FAQs about Fan Motors

Richard Loken VE6BSV : "In England,

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Date: Tue, 3 Dec 91 17:28:39 EST
From: wiegman@orion (Herman L. N. Wiegman)
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: heater blower from you know where & temp control

netters,

[this seems to be a hot topic.. here are my latest experiences.]

I recently went 'home' to NH for T-day. My father's '81 245 has been suffering from a noisy heater fan for some time now. So I threw my tools in the back of my wagon (also a '81 245 .. just 100 units away!) and spent a day on working on his car.. between beers and turkey legs.

Symptoms:

The noise this fan makes is 'screachy' and loud. It only becomes loud after the unit heats up from cold. Durring the summer the noise comes up quite quickly. From this, we assumed that it was due to the shaft expanding and causing either one, or both, of the fans to scrape the outer chambers.

Plan of Attack:

My father suggested that we do open dash surgery and try to 'get-a-look at the insides to the chambers. Then possiblly install thin spacer washers on the ends of the shafts.

Reality:

The center console comes apart quite readily. If one removes the radio and tags the wires (disconnects the battery first) the heater assembly is easily revealed. Then the instrument cluster and glove box must be removed to disconnect the different vent hoses from the blower assembly. Then the coolent must be drained from the engine to prevent it from draining into the car when the heater core is disconnected. (the fluid only has to be drained below the water pump.. where the feed line to the heater is.) Once all of this is done the blower assembly can be 'dismounted' and removed from the dash.

I did not get this far in 4 hours of work. I could have if it was warmer or if I had all of my tools at my disposal. So i tried the next best thing...

A tip was published by ipd a while back which suggested oiling the bearings of the heater (The article said it applied to 1973-1980 models with the old "open-stator" heater fans.) I drilled a few holes into the center section of the heater assembly which holds the fan and sprayed oil lubricant in. This seemed to work for a few minutes, but the noise reappeared.

Suggestions:

If your fan works, but noisily, try to live with it. If you have to discover what makes the noise I would recommend removing the clips which hold the left and right sides on (to remove all the clips one must remove the glove box and instrument panel). This should reveal the fan blades and blower shaft.

If your fan does not work.. start-in and dedicate 12 hours to the job of removing and installing the heater assembly.

Temperature hysterisis:

The temp setting often has a hysterisis in the control slider. This play is due to the control valve. There is slack in the unit which causes the temp to be dependent upon the direction the setting was reached. This play can not be easily taken out. It is not in the cable or the cable connections as I suspected... unfortunately.

Best 'o luck

herm

Herman L.N. Wiegman -> wiegman@orion.crd.ge.com
- the Flying Dutchman in the DSP swedish brick -

From: Mike.Sestina@east.sun.com (Mike Sestina - Sun BOS Hardware)
Subject: Re: heater blower from you know where & temp control
To: wiegman@orion (Herman L. N. Wiegman)
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 11:28:22 EDT
Cc: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu

hi:

I replaced the heater blower motors on our '80 and '81 240's a coupla years back. though a time consuming task, it was not as painful an experience as you described. no coolant drain down etc. This was thanx to a copy of a detailed shop procedure for replacement and upgrade of the older blower motors to the later style. provided me by Boston Volvo from where I purchased the first motor kit.

I still have a copy...somehwhere... it was excellent included wiring changes to go from the old three speed to four. If Boston Volvo doesn't still provide it for DIY'ers (u had to specifically ask for it when I got mine) I could copy and USnail it at cost of xerox and postage charges

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 11:34:47 EST
From: alfred@nyquist.bellcore.com (Alfred Kwan 21342)
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: 242GT help & blower motor replacement

First of all, thanks for your suggestions.

Mike M. suggested the fuel pump relay. I had a cold solder joint on the relay PC board at 190K miles. The car went dead next to a Exxon gas station. I was able to get it started by pushing a PENNY against the cold solder joint. Well, the relay has been replaced since.

Herm and Dirk also suggested electrical stuff. Well, I have some more questions. The engine wiring harness always bothers me. Between family and friends, we have 7 242s, almost every one needed a new wire to the alternator (the thin little wire). The insulation just falls apart and the bare wire truns green. Is this a common problem with 242s? The engine harness connector by the fire-wall is showing the same problem now! I can see bare copper on several wires at the connector. Any of you needed to replace engine harness before?? I checked with the local dealer, the engine harness goes for $190.

