2001 S40 electrical gremlins - Please help

mikeinohio · Post by **mikeinohio** » 25 Dec 2011, 11:06

Hello all, I am new to this site and this is my first post. My 2001 S40 started having problems with the climate control where the temp would randomly switch from hot to cold. It would sometimes take days to switch back. So I take it to the dealer, they tell me it's the blend door motor that is bad. They replace that and then say they can't program it thru the climate control module.
I get a 'used' one and it works for the temp selection. What was bad on that CCM was the fan selector. They tell me my alternator is putting out mid 13's and should be 14+. So I put in a non-volvo alternator. This did not resolve the problem with the fan speed. They get me another 'tested' but still 'used' climate control module and all is good for two days.

The fan starts acting up, any speed selection (except auto) will fluctuate high/low fan speeds. The fan selector on my old CCM worked fine. I'm wondering if I can have that switch changed from one circuit board to the other ?

The other issue I just had is driving home the sunroof randomly opened ! The rear flipped up. There was no power to the switch to close it. I did not accidentally touch the switch at all. It just opened ! Got home in 20 minutes, turned car off, went back 10 minutes later and turned key to power up (without starting) and the it closed.

I have no idea why the sunroof would just open. I still have the CCM that has the 'bad' fan switch in the car. Could this be causing electrical resistance somewhere else ?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Mike in Ohio

elc32955 · Post by **elc32955** » 01 Jan 2012, 19:41

Hi Mike

I've had a 2002 V40 for about 3 1/2 years now and I have the same possessed climate control issues. I've gone through two used circuit boards in an attempt to cure the problem to no avail. What has been reported on other forums is the problem is cold solder joints on the selectors themselves where they attach to the printed circuit board. I've pulled my board, re-heated the solder joints, and didn't see really much of a change. Tapping the assembly sometimes works, but ultimately (at least on my car) it seems like the fan speed and the blend door control function somewhat randomly depending on where the defective module is calling for it to position at that moment. You can set the fan speed to zero (shutting down the AC) and watch it blink over and over from orange to green as it keeps calling for air to go on & off. My next step is going to be trying contact cleaner on the connectors that attach to the whole assembly. Whatever the issue is, it IS definitely vibration sensitive as you can change fan speeds by tapping on the module front.

This is one of those failures that seems to be particular to all 2001 & > V40's that I've fantasized about the words "class action".... you know the parts departments have to be making good money on selling the replacement components for the people keeping these cars running.

Eric

mikeinohio · Post by **mikeinohio** » 10 Jan 2012, 21:58

Hello all,
I have read many climate control related posts on this site. Great information. I wanted to post an update. I found a computer repair shop that that works on fine soldering circuit boards. I had them swap the fan speed potentiometer. It has been working for two weeks now without issue.

As far as the sunroof popping up (before I had the potentiometer swapped) it opened on it's own sliding back three times in two days. I pulled the entire switch unit out, which included the interior lights. Now that the CCM fan is working, I want to try putting the light/sunroof unit back in, but it's winter and I think I'll just wait until spring.

Has anyone experience the sunroof opening like that ?

Thanks

Post by **fazool** » 11 Jan 2012, 10:53

My 2001 S60 has a known problem. Its not the same issue or car model but, being the same model year, maybe it will offer some ideas:

My sunroof occasionally just won't open. But nothing works on my Upper Electronic Module. The dome lights, homelink, sunroof all simply stop working. The only solution is to shut off the car for 5 minutes and then restart it.

I'm told the upper module loses its communication link to the rest of the car and needs to be "rebooted".

This occurs about once every 25 times I drive the car. And the "reboot" always corrects it.

Kind of a pain when I'm sitting in the driveway and cant get in my house because the garage door opener wont work for five minutes.