grille, it is more than likely you will see it clogged with fluff and dust. I cleaned mine by carefully picking all the rubbish out with a small piece of bent fuse wire and it was amazing how much I got out. My symptoms were not as bad as yours, but the temeprature would fluctuate in the car and it would need constant adjustment. After cleaning everything was back to normal. __________________ 2018 V90CC D4, 2022 XC40 1940 Matchless G3, 1980 Moto Guzzi T3 Coming soon:- 1947Rover 14 P2

Oct 22nd, 2010, 17:15	#5
Jim314 Premier Member Last Online: Nov 20th, 2018 01:45 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Dallas, Texas	With a non-functioning thermistor, if the automatic button is off (LED not lit), will the HVAC work like a manual one? My 2004 V70 has the basic manual HVAC, and I don't see much need for the automatic control. My wife's 2007 XC90 3.2 FWD (US base model) has the automatic HVAC with the dual thermostat knobs (but without the optional pollution sensing system), but I don't see any real difference in performance. Just something more to have to understand the details of correct operation and something to break and need an expensive repair. On her XC90 the thermistor is visible in between the little slats of the grille, and, because of its light grey colour, one's eye is drawn to it . Before I knew what it was I thought it was some fragment of trash and considered prying it out. When I looked closely I recognized it as a sensor and left it alone. Is the thermistor supposed to be visible or is it supposed to be back a few mm or a centimeter so that it is not visible? I'm going to leave it alone even though I have an urge to push it further back so it cannot be seen. Addn in editing I just tried my wife's XC90 and with no LED lit in the 'automatic' the settings of the thermostat knobs do affect the temp of the air coming from the dash vents. This still doesn't answer the question of the possible manual operation of the HVAC if the thermistor is broken. It will really be a service to Volvo owners who care about not needlessly throwing potfulls of money at their car to discover that the broken thermistors can be inexpensively replaced. Last edited by Jim314; Oct 22nd, 2010 at 19:03.

Oct 27th, 2010, 18:15	#9
Chris_Rogers VOC Member Last Online: Apr 10th, 2017 16:55 Join Date: Jan 1970 Location: South Kent Coast	Very good to know that the RS part works. It was a bit of a guess on my part (given the specs from the thread) that this was the correct part. Last edited by Chris_Rogers; Oct 27th, 2010 at 20:21.

Oct 21st, 2010, 19:14	#3
BobS Master Member Last Online: May 29th, 2023 19:30 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Warwickshire	Hi Chris, As 60041 has said fluff builds up and causes strange problems. Try hoovering through the grill. But if the thermistor is broken or damaged see this thread http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...ght=thermistor Post 7 onwards. This give the part number from RS components. Worth a read? Hope it helps, Bob

Oct 22nd, 2010, 12:11	#4
lakey Born again Volvo owner Last Online: Sep 18th, 2015 11:05 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Headley	Many thanks for your replies BobS and 60041. My local Volvo specialist (RT Mechanics, I highly recommend them) have carried out all the work on my car and they have tried hoovering out the grille. I have ordered a new part from RS. Many thanks lads! Chris.

Oct 25th, 2010, 15:08	#6
lakey Born again Volvo owner Last Online: Sep 18th, 2015 11:05 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Headley	I will let you all know soon. My replacement thermistor arrived today. Just got to book the car in now. Watch this space. Chris.

Oct 27th, 2010, 16:38	#7
lakey Born again Volvo owner Last Online: Sep 18th, 2015 11:05 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Headley	Well, it is done......................and it works!! Instead of £450 worth of parts and God knows how much labour, it was a £3.99 part and less than an hour! Chris.

Oct 27th, 2010, 19:03	#10
chiptivo Premier Member Last Online: Jan 17th, 2022 13:13 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: wirral	I was the one on the other thread, who pulled and damaged the thing with tweezers when trying to clean it... I ended up getting a second hand ECC and swapping the sensor between the units (As they are hard codded to the car). I keep meaning to order the sensor and re fit to the ECC I brought on ebay and sell it back on ebay.. And make a profit.. Thanks again, this brought back painful memories of my mistake..

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)