Herm- I will check the fuse box again. The antenna came lose from its mount and leaked water into the fuse box before.

-The ignition circuit was the first place that I looked due to the open ignition pickup coil problem that I had before; it's OK.

-The starter looks good on the bench. With 12V, its truns and the gear comes right out. I am going to take it to a local shop and check it with load. I think you are right, the starter is pretty beatup with all those miles, time for a new one.

Well, between the 7 242's, I replaced 5 blower fans. What a pain!! There are 2 basic types of blower motors: electro-magnet and permanent-magnet. And there are at least 2 types of permanent-magnet motor. Volvo only carry one of the permanent-magnet motor now!!.

On the my 1980GT, it had a electro-magnet motor and the brushes worn out at 120K miles. (I use the AC and the heat often) It's an open case motor. (It blows all the brush dust inside the car!!) To replace it with the newer permanent-magnet one, you got to do most of the things that Herm said in his Email, no need to drain the coolant if you just replacing the motor. AND you need a new resistor network (for speed control), a new speed control switch plus a new motor. You also need a die-drinder (like a Dremal) becaue the new motor mounts differently than the old one. The air-box is fiber-glass! Grinding the air-box is like play with fiber-glass insulation; use gloves. Try to vacum out all the junk before installing the new motor.

I think the permanent-magnet motor starts with the new dash in 1981. (It's a seal case motor.)

Some how the sleeve bearings wear themself and the shaft out very fast and became squeaky. Some time the extra free-play allows the fans to touch the air box. I replaced one on a 82GL at 50Kmiles and again at 80Kmiles! On the second replacement, I found that Volvo no longer carry the early version of the permanent-magnet motor. The original 1982 motor has the same physical size as the newer one, but the mounting position/location is different. Fortunately, the bad bearing was on the main case side of the motor instead of the mounting side. I was able to take apart both motor, use the new motor with the old mounting half. Herm- I don't want to replace the air-box.

(VOLVO HAS SERVICE INSTRUCTION ON BLOWER MOTOR REPLACEMENT). I got a set from the dealer back in 86.

By the way,

-any suggestion on squeaky GM power steering pumps?

-any way to keep the engine cool with AC at stop and go traffic?

-I just replaced engine mounts for an automatic DL over the weekend.

I thought lead-foot driving was the reason for broken mounts on my 242GT. The guy at dealer told me that the mounts are designed to be weak and break during a front collision so that the engine can drop down and move back. Are there any stronger after market mounts?

I replaced the rear rotors for DL with factory parts about 2 months ago. Yes, it comes with new caliper bolts.

For oil pan gasket, you can jack the engine up by the crank pulley with a floor jack for easier access.

Alfred

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 10:38 MST
From: tech@cs.athabascau.ca (Richard Loken)
To: wiegman@orion
Cc: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: heater blower from you know where & temp control

I have invested the twelve hours in disassembling my heater that you mentioned but I do not feel you need to do all that to replace the motor. You can remove the motor with the heater in place and the coolant unsullied but you must cut and splice one or more wires: the ground wire for sure and perhaps some going to the resistor and switch assy.

Even so it is no trivial but you did most of the nasty stuff already.

I would not try to repair or bandaid the motor. There is too much work involved to want to repeat the task. I put a new Volvo (Bosch) motor in mine but iPD has what appears to be something else which does not use the standard resistor to change the speed. Somebody here extolled the virtue of some Toshiba motor.

Richard Loken VE6BSV : "In England, James Mathew

From: Mike.Sestina@east.sun.com (Mike Sestina - Sun BOS Hardware)
Subject: Re: heater blower from you know where & temp control
To: wiegman@orion (Herman L. N. Wiegman)
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 11:28:22 EDT
Cc: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu

hi:

I replaced the heater blower motors on our '80 and '81 240's a coupla years back. though a time consuming task, it was not as painful an experience as you described. no coolant drain down etc. This was thanx to a copy of a detailed shop procedure for replacement and upgrade of the older blower motors to the later style. provided me by Boston Volvo from where I purchased the first motor kit.

I still have a copy...somehwhere... it was excellent included wiring changes to go from the old three speed to four. If Boston Volvo doesn't still provide it for DIY'ers (u had to specifically ask for it when I got mine) I could copy and USnail it at cost of xerox and postage charges

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 10:38 MST
From: tech@cs.athabascau.ca (Richard Loken)
To: wiegman@orion
Cc: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: heater blower from you know where & temp control

I have invested the twelve hours in disassembling my heater that you mentioned but I do not feel you need to do all that to replace the motor. You can remove the motor with the heater in place and the coolant unsullied but you must cut and splice one or more wires: the ground wire for sure and perhaps some going to the resistor and switch assy.

