850 ECC blower problem

Gasman81 · Post by **Gasman81** » 25 Nov 2010, 21:54

I have been having a problem with my blower motor not working on my 94 850 sedan for a few weeks now. It is now getting cold in Phoenix and my wife would really like some heat in the car. I pulled the code for the climate controls last week and it gave me the 135 engine temp code. I did some testing, couldn't find anything, so I used a jumper wire from the coolant temp wire on the dash cluster and jumped it to the coolant temp wire on the back of the ECC. It started working for a day or two, but the blower was squeeling and squeaking. After a day, it worked intermittently. Now not at all again.
I pulled codes today and got. 132,134,135,211,322,417 and 418. cleared codes and still no blower on.
I saw another thread that Lee had commented on and tried testing the blower by jumping the blue wire to the black wire at the power stage and the blower came on high with no noise. Do I replace the power stage unit? With all of the codes that it threw I am concerned it could be the ECC unit also.

VolvoTurbo850 · Post by **VolvoTurbo850** » 25 Nov 2010, 23:08

given the age and the squealing from the blower i would say that is gone or the cage is slipping or has become unbalanced.

As long as that is working you can sort out the rest from there. Your wife will warm up to the idea too!

Gasman81 · Post by **Gasman81** » 25 Nov 2010, 23:32

I was going to go get another blower from a yard tomorrow, and based on the testing that I did, there is still something upline from that, that is not telling it to turn on. I was unsuccessful at finding some further testing to replace the power stage or the ECC.

Could the blower just be putting a large amount of resistance on the system? When I test the voltage at the blower motor plug (positive to red wire, negative to blue wire) I get 8.37V. Then when I put the positive test lead on the red wire at the blower plug and the negative on the black wire on the large plug at the power stage unit, I get 12 volts. My guess is that the power stage has gone bad. I will pull the codes again tomorrow and see if they all returned.

Thanks

Post by **1997volvo850** » 26 Nov 2010, 11:44

For the squealing you should remove and inspect the blower. Lube the blower motor bushings/bearings.

On the first blower I replaced (which squealed and made lots of noise) the motor spindle had worn right
through the bushing to where it had worn about the size of the spindle itself (1/2"). Need to post a picture
when I have time.

The replacement started to squeal after a few months and I immediately removed it and lubed both ends of
motor (must remove fan blade and motor from holder). No more squeel. Runs great with no noise.

Seems like a poor design not allowing for some long term lubrication as these blowers always fail in the
same way. No one told me that the squeel was the result of no lubrication so I waited until the blower
took out my power stage and ECC.

I would start by inspecting the blower...

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 26 Nov 2010, 17:57

If the blower has been squealing, you have a bad blower motor.
It may seem OK at some times, but you still have a problem.
It will eventually draw enough current to take out the power stage
by either dragging more and more or simply locking up.
Don't ignore it. Repair or replace the blower motor.

Gasman81 · Post by **Gasman81** » 27 Nov 2010, 23:36

I lubed up the current blower last week and it worked for a day or two. I will pick up a new blower motor at the yard on Monday and see what I find. Thanks guys. I need to pull the codes again tomorrow and see what it is telling me now. I have just been driving to work in a sweatshirt and a blanket.

I will report back

Gasman81 · Post by **Gasman81** » 27 Dec 2010, 23:27

finally got around to this problem. Picked up a blower motor at the local yard and she is back up and running. Thanks for the help.