Hi Guys,

I have a 1996 Volvo 850 GLT. My feet have been freezing lately as there is little to no hot air passing through the floor vents even at the highest blower speed. The other vents work perfectly fine, its only the floor vents on both the driver and the passenger sides that have no air. Any ideas why this may be occuring? Could this be a problem with the function selector or is it something mechanical? Thanks for your help in advance.

-GLTOwner

 

Hello GLTOwner,

Greetings from Chicagoland.

As for your question, we need to know whether your 850 has Auto or Manual climate control. If auto, there may be codes stored in the ECU, which is noticed by "REC" & "AC" LED's blinking after start-up. If such is the case, the problem could be solved by clearing the codes in the ECU. If not, there may be electronic problem with the control panel (metal contacts not having good connection between switches, connector not having good connection for floor position, etc...). Or it could also bea damper motor failure (Floor/Defrost damper motor). Or, it could just be a blocked duct, though thismay not be likely.

If the system is Manual, it could be the cable that needs adjustment, or the cable attaching point for the floor outlet may have broken off, etc... As you can see, the problem could be anything. Moderator Tech will be able to give you better ideas than I could. If you plan to keep your 850 for longer than a year or two, I suggest that you buy a Haynes 850 Service Manual, as well as a basic set of tools (Torx bits/sockets are a must) and try repairing a problem like this. Try taking the lower instrumenttrim panels off, and operate the vent selector to see if there is aquestionable operation around there.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Also, try visually inspecting the floor outlet to make sure nothing is in the way.

Good luck,


JPN

 

Thanks much JPN, for a quick and detailed answer. I will follow your instructions and I'm sure I'll be able to fix the problem.

Thanks,
GLTOwner

 

I had a simular problem like that. I was not gettinf any air in the lower vent. I have a manual control and it turned out to be the control **** was broken so even though it was turning the real mechanism was not. so I had to change the control ****. Pull out the **** and use a pliaze to turn the mechanism to see if it turns

Good luck

 

How do I read and clear the codes? I went to Autozone and they said they can only read "Service Engine Light" codes. ( I have a ECC in the car). Also, where is the damper motor located?

Thanks!!

 

For ECC codes, I think you need to go to the dealer or buy a scan tool. - AB

 

Hi,

As AB (Mr. B1mmer) has noted, '96 year ECC may have to be cleared at the dealer (mine is '94 so I usually clear them via OBD-I). Cheap scanners are limited in their capabilities, and the top-end scanners cost over $250, not economical for most drivers.

The damper motor is located under the dash, you'll have to remove glove box, kick panel, etc... in order to get access. This requires Torx bits/sockets. Should you decide to service it yourself, make sure to disconnect the negative battery cable and be careful with passenger-side SRS. Again, I suggest that you buy a Haynes/Chilton's repair manual, you can find one at a reasonable price at on-line shop.

Best wishes,


JPN

 

I got an additional question.

My car doesn't seem to blow hot air through the floor vents also. But my question is that I have to set my air-flow mixture (I think that's what it's csalled) to pretty much the very top where I'm not getting much air from outside. If I set the mixture to a lot of air, the air is completely cold.

Is the air always colder the bigger the mixture (makes sense intuitively)?? It's nota huge deal, but it kind of sucks when the hot air doesn't blow at you, and I gotta put my hands up to the vents to warm them up...

Edit: Oh, and I got auto climate control and manual.

 

Hi RedTurbo,

I could not understand some of the descriptions on your post, please refer to the following:

>air-flow mixture
Did you mean the wheel by each vent? If you set it at max-open, the ambient air enters the cabin, and at this time of the year, yes it is ice-cold. But this should not affect the hot air coming out the floor vent, unless there is a problem.

Primary air ventilation & recirculation is controlled by the "REC" button. If the REC is on, the air recirculates inside the cabin, which may add to faster warming but will also add to fogging-up of windows.

>Is the air always colder the bigger the mixture (makes sense intuitively)??
If I understand your statement, yes it is. The closer the wheel is to the top (toward the pointy side of the mark), the hotter the air. This system is designed to direct cold air at your face, when you're driving at night or tired, it helps you keep alert (to a certain extent).

You can warm up the car with the selector dial at "dash", then as the car warms up you can switch it to "floor".

I hope this helps.


JPN

 

^There is a wheel which controls how much air you want...

It's not then one that opens and closes the vents.

This is a pic I found on the internet, it's hard to see but...


It's next to the emergency lights.