Even so it is no trivial but you did most of the nasty stuff already.

I would not try to repair or bandaid the motor. There is too much work involved to want to repeat the task. I put a new Volvo (Bosch) motor in mine but iPD has what appears to be something else which does not use the standard resistor to change the speed. Somebody here extolled the virtue of some Toshiba motor.

Richard Loken VE6BSV : "In England,

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 91 11:34:47 EST
From: alfred@nyquist.bellcore.com (Alfred Kwan 21342)
To: volvo-net@me.rochester.edu
Subject: 242GT help & blower motor replacement

First of all, thanks for your suggestions.

Mike M. suggested the fuel pump relay. I had a cold solder joint on the relay PC board at 190K miles. The car went dead next to a Exxon gas station. I was able to get it started by pushing a PENNY against the cold solder joint. Well, the relay has been replaced since.

Herm and Dirk also suggested electrical stuff. Well, I have some more questions. The engine wiring harness always bothers me. Between family and friends, we have 7 242s, almost every one needed a new wire to the alternator (the thin little wire). The insulation just falls apart and the bare wire truns green. Is this a common problem with 242s? The engine harness connector by the fire-wall is showing the same problem now! I can see bare copper on several wires at the connector. Any of you needed to replace engine harness before?? I checked with the local dealer, the engine harness goes for $190.

Herm- I will check the fuse box again. The antenna came lose from its mount and leaked water into the fuse box before.

-The ignition circuit was the first place that I looked due to the open ignition pickup coil problem that I had before; it's OK.

-The starter looks good on the bench. With 12V, its truns and the gear comes right out. I am going to take it to a local shop and check it with load. I think you are right, the starter is pretty beatup with all those miles, time for a new one.

Well, between the 7 242's, I replaced 5 blower fans. What a pain!! There are 2 basic types of blower motors: electro-magnet and permanent-magnet. And there are at least 2 types of permanent-magnet motor. Volvo only carry one of the permanent-magnet motor now!!.

On the my 1980GT, it had a electro-magnet motor and the brushes worn out at 120K miles. (I use the AC and the heat often) It's an open case motor. (It blows all the brush dust inside the car!!) To replace it with the newer permanent-magnet one, you got to do most of the things that Herm said in his Email, no need to drain the coolant if you just replacing the motor. AND you need a new resistor network (for speed control), a new speed control switch plus a new motor. You also need a die-drinder (like a Dremal) becaue the new motor mounts differently than the old one. The air-box is fiber-glass! Grinding the air-box is like play with fiber-glass insulation; use gloves. Try to vacum out all the junk before installing the new motor.

I think the permanent-magnet motor starts with the new dash in 1981.It's a seal case motor.) Some how the sleeve bearings wear themself and the shaft out very fast and became squeaky. Some time the extra free-play allows the fans to touch the air box. I replaced one on a 82GL at 50Kmiles and again at 80Kmiles! On the second replacement, I found that Volvo no longer carry the early version of the permanent-magnet motor. The original 1982 motor has the same physical size as the newer one, but the mounting position/location is different. Fortunely, the bad bearing was on the main case side of the motor instead of the mounting side. I was able to take apart both motor, use the new motor with the old mounting half. Herm- I don't want to replace the air-box.

(VOLVO HAS SERVICE INSTRUCTION ON BLOWER MOTOR REPLACEMENT). I got a set from the dealer back in 86.

Date: 19 Aug 92 10:05:01 EDT
From: Shel Hall <76701.103@compuserve.com>
To: "Volvo.net" <swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu>
Subject: Eric Friets is a super-nice guy

Folks-

The milk of human kindness flows deep and wide on Swedishbricks; emf@coos.dartmouth.edu (Eric Friets) says ...

>>> I have volunteered to change the heater fan in a friend's 1978 240 wagon....<<<

I'm sure you know that, on the assembly line, every car begins with a part hung in space, and they build the rest of the car around it. In the 240's case, that part is the A/C evaporator, but the second or third part they add is the heater blower motor.

It's a real b!tch.

I expect a '78 is about the same as an '84; you have to take off both underdash kick-panels and both sides of the console, move the front of the console forward, etc.

