Volvo S40 not giving heat

ALOIII

MEMBER
2006 VOLVO S40
130,000 MILES

Hi,
my wife is having a fit, her 2006 S40 with 130,000 miles on the body but a new engine with only 40K isn't giving any heat when he turns on the heater. It just blows warm air. I looked all over he net for information and found some saying it is probably the thermostat. I tried to find a video of where the thermostat is but I can't find one anywhere and I can't find it on the engine! I'm not a repair guy by any means but I can do the basic things and could remove a couple bolts. Can someone give me a good detail of exactly where it is (picture is worth a 1000words!).
something else, I saw a response to a question here about AC temp changing and it mentioned funny things happening with a low battery. I recently changed the battery I this car and immediately after the key didn't always start the car, we ended up bringing it in and they replaced the ignition for a pretty $500 bill and then I read online it is usually just the ignition antennae and should have been much less $$. Anyway, could there be a connection with the new battery going in and it throwing temp control out the window? The AC does work fine.
thanks for any help
al

6 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,758 POSTS

With the engine at full operating temp, locate the 2 heater hoses where they go into the

firewall and feel them to see if they are both hot to the touch. If they are both hot, the

heat in that vehicle is controlled by a blend door that regulates heated air flow. It is

operated by an electric motor/actuator. The problem can be that the actuator is stripped or

inoperative or the door itself could be damaged. This is what needs to be determined by

examining the actuator and see if it is responding to heat change commands or not.

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Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 AT 12:21 PM

JIS001

MECHANIC
3,408 POSTS

You could just need something as simple as a recalibration of the damper motors. You would need to go to a shop that has the proper equipment to this procedure or go to the dealership for this? Worse case scenario you have the blend door for the temperature control binding and that would require that you replace the whole climate box? But I would start with a calibration and maybe a climate control module software update if one is available? Good luck and keep us posted.

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Thursday, September 1st, 2011 AT 2:47 AM

WRENCHTECH

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20,758 POSTS

Before you go running off to the dealer, perform the tests I suggested and we can find out whether it's even an air door issue or not.

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Thursday, September 1st, 2011 AT 9:45 AM

ALOIII

MEMBER
2 POSTS

My wife set up an appt. Yesterday and they told her to bring it in today as it could just be the calibration. She started having AC issues yesterday as well, brought in this morning and the manager had it checked out and confirmed it just needed calibration due to the battery being changed out. Didn't charge her for this call(that is a first!) Too bad that so many things can go wrong just due to changing a battery! Guess that prevents your average person from doing it themselves.
Thanks for the replies.

Al

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Thursday, September 1st, 2011 AT 1:35 PM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,758 POSTS

Your car is full of computers that all rely on battery power to retain their memory. In the future they make a "memory saver" that you can plug into the cigarette lighter when you disconnect the battery.