Volvo 240 Blower Motor Fix (Sort of)

hobthebob · Post by **hobthebob** » 23 Aug 2025, 05:49

Hey All, public service announcement for the future and for anyone with this trouble right now.

I have had a volvo 240 for two and a half years, doing everything on it from struts to window scrapers and everything in-between. However, my blower motor always squealed occasionally, and often struggled to even engage at fan speed 1. Lately, it has been LOUD and I mean loud enough that we have to turn up the music to drown out the pig. After much searching and reading, I bought a resistor and a new motor, and began to emotionally prepare for the job ahead. Still reading forum posts to get an idea of what I would be dealing with, I came upon one post that mentioned just spinning/cleaning the blower motor fuse to create better contact, and that it might fix the problem...

Guess what? I spun the fuse a few times. The motor now works on all speeds and does NOT squeal. Been over a week of driving in hot Texas heat blasting A/C with no noise except some slight rattles.

Everybody, save yourselves some time possibly, and check your fuses before you do that job. You might just get blessed. I couldn't find this fix on the Internet hardly anywhere, and I want people to know. Check your fuses!

Post by **volvolugnut** » 23 Aug 2025, 08:00

It seems all these 'bullet' fuses can benefit from occasional spin between the contacts. Just rub them with a finger to spin.
On 240/740 series Volvos, the entire car seems to be built around the blower motor. LOL
I have replaced a blower motor and it is time consuming labor laying on the door sill. It should not be started on a whim.
volvolugnut

hobthebob · Post by **hobthebob** » 09 Sep 2025, 15:16

Well, after the car stopping that screaching, it did begin what sounded like a grating sound of the fan (maybe?) rubbing against the ducting or something. At first it was only on speed 2 or 3, but eventually started up on speed 4 and became quite loud.

So, I bit the bullet and did the job this past weekend. Took me around 6 hours, 3 on Friday and 3 on Saturday. I took out the dash first, which made it really easy to see everything and reach everything without breaking my back! I replaced the motor and the resistor without cutting any wires at all, and it works, SO nicely. I feel like a stud. The old motor was worn around the passenger-side fan shaft, but not on the left side. The resistor was pretty beat, and everything else looked good.

Yay!

Post by **volvolugnut** » 09 Sep 2025, 18:37

This is a nasty job, but satisfying when completed. And it should only need to be done once per car, unless your name is Irv.
volvolugnut

122sPhil · Post by **122sPhil** » 01 Oct 2025, 11:58

ive been known to cut a hole in the plastic housing then use foil type heat duct tape to seal it back up.
6 hours sounds great.

I dont usually remove the dash but maybe its easier if you do.

if you look at the fuesblock in a 240, just disconnect a battey lead, snap a picture then pull them all , theres just a couple of phillips screws holding the entire block in. if you pull it away from the body you have good access and about a foot or so of slack in the wiring.

sometimes the fuses have bad contact, then the brass or bronze fuse holder clips get hot once they get hot they can loose spring tension. if they get hot and you put a wet cloth on them you will remove the temper because non ferrous metals are annealed by heating and quencing, opposite of how ferrous metals are hardened.

while in there don't just inspect the fuses and holders but also the wire connections, Ive seen those spade terminals go bad so I'd pull each one off and have a look and feel if it's tight and clean.

new fuses are cheap sometimes Il'l just chuck them and replace..