You don't have to fool with the dash at all, though I remember taking off the plastic trim under the steering column, and you only have to loosen the console front. The bottom two screws are hidden by the "hump" carpet.

After the console is naked, you can take off the blower covers, one on each side. On mine, there were a zillion little metal clips, and the driver's side cover wouldn't come out past some big wiring harness; rather than cut the harness (not enough slack to splice it back) I broke the flat plastic blower cover in half. Yes, I glued it back together as I put it back in.

I think you have to take off the A/C "frozen evaporator" sensor at this point.

After the covers are off, you take off the squirrel cages (don't lose the odd little clips) and then the blower housings.

Now you can _see_ the fan motor.

On my '84, it came out from the left (3 bolts) and you may need a helper to hold the free end of the bolts. Snaking the wire out was fun, too.

The new blower required that I modify the housing; it's in the directions that came with the motor. After vaccumming out all the resulting plastic chips, the new one goes in and "installation is the reverse of disassembly."

The new motor I got ($116 in '86) was supposed to require a new control switch/resistor assembly, but in the event the switch in my car was some rare interim version or something and I didn't need the updated version. Or maybe I decided not to change it because of the PITA factor. I _think_ the updated switch is supposed to run the blower all the time or something, which I hate, and mine doesn't run the blower on the lowest setting ....Anyway, I didn't change the switch/resistor, and the thing has worked fine since '86.

I dunno nuthin' 'bout no brushes or bearings; the motor in mine failed because the glued-in magnets came unglued. Electrolux strikes again.

FWIW, although I had complained about the noise the blower made before my warranty ran out, Volvo refused to consider my claim for a new fan motor because my 12-month warranty had expired by a couple of months.

You can probably do the fan motor in a _full_ day's work, if you have the replacement on hand. I'd do the one on my car again, rather than pay the dealer $450 (parts & labor) but I don't think I'd do one for a friend ....

Good luck.

-Shel

Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 10:10:50 -0400
From: emf@coos.dartmouth.edu (Eric Friets)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu

Well, I replaced the heaterfan in my friend's 78 245 this Saturday. The good news is that its done, having taken 7 hours start to finish. There were no major surprises, thanks in part to the advice I got from you fellow netters.

My friend ordered the fan directly from IPD. He asked about needing to modify the motor housing, and was told 'no'. Of course, when I got in there, the housing did need to be modified. Looking at the receipt from IPD, the car was listed as a 87, not a 78. Honest mistake, or creative listening? Apparently, cars from 82 or so had the new style motor from the factory. The other disappointment from IPD was the directions. They were fuzzy photocopies of the Volvo manual, with the second half out of order and missing a couple of pages. There was nothing missing that I could not live without, but I did spend a little more time than necessary.

Another complication was the A/C relay interconnect. In order that the A/C not freeze solid, the fan is connected so that it goes on low speed when the A/C is engaged. The wiring for the A/C changed considerably from year to year, and this particular car was fancier than the 78 wiring diagrams, but simpler than the 79 wiring diagrams. Again, I was able to figure it out, but spent a little extra time here as well. This was Volvo's omission.

The only thing I did differently than the directions suggested (*all* directions are just suggestions) was the two wires from the motor. The suggestion is to drill a hole in the bottom of the housing, but the wires are long enough to reach out the hole that already exists in the top of the housing, and where the wires from the resistor block go out anyway. The hole is particularly hard to drill, requiring either a right-angle adaptor, or a long bit that would reach from the transmission tunnel up. I had to lengthen the ground wire a bit.

I modified the motor housing with a circular rasp and a 1/4" wood chisel. Do not use your spouse's good woodworking chisels, since the plastic must have some fiberglass in it, which does nasty things to the edge...If I had known that I was modifying the housing, I would have borrowed a Dremel MotoTool. That would have saved some time, and been a lot less work. The dust is nasty; wear a mask and vacuum out all the chips you can.

Thanks again to all of you who sent advice. I would gladly send a copy of the directions (photocopy by snail mail) to whomever would like a set, but remember that they are not complete (see above). I will also answer particular questions, or forward a copy of the email suggestions I received.

Eric

From: mike@oracorp.com (Mike Meador)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: 240 Blower Motor Fix

Having moved a factory AC system from a junker to a 245 some years ago, I was not interested in replacing a dead blower motor on a different 245 in '88. So, I paid the local independent Volvo shop to do it.

