98 S70 GLT No Air Conditioning/Heat/Fan

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 03 Nov 2015, 17:37

My car has been sitting for the better part of 2 years, as I've been driving an 03 Acura CL.

Recently my fiance totaled her car, so she's driving the Acura, and I'm getting the Volvo back on the road

Just spent a good bit of money more than I wanted to, to get the car road worthy and pass inspection (4 new tires, CV boot, wheel hub assembly, and other minor odds and ends).

She's running alright, a bit noisier than I recall, but the mechanic, whom I've been using since I moved to Wilmington, says the engine seems solid. I don't notice lifter-tick so much as a tapping/knocking from the drivers side, close to the firewall.

All that out of the aside, no fan/ac/heat. Which is ok temp wise here on the coast for the next few weeks, but winter is coming...

When I attempt to turn on the AC/Heat/Fan, I get solid green lights w/blinking amber lights, and not even the slightest hint of a breeze.

Is this more indicative of the blower motor being dead, or the resistor, or just a simple fuse?

Post by **scot850** » 03 Nov 2015, 19:17

Could be any of the above, but I would check the fuses first as the car has been sitting. I did find rust on some of the fuses in one of the V70's I owned.

Next easiest is to get the codes read as these will be easier than pulling stuff apart randomly. If I were to suggest, if you have ECC, you could pull the fan motor and give the bearings a little light oil and spin the blades a few times in case the motor has stuck. You may get lucky and it will then run fine, but there is a fair chance it will be random and cut in and out. How old is the fan motor?

Neil.

Post by **cn90** » 03 Nov 2015, 19:34

Could be a bad HVAC panel too.
If you have a similar car or junkyard part, swap the HVAC panel and see what happens.

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 03 Nov 2015, 19:37

Those sound like incredibly logical ideas.

I'll check it out as soon as it stops raining here... next week.

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 04 Nov 2015, 16:10

The rain hasn't let up, so I haven't been able to check out anything.

However, whilst driving home tonight, I remembered my climate control acting funny when I last drove it.

So after having driven about 10 minutes, with the selector for defrost, temps for both sides at 72, I turned on the fan. Operated fine.

Since it was/is raining, I left it alone for the rest of the drive home, but once home started fooling around with it.

I changed the selector to vent, floor, defrost/floor mix, vent/floor mix, and all worked normally.

What would cause the climate control to only work once the car has reached operating temps?

Post by **scot850** » 04 Nov 2015, 17:27

Remove the temperature control unit and clean it out. It has a little fan unit in it that gets clogged with air born crap over the years and the stops working. Usually removing it and cleaning the unit restores it's function.

To access it (assuming ECC climate control), is fiddly but not too difficult.

Pull the radio (make sure you have the code if a Volvo radio). Put a gloved hand (important as lots of jaggy stuff in there) in through the radio hole and push firmly up on the base of the ECC unit. This should release it. Sometimes it takes a lot of cursing to persuade it to move.

Remove the 2 connectors from the back of the ECC and put to the side. The cabin temp controller is to the left of the ECC unit behind the dash cover (behind the little grille). Disconnect the cable from the back of it (depress the little bar on the connector and it pulls off).

There are 2 locating clips that you have to depress to remove the unit. Looking from the front, 1 is at about 2 o'clock and the other about 8 o'clock. Both are fiddly to undo the first time you do this. When it is loose, make sure when you startt to remove it that the rubber cap on the front of the unit comes with it and doesn't fall down or it means removing the center console to get to it!

I usually clean it with IPA and cotton buds, and also a small artists brush. Before re-installing a give it a light spray by the fan part with silicon oil to lube the shaft.

Install is the reverse!

These units do fail, but you can usually find them at PnP as only crazy people like me pull them. I can get them out now in about 5 minutes or less!

Neil.

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 04 Nov 2015, 18:03

Thank you!

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 23 Nov 2015, 07:16

I was sitting in my car the other day with a few minutes to kill, so I pulled the radio and climate control cluster.

Pushed out the switches and blanks around the cabin climate sensor, and then removed the sensor itself.

I found it easier to pull it from the rear after pressing the tabs.

After removing it, I simply blew hard through the fan and sensor and couple of times, popped it back in, and turned on the car.

Heat came right on, however the amber lights blinked. Now the amber lights blink on startup, but heat still works.

I figured I would get some MAF cleaner and remove the sensor again for cleaning, as well as spraying the connectors for the sensor and ECC.

Anything else that would be worthwhile?

Post by **abscate** » 23 Nov 2015, 16:06

You have ECC codes, and it would be good to read them out or have them read out to point you to the fault. An Autel 500 series or later will work to read ECC codes IMHE

Alecw81 · Post by **Alecw81** » 24 Nov 2015, 07:14

nvm, answered my own question.