smoke from the radiator fan?
 

so today, as the wife and i were going to dinner, we noticed that when we turned the AC on, smoke appeared under the hood.

popped the hood, the smoke had a rubbery smell to it (almost akin to the smell from the smoke when you blow a sub) and was coming from what looked like the dead center of the radiator fan.

turned off the AC, smoke died down significantly. waited about 10 minutes, no smoke at all. car is off at this point.

turned car back on, let her warm back up, no smoke at all. left the AC off, proceeded to dinner. car warmed up to where she normally does, didnt fluctuate at all. had dinner, drove home, car was a little cooler than when i drove there... mostly due to it being nighttime now and the temp was about 10 degrees cooler than when i got there.

once i got home, checked coolant level, was a hair below full (where its been for the past 2 years ive owned this car). no strange smells from the radiator fan. gonna mess with it tomorrow morning and see if theres any damage.

my question is, could the fan have seized? i saw a belt right on the fan that said volvo, so my immediate thought was whatever that belt is driving has locked up, hence the smell.

enlighten me please :)

Sounds to me that the compressor seized up.

Just to rule it out, does the fan spin freely?
have you tried jumping the fan to see if it kicks on?

But like i said sounds like the compressor to me

by the compressor, youre referring to the AC compressor, correct? if so, it still blows cold, thats the thing. while i was trying to figure out where exactly the smoke was coming from, the AC was on, on setting II and blowing cold air for about 5 minutes while i was trying to locate the smoke source.

is the compressor located right below the fan? i believe the fan able to spin freely, as i moved it a little bit and felt no resistance when i did. i will poke around more tomorrow morning and see what i can find out, im just trying to get a preliminary idea on what might have failed or caused the fan to fail (if thats the point of failure).

-edit-

also, how do i jump the fan to see if its locked up or not?

The compressor is to the right of the timing belt cover, more towards the front of the car. The thing about the compressor is that the serpentine belt always turns when the motor is started. Now when you turn on the AC, the clutch for the compressor kicks in and puts the load on the AC compressor. Now the question is, does the electric fan get turned on when the AC is turned on??? I'm not sure, I guess I can go check but someone here already knows.

Then the other question, is something wrong with your fan motor? If the AC kicks it on, and it's bad, it will likely smoke. I know it should come on when the motor reaches a certain temp, maybe 200 degrees or something like that, to help the engine bay get some air circulation when you are sitting idle. So, does the fan turn on then? You can start the car, put a towel over the grill and see if the fan kicks on, then see if it still smokes. That way you will know if it's only a AC issue or any issue that demands the fan.

from what i recall, the fan rarely kicks on unless i idle for more than 3-4 minutes.. and im never at a stop light that long. the only time i've left the car to idle for more than that time is when i was swapping out and testing MAF sensors.

when the sun comes up, i fully plan on putting it through a few tests to locate the cause of the smoke. i can live without AC til next month when i get my big monthly check, but if the fan itself is busted, id like to hit the junkyard and get one asap.

the JY here is cool and gives you a 90day on all parts for an extra 5$. last time i went there for a few maf sensors, there were plenty of 850s with the radiator and fan still on.

by the way, are there other models that would have the fan that i might need?

-edit-

im wagering it isnt the compressor. i had the car running, with the AC on, for a good 5 minutes while it was smoking. AC was cold but had a rubbery smell.. which im assuming was the fan or w/e that was smoking, getting sucked into my cabin.

so i woke up this morning, started up my car at around 830am. she sat for about 30 minutes but her temp didnt get hot enough to trigger the radiator fan. in fact, her temp never got to its usual spot, about halfway between cold and hot on the gauge.

anywho, before i started her up, i tried to move the fan manually. it moved about 2 inches in each direction, but refused to go any farther, even with slight force.

about 15 minutes into letting her warm up, i decided to try the ac, hoping that 1) it still works and 2) it would result in the smoke that i saw the previous day.

the ac clicks on, bout 5 seconds later cold air starts to blow out. so, i put the fan on setting II, got out, went upstairs, waited for about 10 minutes, came back down, got back into the car, was pretty cold in there. so, the AC is still working (thank god, the compressor is mad expensive brand new)... and thats where im at now. i turned her off around 905am, her temp was about 1/8th inch under the halfway mark. when the fan has turned on due to temp, shes usually at the halfway mark between C and H.

can anyone enlighten me on what i need to connect in order to jump the fan and see if its working or toast?

well, radiator failed today, small hole developed on the top of it. fan also started smoking again after about an hours worth of idling/running around the block.

ordered an aftermarket radiator, will be here later today. question i have now is about the fan. how well do aftermarket/universals work with it? seems the one im getting is only a single speed fan (which doesnt bother me really) and im wondering how i need to go about splicing it in and to which wire i should splice it too.

halp!!