Now, 4 years later, that motor started loudly squealing and vibrating on cold mornings. :-( I was loathe to spend $200+ to have it replaced. So, I pulled the center console-radio-heater-etc plastic panel off and pulled the underlying metal frame back enough to provide minimal access to the blower motor case. I then used a Dremel tool and knife to cut two 1" sq holes in the plastic motor case:

       ____  __________  ___________  ____

      /    \/          \/           \/    \

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |    XX      |      XX    |    |        X = holes

      |    |    XX      |      XX    |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

  Fan  ^           ^           ^       ^ Fan

  Housing        Split Motor Case        Housing 

I then cleaned up the housing surface, applied a couple layers of duct tape to cover the holes, and put everything back together. No more loud squealing! Assuming the fix lasts awhile, my time spent on the project was worth about $100/hr. :-) If the fix doesn't last, I'll let everyone know.

Mike

From: "Ed Fair" <ed_fair@msmailbo.gatech.edu>
Subject: RE: Heater fan purchase / 745 heater blower repair
To: decox@vdoe386.vak12ed.edu
Cc: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu

not exactly related, but: i just "repaired" my 745 heater blower. i didn't really "repair" it, i simply took it out, disassembled it, and swapped the bushings end-to-end on the armature (the lower bearing was groaning like an elephant). i couldn't locate replacement parts. it appears to be a motor of high quality, which in my opinion means you should be able to rebuild it, but what can i say? i tried several sources for replacement parts with no luck.

getting the thing out was the greatest challenge - i removed my glovebox and toe panel first and then spend about an hour trying to remove one screw. once it was out it was relatively easy to take apart.

mine was a delco motor, i don't know if that is the factory part or not.

ed

From: "David E. Cox" <decox@vdoe386.vak12ed.edu>
Subject: Re: Heater fan purchase
To: Herman L Wiegman <hwiegman@ASTRO.GE.COM>
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 21:42:53 EST

Herm-

The heater lasted about the first five years as best I can recall. At that time I could smell something burning, I thought. When I learned what it would cost to replace it, I decided to postpone repair for awhile -- some seven/eight years. I subsequently disconnected the heater switch. Being a family of five with one wage earner, I needed the $$ for other things. Actually I had no need for the fan except for those below freezing mornings with frost/ice on the windshield. Richmond (VA) has a few such days during the winters but not really much severe weather. Normally, I used the cracked-window/40mph approach to heating/defrosting. At one time, shortly after we purchased a kerosene heater, I would place a brick (how appropriate) on the kero. heater for about thirty minutes before leaving for work. On leaving the house, I would put the brick in a towel and take it to the car and place it on the dash on the driver's side. Worked quite well, long enough for the motor to warm up. I always worried about that brick though should I have had an accident.

About 1989,the VA state inspection began to require a functioning heater fan. So, I decided to take a Sat. and remove the motor just to see in what state it was in. As it turned out, all it needed was a little oil on the shafts. Repaired and reinstalled, it worked fine (winters only) for OBabout two years. Last winter it stopped again. Determined to find a better way to oil the beast, I removed the two side coverings and cut out an approximate 6" circle from the housing on each side. Then I could remove the "blowers" on each side and oil the shafts. I used duct tape to put the housing back together. Well, a few weeks ago, it stopped again. I disassembled/oiled/ assembled and that servicing was good for a few days only. Yesterday, I noticed that the shafts actually turned quite easily, no oil needed. Still it would run erractically and eventually stop. I surmised that it was the brushes or I think that's what they are called. When I fiddled with them while the fan was running, it seemed to affect the speed. I never have messed with the bearings and in this case, they seem to be OK.

Actually, I was not aware of the IPD remedy. In fact I had never heard of IPD until I joined the net about a year ago.

IPD sells one replacement for the 1973-80 and another for 1981 on. Do you know if it is the 73-80 that requires the cutting and fitting? I would not mind that, but the wiring makes me a little uneasy if it is more than simply replacing orange wire with orange wire, etc. Maybe the used motor is not so bad after all but, to be honest, I think I'm about ready to fix it for good and move on to other things.

Yes, please do send me the heater motor thread. Oh, what exactly is a dremel tool?

Many, many thanks for the response. I will let you know how things go.

