This happens when I start my car with HVAC fan & direction settings at 'aut' and the temp at max cold: it mimics a turbine jet engine spooling up on startup. Obviously not as loud and the pitch is lower but the 'motion' of the sound is similar; sorry I don't know any other way to describe it. FWIW, I first noticed this coming out of a drive-through carwash, but that may be a red herring.

The air is suitably cold but the sound is getting fierce. I believe the compressor was replaced under warranty by Volvo under the first owner but I have a bad feeling that this one also has gone south.

I checked the 700/900 FAQ but didn't find a matching problem. Would this throw codes? There goes my new computer $$$...............
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Natalie Hill, 1993 965 'Fang' - Paranoia Comes as Standard Equipment on Every Volvo 960

We picked up our 91 945SE for a song and a dance, partly because the "ac was making a terrible racket and isn't working right" according to the seller. As we drove away with the title in hand, my wife reached under the dash and pulled out a wal-mart plastic bag that had been sucked up. Sound went away, the blower blew more efficiently, and we laughed the entire ride home. Hope yours is as easy to solve!

Greg

Awww Come ON Natalie!

With your scientific background I am shocked that you posted this "consumer grade" inquiry. At LEAST take it out of full auto and try to isolate the compressor from the blower motor.

But then, when the Volvo starts acting up and threatening finances again, the head tends to turn to mush, doesn't it?

This does NOT have to be a big repair. Could be as simple as a piece of trash getting sucked up into the squirrel cage. And no, there is no mechanical interference that would set a code. And you can't even get the ECC codes from the normal place. It is a byzantine bitch of a process involving a flashlight and bodily contortions.

Gimme MORE data

Hey! Be nice to me - my brain IS mush! "consumer grade", huh?? Maybee... Prolly... It *is* the blower with something stuck in it - I thought my spooling jet engine analogy and 'motion' of sound was pretty darn good - but I obviously hadn't checked it out thoroughly.

So - how do I clean it out? What that squirrel cage is sucking up is my $$$$ - little did I know (but not surprised) that it's actually attached to my WALLET! Maybe I'll get lucky & pull some cash out of it...

Why are you 'Terrible'?
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Natalie Hill, 1993 965 'Fang' - Paranoia Comes as Standard Equipment on Every Volvo 960

Look high up under the glove box and find a plastic mesh/screen thing. It should be fairly flexible. Pull it out of there and reach up inside, see what you find.

It could be a leaf or pine needle too, in which case it will be inside the squirrel and perhaps tough to get at. A strong vacuum cleaner and a flashlight are nice to have.

FWIW, reciepts and those thin plastic grocery sacks are the top 2 offenders, per my time at the dealer.

Terrible?

A guy named George once sang it best.....

"On the day I was born, The Nurses all gathered 'round

They gazed in wide wonder, at the joy they had found.

The head nurse spoke up, said leave this one alone

They could tell right away, that I was bad to the bone.


B, B, B, Bye.

Because I have little hands, I was able to reach all the way into the vent without removing the grille and pulled out a $500 bill - nahhhh - there was nothing in there...

My 245 would occasionally suck up a leaf but eventually spit it out in pieces. Could it cause some damage in the 960 if I leave it (pun intended) or would it be ok to just wait for it to spit out? Maybe I'll simply turn the stereo up louder...

If leaving it's a bad thing, then how do I remove it? Keep in mind that I have a 1993 - might there be a difference in the set-up since the 960 interior was redesigned?
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Natalie Hill, 1993 965 'Fang' - Paranoia Comes as Standard Equipment on Every Volvo 960

You may have to go at it from up top. This involves removing the windshield wipers, the lower windshield retainer molding and the the plastic air intake grills. From there you can get at the center of the fan.

At work, gotta run. Call me later if you get stuck. I've got 2 cars to fix tonight anyway.

Still making noise...

The lower windshield retainer molding seems to be rather screwed up from a prior removal and I hesitate to aggravate it further. Judging from the small size of the intake grilles under the hood and as you had said, I doubt anything but pine needles could ever get into it. Could they cause some damage insitu (catch fire??) or can I just wait for them to spit out?
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Natalie Hill, 1993 965 'Fang' - Paranoia is Standard Equipment on Every Volvo 960