After trying more things than I can count to get the a/c to work on hot days, finally the fan stopped blowing at all in my '94 960. My mechanic quoted me $800 to replace the climate control module. So I bought one out of a wreck for $50 and now need to get the dash apart to put it in and have run into a dead end after getting the lower panels off. How the heck do I get the rest of the dash out to replace the climate control and while I'm at it the sunroof switch ? There isn't anything that looks like it screws, clips etc. to take this part of the dash out and I'm just scratching my head at this point.

 

I'm not 100% sure but you need to start with the Radio (make sure you have the code for it). Take it out and you will begin to see screw. A lot of the wood grain pulls out after you have remove 4 screws.

Switches come out easy, just use a very small screwdriver and pry them out. Be carefull not to crack the wood grain. You can also push them out from behind. They are in with pressure clips.

Give yourself some time. Don't hurry and if you can, write down what you do step by step and post instructions for others to benifit from. After you are done, you will see steps that were not necessary, omit them from your instructions to the world.

Thanks and I hope someone else gets on with more help than I was able to give.

 

Before going thru all that.. I would say like rspi said, make sure you have the radio code but I would push in the tabs on the bottom sides of the radio and slide it out. You dont have to unplug it, but let it hang with a towel under so as not to scratch anything... Reach inside and feel up on the ac controls. See if it slides out like they do on the 850s.. I want to say you might be able to push it out. There is normally a release button on the underside like on the ecc units. once pushed see if it will then slide out.

 

You guys are great ! Thank you.

To take the radio out, I just pressed in on the two tabs on the face of the stereo, near the bottom. Those popped out to make handles to pull the radio out by. Then I used an old nylon burnishing tool to run around the edge of the woodgrain trim and gently push that out of the dash. The switches came out with the trim and it was a simple matter of pushing in on the release tabs and then gently prying up on the retainers for the wires to change out the sunroof switch. I've had the car for two and a half years and the sunroof never worked. It didn't leak so I didn't care, but I figured since I was in there I might as well fix that too.

There are four screws holding the climate control box in place, then two groups of wires held in two separate clip on plastic bodies that release by simply pushing the tab and pulling the whole thing off. I had it back together in 15 minutes.

But, still no fan. What's the next thing to check or replace ? The HVAC system makes cool or warm air as requested. It just doesn't blow. I can feel it coming out of the vents when the car is at road speed. But that doesn't help defrost the windows on a frosty morning.

 

Wow! I missunderstood you. I didn't know you were just trying to remove those controls. I've done that a few times just messing with lights. LOL.

My bet would be you have a bad fan, resistor on the fan motor or relay. First choice would be fan. If you can get to it, turn the fan on 4 or 5 and give it a boost and see if it kicks on. When a fan is going bad or has gone bad it can be push started. That's the only way I know to check it. On my 740, the fan was under the dash on the passenger side. I'll have to check on this one. I'll be back.

 

Ok, if you want to give your fan a spin test, here is how you get at it. Yes it is under the glove box.

WARNING: These instructions can cause you to loose a digit, bleed to death or something like that. Just felt the need to remove some liability. LOL

It took me 15 minutes to take this stuff apart, test my fan and put it all back together.

1. Remove screw cover under the center of the glove box door. You can do this by butting your finger on the lower edge of it and pulling towards you.
2. Remove the torque screw under the cover (25).
3. Pull down on the door edge of the panel, it has a clip there.
4. Release the 3 clips that run along the center console side of that panel. Start at the bottom along the carpet edge and pull away from the center towards the door and they should pop loose. Work you way up, there are 3 of them.
5. Once that panel is loose, pull it back a little and remove the wire that connects to the light that lights up the floor.
6. Remove the panel.
7. Once you have the panel removed, look in the side corner and you will see an intake that has a wire mesh screen in it. I removed that panel, it has tabs that I simple worked loose with a downward pull.
8. Turn the car on and turn the fan speed to I or II. Also turn the selector to face vents & engage the recycle button.
9. Look up in the hole and you will see the recycle flapper. Push up on it a little (if it is still down), the fan is just rear of that flapper. You can stick your finger in there to feel the blade bucket (kinda like a hamster wheel).
10. Give it a nudge in either direction and it may start. Mine turned clockwise if looking at the fan from the passengers seat.

If a push start doesn't turn it, you may want to start checking electrical signals, make sure it has power. My guess it that you can remove the knee booster and get at the fan there.

Hope this helps.

 

Sorry, I didn't start from the beginning. To start with, the light around the A/C button would flash and the fan wouldn't start. My mechanic didn't have time to get the car in so he told me to unhook one battery cable and get the computer to reset and it would work again. That worked for awhile, and sometimes I could just turn the car off and back on and the light would quit flashing, the fan would run and the a/c would cool. Then it just quit. No fan at all, no matter what I did. So now I've replaced the control panel, but still no fan, and now no error flashes either. When I get time I'll pull the fan out and see how it looks. But I have no idea how to test the thing except maybe to take it out of the car and put 12 volts on it to see what it does. How do I know which component to replace next, other than doing the cheapest one first and working up from there ?

 

I would just test the fan like I explained.

 

Finally got time to tinker on the car some more. On this model 960, you don't have to take anything else off to get in the fan box, just pull off the vent on the right bottom of the passenger side of the dash, reach up in there and give it a spin. It's not bound up, doesn't have any trash or even accumulated dust in it, spins free and easy. I checked the electrical connectors on the outside of the fan box and 12 volts is getting that far. When I contacted the guy who sold me the replacement climate control head, he said it's probably the blower resistor, but he didn't know where mine would be located. So, I gather there is some sort of rheostat in there somewhere and this resistor, somewhere. Anyone know where these are ? I'm fairly experienced with electrical components so can test these to see if they're shot once I have them out or at least where I can get to them with a digital multimeter. But I'd rather not completely disassemble the rest of the dash only to find out I could have reached it had I known where it was. Thanks much for taking the time to read this far and for responding if you know how to get to these gizmos.

 

Did you try to turn it with the switch on? Kinda kick start it? A lot of these resistors will allow the fan to move in the full on position (like the 5 settnig).

 

I did, and wasn't sure which position that should work in so tried 1, 4 and 5. Nothing makes it run.

 

I would guess that the fan it out. Fans go out and turn freely.

 

Where is the "heating system resistor" and how can I tell if it's blown ? Where I've gotten to so far is there is enough stuff apart I can see the fan housing and have removed the duct work in that section under the dash but don't know where this resistor is and I'm thinking I'll just replace it and the fan both to avoid taking all this apart again.

Thanks for all your help so far. Luckily no one has bought my beat up old 245 because I haven't had time to work on the 960 when the weather cooperates and the old wagon still gets me everywhere I need to go while this one is down.