Volvo RWD 200 Forum

INDEX FOR 10/2025(CURRENT) INDEX FOR 4/2007 200 INDEX

[<<]  [>>]


THREADED THREADED EXPANDED FLAT PRINT ALL
MESSAGES IN THIS THREAD




  REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

A/C fan questions 200

I acquired a 91 245 and am trying to learn more about how to get the A/C working as well as can be expected. I see a fan behind the grill. I have not seen it activated when the car is running, at least not when I have checked it. How can I confirm that the auxiliary A/C cooling fan is switching on at the proper time?








  •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE Replies to this message will be emailed.    PRINT   SAVE 

    A/C fan questions 200

    The fan will only run under the following condition(s):

    - You have enough Freon in the tank. This is monitored by a low pressure switch near the lower radiator hose.

    - The relay that control's the fan works. This is located on the left side of the engine compartment.

    1. Test the fan to see that it actually works. You can supply 12 Volts to it and ground and it should come to life. If it doesn't, then its toast.

    2. Test the relay and see if it engages. If the relay tests out fine, and you've already proved (1) above, then it has to be the either the low pressure switch is bad, OR you are low on freon, OR both.

    You have to test all of these components to figure out which of the three or more are bad before the fan will come to life.

    Hope this helps.

    Here is a wiring diagram to help:
    http://www.volvowiringdiagrams.com/volvo/240%20Wiring%20Diagrams/Volvo%20240%201991.pdf

    Let us know what the final problem is and your solution.

    Regards,

    Matt








  •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

    A/C fan questions 200

    What if I wire in a switch to turn it on from the dash? Should I flip it any time the A/C is on?








    •   REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

      A/C fan questions 200

      Hi,

      In a single word, No!

      You can rig up a light bulb to see when it comes on and off. One wire, with a bulb in it, going between its power and onward to ground point will work. Same for the compressor clutch.
      Run them through firewall on the drivers side and have them twinkle from a crevice somewhere temporarily.

      I'm just guessing and will be stepping out on a limb here, but the fan out there may not come on until the outside temperature is up around 80 degrees or if the heater is on at the same time to raise up the heat load on the condenser. Conditions vary! In windshield defogger mode it never comes on.
      Rule of thumb is the condenser or evaporator operate with a thirty degree change of temperature differential.
      In other words pressures/temperature scales on the gauges, high or low side, will be above or below the ambient temperature. On a condenser the pressures can be higher due to outside influences i.e. the engine or radiator infrared penetration.

      By running a fan outside all the time refrigeration pressure ratios would not be properly maintained. You would actually lose some efficiency of working outside the refrigerant correct entropy zone.

      I know it does not seem right that more air and less heat must be better but not in this case.
      Trouble is it does not work that way with thermal dynamics with compressing and expanding of these chemicals and have them work for us.
      The sizes of the condenser and most importantly the evaporator help contol volume change which is directly related to heat exchange rates of all involved. This sizes the size of expansion device.
      On a nineties car it's a "fixed by the lab boys," deal. They cheaped out using an orifice, IMHO again, as conditions vary by climate and a car moves through them. The human has to adjust and we do.

      There is even a "bell curve" on the circulating fans themselves. The speed or how fast that they can be rotated has a zone to be most efficient. To slow it's not moving enough air because it does not create enough low pressure in the center. If Too fast, it suffers cavitation when vanes start turning in their own "wake," to use a simpler term.

      Volvo or any car manufacturer would not have put in a pressure switch, if it wasn't needed for several reasons.
      Bottom line, they don't spend money they don't have too! Don't bypass it.

      Here is another reason, it is electrical loading on the alternator, to keep its size down.
      On this note, I wonder if police interceptors use two alternators to power extra computers, radios and lights even if they might be LED nowadays?
      Their gas mileage has to suck! No wonder there is a monoxide problem along a highway anyways .... Hello?
      I see them idling a lot with their blinding lights focused ahead on their prey! They gotta watch out for us few crazy buzzards.
      (:-)

      Phil







<< < > >>



©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.