Hi Folks! Hope all is well!

Just recently I got a new (to me) car... it's a 2013 S60 T5 AWD. She's been running alright since I got her back in April. I just recently have been having issues with the HVAC system, though. It started probably 3 weeks ago or so when the weather started to get really hot and muggy. Whenever the car was really hot, air wouldn't blow out of the vents until after a while of driving (even with the **** manually turned all the way up, and the auto mode off). I figured it was some sort of system Volvo had in place so that it wouldn't blow hot air through the vents to make it even more uncomfortable, but now I am convinced there is an even bigger issue here. The blower motor doesn't seem to work at all for about 90% of the time, and for the 10% of the time it does work, the air coming out of the vents is very faint, or probably even half capacity, with the **** at 100%.

At first I thought it was a bad capacitor in the fan, because it seemed it would start after being assisted, (opening the moon-roof and causing suction in the cabin, causing the fan to spin.) And that kept it on for a few moments but it wouldn't stay on. I did some research and now I believe it may be either a bad fan resistor or a bad blower motor? Please, if anybody is willing to share some of their wisdom, I don't want to spend money on the wrong part and end up having to buy more than is needed.

I appreciate any and all help, and thank you for your time.

Steve

 

UPDATE

Hi again,

Yesterday I was told that it was possibly low refrigerant causing a low pressure switch causing the condenser to disengage. I went out and bought a can of R-134a with a gauge. After locating the low pressure service port, I checked the levels and it seemed to be at a good level. (40psi @ 75 degrees Fahrenheit). So it was holding pressure. No leaks, no low pressure. Upon locating the low pressure service port, I found the fan motor... so I stuck my hand in while the **** was at 100%... and I just gave it a light spin, it took, and it continued spinning by itself.

With that said, what does this mean? Is this a bad fan motor?

Thanks again,

Steve

 

I have read that the BERH/HELLA fans will go bad. Not an easy DIY project. My colleague was having this same problem with her Volvo. We check the pressure and it was within spec. She took it an independent AC shop and they "bled the system" and recharged it and it started working again properly.

Here's a good video for examining the blower replacement...