My heater blower started chirping recently on my V70 ('06 5 speed). The car has manual climate control. The chirping occurred at lower fan speeds and went away as the fan speed increased. The chirping was much more pronounced on cold days and be inaudible on warm days. I mentioned the blower sound to the dealership and they confirmed it was a rare early oncoming failure of a V70 blower bearing. The set me up to replace under warranty.

The replacement was completed two days ago no charge. I may be OCD but I swear the new blower is both louder (annoyingly loud) and weaker than the original blower. While the heater in the car does work, I have to turn the fan speed higher and the thermostat setting higher than before to get the same temp results. I live in Maine where we get down to zero from time to time and I can foresee a time when I could max the heater out and not be able to heat the car. The old blower, except for the chirpy, did the job quietly and powerfully.

The baffles are performing normally, and I have closed off the dash vents so they don't bleed the blower pressure. Is there anything the dealership could have set up wrong? Has the OEM blower design changed? Could the thermostat settings / functions have changed in the blower swap? Am I insane?

I regret not looking into the blower myself and handing the car to the dealership. I am sure I could have lubed the old blower bearing and kept it going. Lesson learned, I guess. Thanks for any insights. Thanks for the great posts! I have read a bunch of blower posts but figured I'd start this one.

 

Here's a thought. Could the fan be wired backwards? Would it still blow, but weakly?