A mere 3-1/2 years ago during the first hot May day, I turned on my A/C. First I heard a pop, smelled something foul, and finally blackish smoke came into the cabin at which time the fan stopped and I've been without heat, defrost, and A/C since.

Before I started doing my own work, I took the car to my independent shop. I was told it was a $1400 job. I would need the fan and the complete wiring/electronics replaced. It makes sense to me that it's only the fan that needs replacing.

I have purchased the new fan and motor/cage assy. I'm ready to tackle it but have not been able to find any instructions or notes on how to do so other than it takes less than an hour. I don't do well with the Chilton's book. It assumes I know something. I have been able to replace my starter, neutral safety switch and ignition switch with the brickboard.com users' help.

Can you help me again? Many thanks and good karma (and carma) to you in 2007. Marcia in Seattle

The 1993 Golden Volvo with 201220 miles

There is a pretty good description of what you need to do to get at the blower motor here:

http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/pdash850.php

The smoke may well have been the blower balast resistor.

Here is a link with pics:

http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/pdash850.php

The hardest part is getting the glovebox out! I had to remove the cover for the light to get a grip for pulling. It is an easy job to replace the fan, but the connector at the 11 o'clock position on the fan slides up (!) to come off, the others just pull off normally.
Don't forget to check your fuses!

Klaus
--
1975 164 w/174,800mi (Sold) 1995 850T w/91,000mi, 1998 V70R w/129,000mi

Hey Marcia:

I will be glad to help because I just did this job last month - several times - long story there. Is your car auto climate control?? You can establish that by looking at your heater/ac panel - does it have an auto setting to the far left?

This job is not terrible if you take your time. First thing is to disconnect the battery. You will be working underneath the passenger airbag assembly and disconnecting the battery will protect you from any accidental discharge of that unit.

To start, you need to remove the glove box door. A small screwdriver will release each hinge tab from the door portion. Then remove all the screws in the glove box and remove the box. Watch out for the glovebox light on the left. After removing the glove box, remove the protective kick panel under the glovebox - torx sockets/screwdriver needed for this. Pull that panel down and it will reveal a knee bolster unit - black tube- look for two bolts (acess hole - can get a 12/13mm socket on an extension bar to remove) on the right and one in the left side, pull that unit out. This exposes the fan and resistor area under the dash. You can see the blower motor on the right covered with two big wiring harnesses that readily detach - there is also a power connector to the fan assembly. Disconnect the power connection on the fan and move back the wiring harness. You can see the fan is held in with 4 torx screws - an 1/4 ratch with extension works well here. Remove all the screws - carefully wiggle the fan assembly out - this takes some imagination to find the correct way out through the tight space. Put in the new fan assembly and reconnect.

However, you might need a resistor/power stage unit also - this is what failed on my 93 850. It is to the left of the fan unit and buried under a wire harness that is easily moved aside. The resistor fits into the ac/heater plastic case. Around $100 for the resistor if you have auto climate control - if you a manual climate control, the resistor unit is different.

My resistor was faulty and caused the climate ECU to fry! Smoke out of the dash - it took three attempts of replacing the motor with a used one first, then a used ecu unit and finally a resistor. Ended up spending $450 to fix it after having my independent garage look at it after I could not get it to work.

If you have auto climate, your ecu might be suspect, especially if you smelled smoke. And that might make sense if you were quoted that high of a price to fix it. The climate control unit is about $75-90 used (over 300 new), resistor $109 for a Volvo part, and the blower about $120-150. I bought the Bosch motor separately and put my own cage on it - However, I received two defective Bosch motors and fianlly settled on leaving a used fan motor in my 93.

Bob Weber
Hamilton, Ohio 45013
65 Volvos since 1979
Just bought # 65 for $1000
96 850 red wagon 184K named Red Rover

93 850 Gold sedan Dusty 184K (for sale)
94 850 red wagon Ruby 130K
93 850 5 spd green sedan Wicked 163K