For about a month, the two lights at the bottom right of our fancy climate control system (by the airconditioning and air recirculation switches) would blink when we first started the car. The owner's manual says this means there's something wrong with the system. Then they stopped. Is this an indication that the problem solved itself or that the system gave up trying to tell us and is now sulking? It seems to work fine - temperatures are consistent with the setting, the fan works, the air conditioning works (we tested it during a hot spell). The Volvo dealer says they'll put it on the computer, but are unwilling to give us a quote just for telling us what's wrong - could be 20 minutes, they say, could be an hour ($104), who knows?

Any advice?

I'd take a vacuum cleaner and vacuum out those little air holes above the overhead grab handles in the front seats. Behind those small holes are the cabin temp sensor fans and they are notorious for seizing up and setting trouble codes in the ECC (A/C computer...). They might have just seized for a few minutes and worked themselves free, but left alone they will aquire too much dust on them and seize up permanently. Other than that you can cycle through the vent settings once in a while to keep the actuator arm free. Good luck.


Mike
'95 850T

This remedy worked on my 98 V70. The cabin temp sensor, in this case, is located on the dashboard behind the steering wheel right beside the mirror/rear window defrost switch. I pryed off the small plastic grill and removed the lint and dust caught around the sensor probe with a vacuum cleaner and tweezers. Beware, the sensor is very delicate.

The climate control works fine now and the lights from the recirculation switch and AC switch no longer blink after startup.

Limon

If you are really curious, stop by an Autozone and "borrow" a code reader. I don't know if CA allows them to reset the codes. If it is not happening any more, stop worrying.
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98 V70Rawd(101Kmi), 95 854T(85K mi), 75 164E(173K mi)

You do have problem and the lights blink telling you theres a problem and will stop. Could be a sensor or damper motor. Since you have a 96 you would need to have the codes read with the reader like you mentioned. Since most functions (if not all) seem to work, I wouldnt really worry about it.