After a year of squealing the fan died today. Dealer quotes 9h to do the job which I can't afford. I know the dash and steering column need to come out.

-will I need any special tools?
-can I download a service manual online?

Should I try it? I have a full set of tools and am used to basic wrenching on older cars. I think I could probably do it in a weekend if I don't need any expensive tools and had a set of instructions

 

This happened to me a few weeks ago. Your fan location is the same as in my 2011 and the designers did not have service in mind when they designed the location. I pasted the thread url below. However I see that you waited until it completely died which may be more of a problem in that it is possible the resister is now also bad along with the fan. Seems that if you break one of the fan housing tabs held by the 4th screw its not too bad of a job and can be done fairly quickly (couple hours tops) I had a non volvo dealership mechanic do it by pulling the dash and he had 8 hours into it but fortunately only charged me half the dealership service rate. It was a huge job for sure and you don't want any mechanic doing that for sure. He did not want to break that one tab which would have made it much easier. I also ordered a genuine volvo fan which set me back almost $300. Good luck.
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...acement-94570/

 

Did the link you found about breaking the tab have a step by step? I still hear the relay buzz if I try to turn the fan on so hopefully it's okay.

I was going to check the blower fuse just to be on the safe side (although I'm sure it's the motor) and am currently trying to figure out how the hell to pull the upper block to get at those lower fuses. Just wow.

EDIT: it looks like you also need a special tool to actually pull the blower motor. Will many non dealer shops even have that tool?

 

There were a couple of threads which talked about breaking the tab. Not really a step-by-step- but maybe close enough for you. I don't think that the special tool is essential but probably helps. My mechanic did have the tool on hand. The tool seems to be expensive. Here is one on amazon: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Volvo-I...-/201823083420
Again, my mechanic took the long route doing this and not only did the dash have to come off but center console too. He was very careful to not scratch anything and had all of the parts laid out when I stopped in to see how he was doing. It really was a huge job and I cannot imagine doing this without prior experience. I was actually hoping he would just break that one tab held by that one inaccessible T25 screw. Would have cost way way less and I think the integrity of holding the housing in place would not have been compromised. Here is a link with some diagrams (XC90 though) which gives you some idea of what is involved in dropping the dash.
https://www.justanswer.com/volvo/1j0...-resistor.html
A couple of other links I found:
Anybody replace blower motor resistor without pulling dash?
https://www.justanswer.com/volvo/6sk...r-without.html

 

That write up is for a 2004. Check out this picture taken from the glove box opening, I don't even see the blower motor. Or was I supposed to go through the center console?

As far as I can tell the dash probably needs to come off and I don't think it's worth getting quite that deep into it in the garage.

I called a private shop and the guy wasn't sure whether they had the special tool, and didn't really seem to care. It's Christmas and they're off. He was quick to suggest maybe it would have to go to a dealer.

Looks like I'll be calling the dealer and forking over 2 grand. Don't worry though it's in Canadian money so it almost doesn't even count

 

Yes, that link showing the dash and console being taken apart was not meant for you to follow for your S60 but rather just to illustrate the complexity of what might be involved and yes $2k in Canadian sounds about right for the dealer to do it.

 

I more just meant that I don't even see the fan through the glove box, so I'm not sure if that process would work on my model.

Either way I'm out of my depth on this one, so thanks for helping me find enough information to make me realize that before I got in too deep!

Just for a laugh I'll mention what happened when I called the dealer. Got someone clearly inexperienced in service, and when I asked how many hours the job is in the book he said he wasn't sure but that he had booked 2.5h into their schedule for it. I laughed and mentioned he might want to double check that with someone.