Recommendation for better air/heating control
 

Being new to Volvo's, I am a bit lost.

I have a new to me 1990 240 Dl and my concern is that I get only cold air (AC or not) or extremely hot air. The slider control does not seem to fade control.

If I have it all the way left I get cold air. If I even move it slightly right I get extremely hot air.

Any suggestions on a fix for this? Is it common? Just something to live with?

Thanks in advance for the guidance.

That is usually the sign of a failed heater control valve which is fairly common. The original metal style is hard to find new (they are expensive), ipdusa.com has them. I would get one from a salvage yard.

Thanks. Luckily there is a similar year wagon locally in which I have pillaged from already. I will look up the part and try my luck there.

This is a common problem on these old cars. I doubt that the junkyard car will be much better. I have had 3 different 240s over the past five years and they all suffered this problem.

I ran across a possible cheap solution over on turbobricks. Take a look at this post:

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=220421

Talks about using one from a '84 VW rabbit. This is simply a valve rather than a thermostatically controlled one. Simple design and cheap. It's supposed to have the same hose size.

I haven't tried it yet but it is on my todo list.

Thanks. I'll check into that option as well.

I know I will not do the ball joint and rely on heating my car by opening the hood. Keeping as close to stock would be preferred.

I didn't like the idea of using a ball valve either. The Rabbit option is nice since it looks like I can hook up the regular temperature control slider to it. I also like to keep all operation close to stock.

I guess that some of the later models of 240 didn't use a thermostatically controlled valve. I found this online as well. A bit more expensive than the Rabbit valve but most likely to fit better.

http://europartshouse.com/index.php?...products_id=36