Well, the blower final quit today. What method should I use to replace it? Chainsaw or remove the whole dash? Will it really be quiet after it is replaced? When I bought my brick the blower was noisy. It's hard to imagine it being quiet.

I tried the chainsaw method once and then just recently I tried the method of removing the whole dash. I would have to say that I will never try the chainsaw method again. The best method is not that hard, it is just doing things step by step that is cumbersome, but there is nothing hard about it. No laying upside down on your back trying to grow a third hand to reach and bend in ways that normal hands don't and can't.
If you have taken apart the center console before then it should be a lot easier. You do not have to spend time labelling all of the wires as their is only one way for them to go. The switches all have their own connectors and you can't connect them incorrectly unless you Really try. Just label where the AC wires go onto the switch. Just study them before you take them apart... and label them if you feel you need to. I followed Chris Herbt's posting and it went well. I think with the '86 you won't need to do ay grinding. BTW FCP sells the heater motors for like $43.00 please do not use one out of the junkyard.

Mine was making noise and after checking on the price for a new one I decided to get one from a junk yard. I found a 244 with the front seats already out and figured it should be pretty easy. After about an hour into removeing stuff in the dash and I was still not to the blower I decided to see how much to have someone else do this job! It ended up costing me $400.00 including the new blower and it was much easier to whip out the Visa than pulling what's left of my hair out trying to do this job!

Just my two cents...

Best of luck...
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Volvos4me4ever 1989 245 274K miles still going strong, 1992 745 Turbo 110K miles real nice!

I dunno...

I have my own combo special deluxe method that requires no cutting. The last time I did it I think I set the BB record at 4 hours complete on a warm spring day.

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Happy Bricking!!! - Richard - '87 245 DL , '82 242 GLT - Volvo's are alive and well in Brampton!!!

I vote chainsaw since all the scars will be hidden by the trim panels when you are done. Be prepared for the impellers to be quite difficult to remove, however, possibly necessitating another small hole or two to help them out from behind.
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Andy in St. Paul. '89 244 147K mi, '91 745 Regina 202K, '87 245 lost to rust at 225K

I vote traditional as well.

I'm a blower school graduate. It was two days of work but not all that hard and a person does learn a lot about how Volvos are put together in the process. The main reason I vote traditional is that I hate it when I buy a used (insert item of choice here) and find that the previous owner has been working on it and cobbled together some sort of bailing wire and duct tape fix that mostly works but looks like hell. However, I really like getting things factory fresh. The truest sign of a good mechanic is when the next guy goes in there and can't tell that that part of the car had ever been worked on before.



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Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

Go traditional. A total pain to do all that work - and make sure you don't need the car for a while - but you will have a new relationship with your 240 ever after.

If you have any (ANY) doubts about the heater core this is the time to pull it too, as you have done 75% of the work for that, by the time you get the blower motor out. An advantage (sort of) to the dash-out method is that you get to clean everything up back there, and make sure all wiring is properly connected, maybe run a decent power wire to the stereo, etc. If you R&R the core you can make sure the recirc dashpot and flap are working, cause you have to pull and split the whole HVAC unit.

I'm in the middle of this now - a real father/son bonding experience - and truly looking forward to the satisfaction of firing it all up and hearing just the Whoosh of hot, dry air - no musty smell, squeals, squeaks, chattering...well, you know.
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Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Even a brand-new fan is hardly what you'd call "quiet" on "4".
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'73 142, '75 242, '75 245, '80 245, '86 244, '87 745T

the trouble with chainsawing is you have to invent a procedure as you go along. sometimes that ends up being harder than doing it by the book.
i've seen a range of "alternative" procedures posted, not just here, and some are maybe ok and some are really ridiculous.
my personal range from ridiculous to sensible goes from drilling and sawing holes and fastening and duct taping a checker cab blower and motor in place under the glove compartment, to using the bentley manual and doing a straightforward replacement. with several other procedures or efforts in between.
after i figured out using the bentley manual, i stuck with that.