I have had this problem on my 2002 Volvo s40 before, but I ignored it.


Here is what happened:


I started up the car in a very cold night in January, New England has a lot of cold nights in the winter. It started up easily. I then turned on the fan to circulate the air through the car.


There was silence. I did feel warm air coming out of the vent in the car, but there was no fan.


I drove on anyway. After driving for about five miles I hit a bump in the road. Almost immediately the fan came on and the warm air was blown around the car. That was great.


So what happened when I hit the road bump that turned the heater on?


Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

It could just be your climate control *****. Mine have the usual Volvo erratic speed issues, and a lot of the time I have the fan on, but nothing happens, then run over a rough spot in the road and it kicks on. Same thing happens if I tap the fan speed ****. Its all to do with those corroded potentiometers in the climate control module.

 

I just had very good success with similar problems in our 2001 S40 by removing the climate control unit (very easy, trim pops off with some careful prying, 4 screws, 2 connectors) and cleaning the three "pots" (they really are rotary encoders but suffer the same fail mode as a potentiometer). I used Caig brand ProGold, but their DeoxIt product or MCL product should work well too. Just spray it in the little "pots" and work the controls to clean up the contacts and the demonically possessed climate control is back to normal now. I did use a light blowing of compressed air to clean the unit off of excess cleaner residue, but that step probably wasn't necessary. Easy fix, and nearly free so my favorite kind of fix.

 

I actually have used the deoxit on the <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">potentiometers</span> encoders (thanks for the info!), and it worked great for a year then the symptoms came back. I have been too lazy to do it again

 

Okay, I am not mechanically challenged When it comes to working on Volvos, I think to some extent we are all mechanically challenged.


I need to know in more detail how to clean the parts that may be corroded in my 2002 Volvo s40 climate control unit. Are there more detailed instructions on line? Is there a Youtube video on how to do this?


Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

Okay, I took my car to a mechanic and he told me my blower motor is shot. I now need to install one. The original Volvo blower motor replacement is about $ 280.00. I want to find one a good, but lower cost. Can anyone suggest one. Also, where are there instructions on how to replace a blower motor on a 2002 Volvo s40?


Or any equivalent?


This seems to an easy install, but the idea is to get a good replacement at a fair price and instructions on how to install it.


Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.


Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

Three options - 1) go OEM. I've found Tascaparts.com (in Rhode Island no less) has the cheapest Genuine Volvo parts prices. 2) go aftermarket. FCPEuro.com has a Pro Parts Sweden blower listing at $55. 3) go used. Search car-parts.com for a yard near you with s40s. If you are doing this yourself, you may want to bench test the motor first since the switches, relays and resistor can contribute.

 

That all sounds reasonable. I will look into it. Also, where can I find instructions on installing the blower motor fan?


Any help appreciated. thanks in advance.


Respectfully


Newport_j