my climate blower works when i have the key in the ON position, but dies when i start the car. yesterday it came on while set to automatic as i was driving, and when i started moving the switch it died again. i had been thinking it was the ignition, but now i am wondering if it is the climate control unit. any ideas? can i change the fan blower switch without having to change the whole CC unit?

thanks in advance for your time!!!

 

Almost all cars will cut out anything electrical when in the "Start" position. They do it so the starter motor and ignition have full access to all the power in the battery.
My question is when you say the blower motor dies when you start the car are you talking about it being dead once it's started and the ignition switch is back in "On" position? If so it's probably the ignition switch. If it does this you should try to gently turn the key a little forward and a little back to see if the fan motor kicks in. Just be careful not to turn it into the "Start" position with it running.
I haven't come across anyone who has changed out the fan blower speed slider switch but if you can find a good switch you should be able to. You might want to remove the head and take a look at that switch before you make that decision to see if it's soldered to a circuit board or not.

 

Thanks "kiss4afrog", i appreciate your help. I got a climate control unit off a 97, changed it out, and now the fan still works w/ key in ON position, but once i start the car and the key is back to the ON position, the rec and ac lights flash and the fan doesn't work. if the ignition is faulty and sending the wrong current, would that make it flash? i have a code book and am going to see if i can pull the climate control code, see why it is flashing. any other ideas? thanks again for the help.

 

Once you start the car did you try to "wiggle" the key in the On position to see if it would come back on? What year is you 850?

 

Yes, I have trued wiggling the key. it used to work, if i turned the car off and on a few times, it would eventually come on. now nothing. with the new climate control unit it still works in the ON position before i start the motor, but not after. both the rec and ac lights flash and i can't find how to find the codes for the cc system. any ideas? sounds to me like it is just a bad ignition switch, but it wasn't throwing the light flashing codes with the old cc unit.

Thanks again for your time and responses!

 

Do you know if you have the self diagnostic panel under the hood by the washer fluid fill neck? See picture.
Being a 93 it should have it.

Since your recirc and AC lights flash now and they didn't before I'd swap your old one back in as the one you picked up might be in worse shape than your old one.

Bad news is why it would work when you first turn to "On" but once it's started and returned to "On" it's dead. I can't think of what would cause that.

It still sounds like it's the ignition switch.

How to use that diagnostic panel:
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/ser...ystem-Auto.pdf