Hi! I'm new here and hoping someone can semi-diagnose what's going on with my wagon. A few months ago, my a/c began acting up. One day it worked, the next day not so much. I found that if I drove over a speed bump (fast), or slammed my door, it would miraculously start working. Because of that, I suspected I was dealing with an electrical issue. Maybe a loose connection somewhere, and the jostling from the door slamming or speed bump helped..? I'll add that the majority of the time, my air did work fine, there were just a few occasions when it did not. However, within the last week or so, it has refused to work 3 or 4 times, and when I attempt my speed bump or door slam 'fix', it still doesn't work. To clarify, when I say it's not working, it's not blowing any kind of air from the vents. No noise, no warm air, no nothing.
My husband refuses to take it to a shop ("I can fix it myself"), but he has not made an effort to try to diagnose and fix the problem. Therefore, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. (yikes!) I welcome any suggestions, tips, advice, but please speak to me in layman's terms.
Thanks! Holly

fyi: 2001 V70 T5. Anything else about the car itself you need to know?

 

Hi Holly: Have you tried to switch the fan switch to the manual slide option? Does the AC and recycle lights flash together? To understand you correct, the problem is that the fan simply is not blowing.

 

Yes, I've tried fiddling with the switches, and still nothing. The fan is not blowing anything. Yesterday, when I first started the car, the air didn't work. Drove over a speed bump, and voila, it worked. Turned off the car to run into the post office for a few minutes, came out and it didn't work. Then as I was driving home, all of a sudden it came on. I think it's possessed.

 

Next time it doesn't work jiggle the ignition key. There are a lot of things wired through the ignition and when these things get some age on them they go out and strange things start happening. Let me know.

My 960 had a bad ignition switch and I had to turn the key back a little after I started the car, it would not spring back to the proper position. I drove it like that for a couple of years but if someone drove the car, and they didn't turn the key back, a lot of stuff wouldn't work. Windows, cruise control, would not shift out of park without pressing the release, mirrors, etc.

 

Ok, I'll try that, thank you!
I love my car, but the a/c is only one of many quirks it has. Another one I'm baffled by, is sometimes after I start the car and press the accelerator, it doesn't work! I have to shut off the car, restart, and that fixes it. I guess it's better than the brakes not working.

 

Sounds like the ignition again.

 

So Saturday evening no a/c again. Jiggled the bejezus out of the ignition key and still nothing. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

 

More than one problem. Maybe there is a power issue. Does the compressor kick in? Heck, I don't know. Did the fan work when the accelorator did not work?