Smoke from the front behind the radiator...

kovert · Post by **kovert** » 19 Aug 2011, 15:15

So the wife picks up the kids in our 98 xc70 and calls me saying the car is on fire. I pull up, looks to be some smoke coming from the cooling fan. Now I'm not 100% sure if that failed, but the wires going into the motor look a little melted. How often is that the issue? I keep reading about the relay being a cause, but in this case it seems as if maybe it IS just the fan?

Any ideas?

There has been some squealing as of late, of course the wife drives it and tells me this only after the major problem surfaced.

So any help/advice would be appreciated.

Post by **jimmy57** » 19 Aug 2011, 16:39

Sounds like the fan with the melted wires being visible.

kovert · Post by **kovert** » 19 Aug 2011, 16:54

Yeah I just went out there to check things out... Fan moves but it's not easy and it's not smooth, so I'm thinking it bit the dust. Is there a way to slap a universal in this or do I have to go out and get the whole assembly? Shouldn't a fuse blow before the wires get too hot? Isn't that the point of that?

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 19 Aug 2011, 16:54

Sounds like the fan starting pulling way to much power and melted the wires. Did it happen to blow the fuse?

EDIT: Yeah, that fan is toast. You can put a universal fan in there, but you will have to wire it up on your own. It would be easier to just buy a used Volvo fan.

kovert · Post by **kovert** » 19 Aug 2011, 17:41

Believe me, I'm not looking forward to it. I'm leaning towards universal since I only need the car until next spring and I really don't drive it all that much. It's our kid hauler when we need to take a little more 'stuff'.

Looks like just three wires for the fan, but it's hard to tell the actual fan size.

kovert · Post by **kovert** » 21 Aug 2011, 12:18

Alright so I pulled it out, took about 30 mins, relatively simple...

Fan barely turns, so it's defintely shot. At this point, I'm not going to go the universal route, just not worth it.

But should I go to a junkyard and pull one? It'll be about $65-75 bucks for a used volvo part. Or I can grab an aftermarket for about $120 shipped.

Last option is FCP (sorry, but I'm not keeping it). If I was keeping it, it would be a no brainer.

Any suggestions?

Post by **jblackburn** » 22 Aug 2011, 07:09

Junkyard. They don't go bad very often.

kovert · Post by **kovert** » 26 Aug 2011, 15:40

Closing the loop, it was indeed the fan. After about 30 mins of reinstallation, everything fired back up and A/C working like a charm. Junkyard fan with 6 month warranty, $49.99 plus $15 shipping. Easy quick fix!

Thanks all!