whenever I start my 1999 Volvo S70, the recirculation on and ac off lights flash for about 20 seconds after the car starts. I looked this up in the manual and it says that this will happen if there is a fault in the Electronic Climate Control. I removed the little vent by the switches to the right of the steering wheel and it appears the little fan in there does not move. Is this easy to replace? What is its purpose and what do you call this little fan? Any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

Not sure. Does all the function of the system work?

 

Heat works and on auto the fan does come on strong when started then lowers as car warms. Air conditioner eats freon each summer. The car is in great shape (Thanks to this forum!) and has 200,000 miles. Thanks for the reply, Howie

 

the fan you are talking about is part of the interior temperature sensor. It constantly draws air in from the interior to check how warm or cold it is. This will cause a code to set in the ECC unit, which will make the lights flash. Change the sensor/ fan unit- you may find one at a salvage yard. Then, see if the lights still flash. If so, have the ECC codes pulled- dealer or Volvo shop should be able to do this- and see what else comes up.

As fr the freon disappearing, you have a leak somewhere. Have UV dye put in, and and check for leaks, though a likely place for a leak is the A/C evaporator... and that's not easy or cheap to replace.