David

decox@vdoe386.vak12ed.edu

From: marka@sol.metaware.com (Mark Alexander )
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1993 10:28:50 -0800
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Heater blower motor from hell (long)

After putting it off for several years, I finally replaced the heater blower motor in my '76 245 this weekend. Thanks are due to the many bricksters who sent me advice over the past 1.5 years on this subject. I skinned all my knuckles and ignored my family for two days to complete this job, but I guess it was worth it to save $300.

Here are a few random notes on some problems I encountered.

One problem with this procedure is that Volvo has changed the blower motor about four times, and the instruction sheets that I got from the local Volvo dealer and an independent brick parts store were often contradictory, and didn't match the motor I actually got.

It isn't necessary to completely remove the center console. Simply loosen it and move it forward an inch. This should give just enough clearance to get the outer fan casings in and out.

The hardest part of the whole 10-hour mess was getting the defroster ducts out. Each one is held to the body with a bracket that's fastened with two very-hard-to-reach 10mm bolts. It's impossible to get your fingers up there. I used my 1/4"-drive socket set with its extender bar; my 1/2"-drive set was much to bulky to fit in the tight space.

Getting the fans off the motor shafts was a bit tricky. I nearly ruined the first spring clip, but did the second one right. You have to use a tiny flat-bladed screwdriver to pry up one end of the clip, and then you can easily slide the clip off the shaft. Don't mix up the fans after you get them off; they are mirror images of each other and probably don't blow well if you install them on the wrong side.

Contrary to the instructions, I didn't find it necessary to drill a 5/8" hole in the bottom of the motor housing; apparently that was only required for earlier motors that had a ventilation hose for cooling (?!). I simply passed the wires through the existing grommet on the top of the housing, and spliced in an extension to the ground wire to get it to reach its mounting screw.

I did have to grind the sides of the motor housing just a bit, as per the instructions, but I didn't have to grind off the three protruding tabs. The motor I got had slots in its mounting plate that fit right over the tabs. It helps to use a cordless drill with a grinder bit for this step.

The new motor didn't have any indication as to left-right orientation. I resorted to holding it up against the old motor to figure this out; fortunately the unit is slightly asymmetric. On my motor, the wires are on the left side.

The instructions didn't say where to put the rather large resistor, but one hazy picture gave a clue. It's supposed to be fastened to the top blower motor mount screw, and just barely fits between the motor and the top of the housing.

Date: 11 May 1993 23:18:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: V093P9MD@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: 740 Blower Motor problem
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu

Replace the thing. Take the fan out of the car (it's located under the passenger side glove box. You can get to it by removing the pannel underneath there (it just takes a bit of body bending). Take it to your nearest DOMESTIC parts place and tell them it came from an early 80's Chevy with A/C. Believ it or not, they are absolutely totally the same (except for the 500 or so precent mark-up). Splurge, and buy the good one (one with lifetime warrenty, I had a crappy one rust out in one year), it will cost all of $25. It's going to be one of the cheapest repairs you will ever make on a Volvo. BTW these units last only 8 years (almost to the day), in both the Oldsmobile, and the 760, they died at 8 years (just like the engineers prommised).

Good Luck, and happy motoring,

Andre'

Date: Wed, 1 Sep 93 13:36:09 EDT
From: michael@oracorp.com (Michael Meador)
To: swedishbricks@me.rochester.edu
Subject: Re: noisy defrost/heater fan

Here's a copy of my solution which I posted to the net last year.

Having moved a factory AC system from a junker to a 245 some years ago, I was not interested in replacing a dead blower motor on a different 245 in '88. So, I paid the local independent Volvo shop to do it.

Now, 4 years later, that motor started loudly squealing and vibrating on cold mornings. :-( I was loathe to spend $200+ to have it replaced. So, I pulled the center console-radio-heater-etc plastic panel off and pulled the underlying metal frame back enough to provide minimal access to the blower motor case. I then used a Dremel tool and knife to cut two 1" sq holes in the plastic motor case:

       ____  __________  ___________  ____

      /    \/          \/           \/    \

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |    XX      |      XX    |    |        X = holes

      |    |    XX      |      XX    |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

      |    |            |            |    |

  Fan  ^           ^           ^       ^ Fan

  Housing        Split Motor Case        Housing 

I then cleaned up the housing surface, applied a couple layers of duct tape to cover the holes, and put everything back together. No more loud squealing! Assuming the fix lasts awhile, my time spent on the project was worth about $100/hr. :-) If the fix doesn't last, I'll let everyone know.

Michael

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