Josh Thatguy
10-09-2015, 02:39 AM
Love my '04 XC70... it's the perfect rig for moving bass guitar gear to and from gigs.
Thanks in advance for time and advice. I've searched this forum and Google until I'm cross-eyed, and I've seen the postings by those lucky enough to solve a dead-blower issue by simply (!) replacing the blower motor (bm, which is funny to me as I type at 4a.m. on my night job) and resistor.
Here's MY situation:
2004 XC70, 210k miles, I've owned it for about two years and 40k miles and have done routine and necessary maintenance so far. The blower motor has had a noticeable but almost pleasant "whirring" noise since the day I bought it. I grew up with a dad in the highline car business including hundreds of Volvos through the years, and I recognized the noise as slightly abnormal, but it functioned fine, with the exception of about 6 or 7 times when I couldn't get the blower to engage a fan speed until I "love tapped" the underside of the glove box area, then it would fire up and function at all fan speeds.
Two weeks ago and out of the blue, the blower motor stopped entirely. No noise or warning, it simply stopped. I assumed a small tap or slap in the usual spot under the dash would do the trick, but it didn't help. No fanspeed at all.
Fuse #26 is fine, and I replaced it with a new spare just in case it was blown on an edge I couldn't see. I removed the blower motor/resistor assembly per Youtube and forum instructions (and I even got that horrible screw out of the far back tab without breaking the plastic off). I made test wires for it by attaching female spade connectors to 16gauge wire, then hooked the spades to the + and - connectors in the connector of the resistor (and I determined those by viewing the harness connector under the dash). When touching the bare ends to the + and - on the battery in the back of the XC, I got nothing... no spin. I assumed the blower or resistor were dead. I Ebay'ed a used resistor and motor assembly from a reputable seller who sold the unit as "tested and working." I got it yesterday, and before installing and tightening everything up, I plugged it in to the harness to test it... and, NOTHING. No spin. I was under the impression that applying power and ground to a blower motor at the plug would make it spin. If I had even gotten one or two seconds of spin as confirmation, I'd buckle it back in place and put the underside of the dash back together. Speaking of which, the black ground wire from the harness is intact and firmly attached to the grounding bolt under the plastic trim in the footwell. I also did the same test-wire check with the spade ends connected to the Ebay resistor/blower assembly, and got the same result as I did with the old one: no spin.
Touching meter tips on the red and black prongs of the underdash harness, I get a swing of the needle whether the engine is off or on.
Meanwhile, the climate control panel seems to be doing what it should, in the fact that I can engage the A/C compressor (I can hear it kick on, and the indicator lights up green), the heated seat controls work fine, the fan speed lights all work as they should, etcetera. The Recirculate and Auto indicators light when engaged, but I have NO control over whether fresh air is entering the cabin, nor can I control the temperature of the air coming in from the hole where the old blower motor was. On a two hour drive home from a show last night at highway speed, I was quite thankful the indicated outside air temp was a comfy 68*, which is what the interior of the car was at 80mph with the cruise control set and the sunroof open.
So... do you think I got a bum used resistor/blower assembly, or am I missing something else that I haven't read about in my research yet? I'm anxious to get this solved, as right now, the XC is much like a motorcycle in the fact that my driving enjoyment is entirely dependent on the weather around me!
Again, thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance for time and advice. I've searched this forum and Google until I'm cross-eyed, and I've seen the postings by those lucky enough to solve a dead-blower issue by simply (!) replacing the blower motor (bm, which is funny to me as I type at 4a.m. on my night job) and resistor.
Here's MY situation:
2004 XC70, 210k miles, I've owned it for about two years and 40k miles and have done routine and necessary maintenance so far. The blower motor has had a noticeable but almost pleasant "whirring" noise since the day I bought it. I grew up with a dad in the highline car business including hundreds of Volvos through the years, and I recognized the noise as slightly abnormal, but it functioned fine, with the exception of about 6 or 7 times when I couldn't get the blower to engage a fan speed until I "love tapped" the underside of the glove box area, then it would fire up and function at all fan speeds.
Two weeks ago and out of the blue, the blower motor stopped entirely. No noise or warning, it simply stopped. I assumed a small tap or slap in the usual spot under the dash would do the trick, but it didn't help. No fanspeed at all.
Fuse #26 is fine, and I replaced it with a new spare just in case it was blown on an edge I couldn't see. I removed the blower motor/resistor assembly per Youtube and forum instructions (and I even got that horrible screw out of the far back tab without breaking the plastic off). I made test wires for it by attaching female spade connectors to 16gauge wire, then hooked the spades to the + and - connectors in the connector of the resistor (and I determined those by viewing the harness connector under the dash). When touching the bare ends to the + and - on the battery in the back of the XC, I got nothing... no spin. I assumed the blower or resistor were dead. I Ebay'ed a used resistor and motor assembly from a reputable seller who sold the unit as "tested and working." I got it yesterday, and before installing and tightening everything up, I plugged it in to the harness to test it... and, NOTHING. No spin. I was under the impression that applying power and ground to a blower motor at the plug would make it spin. If I had even gotten one or two seconds of spin as confirmation, I'd buckle it back in place and put the underside of the dash back together. Speaking of which, the black ground wire from the harness is intact and firmly attached to the grounding bolt under the plastic trim in the footwell. I also did the same test-wire check with the spade ends connected to the Ebay resistor/blower assembly, and got the same result as I did with the old one: no spin.
Touching meter tips on the red and black prongs of the underdash harness, I get a swing of the needle whether the engine is off or on.
Meanwhile, the climate control panel seems to be doing what it should, in the fact that I can engage the A/C compressor (I can hear it kick on, and the indicator lights up green), the heated seat controls work fine, the fan speed lights all work as they should, etcetera. The Recirculate and Auto indicators light when engaged, but I have NO control over whether fresh air is entering the cabin, nor can I control the temperature of the air coming in from the hole where the old blower motor was. On a two hour drive home from a show last night at highway speed, I was quite thankful the indicated outside air temp was a comfy 68*, which is what the interior of the car was at 80mph with the cruise control set and the sunroof open.
So... do you think I got a bum used resistor/blower assembly, or am I missing something else that I haven't read about in my research yet? I'm anxious to get this solved, as right now, the XC is much like a motorcycle in the fact that my driving enjoyment is entirely dependent on the weather around me!
Again, thanks in advance.