NEW 2009 XC70 T6, blower fan replaced twice, and bad again?!?
 

All, thanks for reading!!!

This is a factory new XC70 T6, currently has 11,500 miles, purchased in August/Sept last year. We test drove it with 5 miles on it, and purchased with 16 miles on it.

While turning on the blower fan (A/C / Heat, outside/inside/auto air or any combination), we noticed a repetitive squeak inside the cabin, and when turning off the blower fan, the squeak would go slower with the blower speed, and then when the fan was finally turned off, it would squeak slower, and then eventually stop within about 3-4 seconds of the blower fan turning off.

We bought it to the dealer, and they found a bad blower fan with seized bearings. The whole dash comes out (according to them), and replaced the blower fan with a new one under warranty (took about two weeks to find the problem, and order parts).

About a month later we had a noise while turning on the fan, and turning off the fan that sounded like something was stuck or rubbing on the blower fan blades, and I recorded that on my phone (zip attachment 1). At about 1 second you can hear the noise, but the fan still blew full speed. Brought it back to the dealer, and they said it was a bad blower fan again. Wow, so we burned through two blower fans. A week later at the dealer, and we had a new fan again. That was in October.

So, we're driving yesterday, and what do you think we notice? It wasn't squeaking, or the stuck fan blade noise, but the fan blower just shuts off with a really crazy sound (zip attachment 2). The fan literally sounds horrid when it's turned on, or turned off, and will never blow air. The clicking at the end was me turning the fan all the way off.

I called service this morning from the dealer, and played the recording over the phone, and they are concerned that the dash is too tight, and not fitting right around the fan box. They said they had one XC70 where the dash was too tight, and the dash had to be replaced after it ruined the blower fan. They said they had one car with the fan box fitting too tight, and ruined the fan.

Our longest trip was a six hour drive, and I'm always the one driving. I am definitely not a speed demon, and I try to not exercise the turbo. I turn corners slow, and make full stops before shifting gears. I am extremely respectful driving the XC70 because I want it to last forever (20 years or so?) and it's the family car where we depend on it for safety and reliability.

So frustrating and we're starting to loose our confidence in our dealer, and the parts.

Does anyone know if this is a problem with other XC70's or T6's, and/or the service at our dealer? Anything design/parts that should be recalled?

Yours in frustration,