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need help por favor. how do i disconnect these hoses (circled in black)? furthermore, do these hoses mean i need a radiator with support for them? i recall the parts store saying theres 2 different types of radiators for my car...

I believe there is the turbo and non-turbo radiators. Those connections have a little tab in them that you lift and just pull the lines off, very simple surprising connection. The just click back on. Some people put zip ties on them to make sure they don't pop loose and come back off. Just scared I think.

Also, you need a thermostat ASAP. That car should warm up in 10 minutes at idle and 3 minutes when driving around the block. The fan should cut on at about 200 degrees F. The needle is straight up at about 175 and doesn't go pass the 1/2 way mark until it gets up to about 225 degrees.

yep yep, when i ordered my rear brakes from FCP, i also ordered a thermostat. already have the top hose disconnected.. however the clamp that holds the hose onto the radiator was so old, the bolt snapped and now i have to use my dremmel to get it off. yay fun times.

anywho, the fan i have has 2 wires: yellow (hot) and black(ground). the fan i disconnected has 3 wires: red, green and black. black is obviously ground, but which wire (red or green) would be appropriate to hook up the yellow wire too?

the fan i got is a heavy duty 16" fan. its about 1/2" closet to the header, but still plenty of space between the fan and the header (bout 2 inches).

Man, I don't know about that (radiator wires). Volvo always seems to have extra freeking wires. Maybe because it turns on from different sources. Sorry to hear about your connection.

no worries. trial and error. red usually means hot, so im going with the red first. if it doesnt turn on fast enough, ill switch it to the green wire. one of them will work :D

Yes, radiator fan is supposed to turn on when AC is on as well. The fan is powered by the Fan Relay (located above the radiator) through 2 wires (red + green). 3rd wire (black) is the ground.

Fan's Relay is controlled by the Climate Control Module and ECU. Question is -- how will you control the fan?

Guys with older Volvos with mechanical fans, would kill to have our electric fan. You should get the correct unit (3 wires).

Those 2 clamps circled in black in your photos are the transmission cooler lines. You can use pointed scissors, or needle-nose pliers to open / widen the gap and pull the line away from radiator. Those clamps should go round-and-around; if not use some PB Blaster to loosen them so you can turn them with the gap facing up. The correct tool is snap-ring pliers (about $ 7) from Harbor Freight. Like Rspi said they snap back in. The new radiator will have the correct fittings.

im assuming since the stock volvo fan is a 2 speed, red powers one speed while green powers the other. its trial and error at this point. i really hope the red one (the one ive spliced) is the one that turns on when the AC is on. if not, ill just pull the fan out if it doesnt engage when i turn the AC on and splice it into the green wire.

I don't think that is the way it works.

First off -- IIRC that's a single speed fan. Secondly, either the ECU turns it on (at certain conditions) or AC when compressor is engaged (technically high-pressure switch).

You need to add a relay -- to power the yellow line in either case. Otherwise you risk overheating the engine or frying the compressor, less condensing in the condensor, blah, blah.

I don't think I am following you -- a JY fan is about $ 20-25.

Run a search in this Forum. I am sure this is not the first time this issue is addressed...

ill probably end up heading to the JY later once i get her running and swaping out the aftermarket for a fan from there. my mother in law will be happy, as she paid for the radiator, fan and coolant i needed.

LOL. Don't tell her unless you need her to pay for the JY fan too.

well, unless i exchange the aftermarket fan for parts, she'll find out since she put it on her credit card on accident. would have been great if it had been debit, i could use the 70$ she paid on the JY fan.

for now, i think what im going to do is just run the fan off a switch with an inline 40amp fuse and turn it on when the car warms up. itll work just enough to get me to the JY to get a fan.

the fan was pretty easy to get out, its the bloody radiator thats giving me issues.. still....

i ended up calling a friend of a friend to come out here around 2pm and help me get the thing out. hes got more tools than i do, is ASE cert'd, and since hes a reference from my usual mechanic, i know he'll get the job done and wont overcharge me.

300$ later, 12 hours of grueling work, my radiator and new fan are in. car no longer leaks coolant. i DID have a 1-1-3 and 4-4-4 error code, but that was resolved with tracking down a few vacuum leaks.