so about 3 months ago my ac decided to randomly not come on. After a few minutes of driving though it did so we didn't think anything of it. Lately though every time I start the car it won't come on, that is until I either hit my right knee on the drivers side of the center console or lean out the door and flat foot kick the center console. Then the blower comes on and the air is fine and quite cold. Sometimes it take a few times and other times it's right away. It has also come on by itself hitting a large bump in the road like and overpass or something.

As long as it it's on auto or all the way high it pretty much blows great. If I lower the fan speed at all then it kind of cycles a bit between 100% of whatever fan level it's on the probably about 30% and back.

What part is in the console other than the CCU that could be causing this? Any ideas welcomed.

Obviously I know kicking it is not the best thing but in dead summer in Alabama with 6 people in the car I don't have much choice.

 

You mean, it's the cabin fan that doesn't work at the right speed? The cabin fan is known to seize because of rust (it's located at the front corner of the passenger feet area) and must be replaced.

At the place where you are kicking the center console, the is also a A/C thermostat, may be a loose connection.

 

I'm guessing it probably is the cabin fan. So lower front corner of passenger left side I'm assuming? Seems like they may be what's going on. I'll look for the sensor connector as well. Is it something I need to remove the CCU for? Also would the kicking jar the cabin fan loose if it's sticking?

 

Replace the cabin fan. Mine was similar (though it really seemed to run until it died the first time, though once I did get it out I could get it to work by banging on it). They're not all that expensive if you don't get one from the stealership, and they're not all that hard to change out. You do have to drop out the glovebox, which requires removing a few more panels, but it's really only a one hour job to swap a fan. There's one tricky bolt to get out in the rear - I found that a Torx bit in a $3 Harbor Freight angle ratchet screwdriver did the job easily. Also, swapping out the control unit from the old fan to the new one is dead simple as well - though you're hosed if that happens to be the problem (I'm guessing it isn't though, based on your symptoms).

Good luck - I can appreciate your desperate need for A/C as much as I can my own (Arizona)...

 

I'll know for sure this weekend but I reached over and smacked under the glove box once, not terribly hard and it came right on. I'm going to go with Fan. Thanks for the tips.

 

Here's a write-up I did on replacing my fan (and some of the troubleshooting I did, which I documented to help others in the future who were experiencing the same thing)...

https://volvoforums.com/forum/2001-2...working-77951/