Errrr! I've posted before of my dislike for the engineering idea of a fan that arbitraily comes on to cool off the cabin, and BTW the arbitrary part is that it can come on while in the store.

My wife went shopping today, it 92 degrees outside and when she came out to the car, the fan was running but the battery didn't have enough juice to start the car. She had to walk 3 miles home and needles to say, she was not pleased. The battery date shows that it is 3 years old.

A guy came and offered to jump her car but again the engineering of Volvo got in the way. You need tools to remove the battery cover....oh and you also need to remove the spare tire to have room to pull the cover to the side. Nice feature on a cold rainy night.

Anyhow enough on picking on engineers. Is there any way to disable that cabin fan because I find it to be a very VERY annoying feature. My Jaguar doesn't have it and it is 14 years old, no problem with rusting AC tray, my Jag before it didn't have the fan, our 95 Caddie doesn't have the feature and the AC is perfect. So IMHO I don't need it, I don't want it and I would like to disable it.

Disabling it is far better than having my wife come out from work and having a dead battery because of a fan that decided to run for 15 minutes.

 

I don't know about disabling the freeblow option, but you don't need access to the battery in the trunk for a jump start. There is a positive terminal in the engine compartment and a ground can be had virtually anywhere in the same area. I have used it to jump other people.

 

Yes, the cabin fan is a setting in the software, can be adjusted by Volvo or a specialized garage. It keeps running to dry the A/C condenser, in order to prevent mold build up (which would cause an irreversible smelly A/C if used during winter time).

 

If the battery is weak, the afterblow function isn't supposed to work. But in any case, it can be deactivated by the dealer as mentioned above.

Also, in further defense of the engineers, the battery cover can be removed without removing the spare tire.

 

One would think that battery could be removed without removing the spare. In mine there is no way to pull the cover up, it must be slid to the right. The spare tire must be moved to slide the cover to the right. I just removed the tire but sitting here reading your post I am thinking that just pushing the tire out of the way would work.

 

As my wife said, "Ok but what happens if the fan comes on, stays on so long as to run the battery down?"

I've witnessed that that fan running for a long, long time.

Maybe a trip to the dealer to turn off the afterblow. I've found a place that is very reasonably priced and good people.

 

The cover pulls up. Your S60 is no different than every other S60.

 

That is what I would have assumed and from previous attempts it will not pass the trim piece.

Hm? My car was once in an accident (previous owner) and I am wondering if the repair made something shorter than it should be??? Maybe the battery is wider than the OEM and there is no room wiggle past when using upward force?

I know that 2 weeks ago when I installed my repaired DIM I disconnected the battery cable and I tried my best to pull the cover up and off.....it was a no-go situation.

 

I assume you are removing the bracket above the cover?

The cover is plastic, it bends enough to fit out without removing the spare. I've done it hundreds of times.

 

Yes I removed the bracket.

Maybe I just didn't apply enough force to get it to bend. I didn't want to break the cover but after the t-storms pass, I'll give it another go.

I was scratching my head thinking, "this can't be?" I just can't think of a reason to make that battery cover to be removable only with the spare tire moved.

 

Well I pushed and prodded and bent to the point that a crack appeared.

In the battery stuck picture the problem is that it is stuck on the ground cable (can't push down or to the right to get past the cable to where the cover is cut out for the negative cable. In fact I am not very thrilled at how the negative cable feels. It feels a bit wobbly like it has been pushed on one too many times.

 

Can't blame the engineers for someone putting the wrong size battery in. The cover shouldn't need to be cut. You can also leave it off of you want. Starting in 06 (I think), they didn't get covers.

 

I always charge with the stud at the engine. No reason to remove the battery.

 

Neither do I remove the battery. I did need to remove the battery cover.

 

My anxiety was with the cover. I'm not sure if it is the battery being too large but it is definitely the ground strap that goes to the body.

I don't see any reason to have it over the battery. Removed the cover in 06 --- I'll pretend my car just got an upgrade to 06 and leave the cover off the car.

One thing for sure, with the cover on ... if you needed a jump you would need the wrench to remove the retaining nuts on the metal holder on top of the battery cover.

So I may just keep that cover off.

 

If you needed a jump, you could just do it under the hood anyway.