 

Hello again,

Yep, I know which one you're referring to. I'll just give you the description from the owner's guide:

AIR MIX:
The center panel vents have air mix function which allows fresh air to enter the passenger compartment when the vents are open (position B, the illustration has an arrow pointing down). This function is designed to allow you to direct cool air toward your face while directing warmer air to the rest of the passenger compartment. To warm the compartment as quickly as possible, he air mix control should be in the closed position (down).

Did this help?


JPN

 

Ok, so I called the local Volvo Dealer to have my codes read and they said it will cost $92.50 just to read and reset the codes. For that price, I might as well buy the code reader. What do you guys think? Any ideas? I just don't feel like its fair for them to charge me 92 bucks for something that will take them just a few seconds to do.

Thanks!

 

Hello GLTOwner,

As to the diagnostic charge dealer wants, it's about the average. My local Volvo wanted $110 for ABS codes retrieved, so I took advantage of OBD-I and did it myself. The cost is indeed ridiculous for the amount of work involved (connect scanner & read codes, I think $5 would suffice but they've got to feed their technicians.....). I'm not sure if '96 model has OBD-I. If so, you can do it yourself but I doubt that it has one.

As to a scanner, it may/may not be worth the money. Most scanners can only retrieve engine-related codes and not climate control. Actron is one of the popular mfgs and the following is their URL, but I haven't found a description for climate control code access function.

http://www.actron.com/product_category.php?id=249

A hand-held diagnostic equipment with replaceable cartridge (Snap-on) may have such function, but the price is in the outer spaceand you don't want to go there.

The last thing I can think of is to disconnect the battery for 15 minutes or so, and visually inspect sensors & disconnect, clean & reconnect the connectors for climate control sensors/motors. This may or may not fix the problem and may be time consuming. So, you could either do this or give up your hard-earned $92.50 to the dealer.

Anyone else has better idea?

I wish you the best,


JPN

 

Most auto stores allow you to loan one. You might have the OBD-II port by your shifter. Don't be retarded like me, and think that the coin holder is the port, when in actuallity, you gotta remove it (It's rubber).

 

I bought CarCode from www.obd-2.com. Check out the attached picture. The list box on the left also says
- Antilock or brake control
- Automatic Gearbox
- Climate Control
- Driver Information
- Inmobilising
- Parking or precombustion heater
- Power seat driver side
- Power seat passenger side
- Road Traffic Information
- Soft Top or retractable roof
- Stability, traction or spin
- Supplemental restraint system

It also has options to clear the SRS light and the Service Interval light.

I have not had the need to test "clear SRS", but I have been able to reset the service interval light on my car and read OBD-2 codes (not Volvo codes). I am tryingto read the extended DTCs, but I can´t get it to work. I am in contact with the author of the software to get a serial port dump over for analysis.

Apparently only VDO instrument panelsare supported for clearing the Service Light. The information the software author has given me is not clear, since according to service manuals I have a YAZAKI dash, and I have been able to clear theservice light. My instrument paneldoes not have a separate section for0.1 kms.Is that VDO or YAZAKI?

For Volvo 850 you need the ISO version $122. I went ahead and bought the more complete (and expensive) TriCan version for $240, which supports most major car networks. Software upgrades are free!

Make sure your notebook has an onboard serial port that supports 10400 bps, otherwise you will not be able to use any Volvo enhanced command. If you don´t have RS232, get a USB-RS232 converter that uses an FTDI chipset or a KeySpan converter. The converter will cost you an extra 25-30. Do not get any Prolific PL-2303 based converter, which are available in most stores since they are very cheap!PL2303 does not support 10400 bps and the drivers are buggy as hell (blue screens and crazy behaviour).

Update: you can get the FTDI cable here directly from the manufacturer:
http://apple.clickandbuild.com/cnb/s...odCategoryID=4

[IMG]local://upfiles/4713/BBF38BB24A45449DBF832A1ED4B942B5.jpg[/IMG]

Update 2:

This one looks pretty cool too and it seems to have great support for OBD2 850´s
http://www.ilexa.co.uk/forum/index.php/board,14.0.html

 

I just corrected a very similar problem to my 96 850 glt. I recently replaced the evaporator and found that I was getting no air through the floor vents. What I discovered was that when I removed and reinstalled the electronic damper control, (my car has electronic climate control), the damper was closed and the control was in the wrong position when reinstalled. You need to make sure that the damper and controller are in the appropriate positions. After I reinstalled the damper control everything worked just fine. I hope this information is helpful.