Hi, kinda of my first post, iīve inherited a beautiful 97 850 Wagon, but it has typical volvo-itis, pcv and a/c are bad, It has ECC and both light flashes.

Itīs a Fenix 5.2 injection system so I had to pull codes via a homemade reader, anyways, the code that keeps reapearing is 2-1-1 which is Driver’s Side Damper Motor Position Sensor Circuit Open Or Shorted To Power and I have absolutely no idea what a damper motor position sensor is or what shorted to powe means, can anyone shed a light on this? living without an A/C is not a thing I can live with having 100+ temperatures.

BTW, what things can stop these cars from blowing air cold? Iīve recharged the freeon (R134a) so thatīs not it, Compressor? It engages, Evaporator? The damn damper motor?

Thanks and have a nice day to everyone reading.

 

The AC system in these cars has 5 motors controlling the "doors" for the air flow. They sit on the air control box inside the dash. The car also uses a constant flow heater core (ie no valves) and it turns heat on/off by opening/closing the doors that control the airflow.

I've never thought about it but its quite likely the motor's fault code is triggering the ECC computer to show a fault code (thus the flashing AC/ REC lights) and not allow the AC to engage.

Regarding the AC, there are a few common problem areas 1) freon leaks. The bad news here is the 850s are prone to leaks in the evaporator, which is a ten hour shop labor job to remove/replace the evaporator. Occasionally o-rings go bad so if you are losing more freon than say a seasonal charge, a dye test will help pin point the leak. 2) AC compressor clutch gaps. Since these cars have an automatic climate mode, the AC will run on/off year round unless you turn it off. The AC clutch will wear down over time and when the gap gets more than say .8mm, it will slip, overheat and the system will shut off until it cools. The fix here is to remove the drive belt, pull the clutch off, reshim. Not a lot of room to work on some models however. 3) Blower issues. usually the main culprit is the ballast resistor for the blower motor, but the blowers can also fail (or get noisy). Replacing the resistor is a pretty easy fix through the glove box.

I'd say you should start by locating the bad motor - you should be able to access by removing the side panel on the drivers side of the center console. It should have an activator rod attached running from the motor to the door. Replacement motors can be found at FCPEURO.COM or TASCAPARTS.COM (Tasca may also have a diagram). You can also research repair procedures by googling "Volvo 850 ECC Damper motor" or similar. You will find other threads and some diagrams and tips. Given the ECC fault code, I'd be surprised if you have a problem with the AC itself...so start by getting that resolved.

 

Hi, thanks for your reply, Iīve got only one more question, does the blinking lights prevent the car from blowing cold? because i am almost certain there is an evaporator leak on the car, but does that prevent it from blowing cold? or does it only leak r134a and you have to keeep replenishing it? anyways i will be pulling a driverīs side damper motor from the junkyard in a few weeks, and replacing it.

 

I think the key is whether you can get the compressor to kick on to measure the pressure. If the ECC is not letting the compressor kick on at all, you need to clear the error. If the car has low pressure the compressor should kick on for a few seconds at a minimum before tripping off.