Volvo: Electronic Climate Control (ECC), electronic climate control, volvo v70xc

Question
Hi Ray, I have '99 Volvo V70XC with 116K miles (still young). The Recirculation ON and AC OFF lights on the ECC penal are flashing about 20 seconds every time I start the car. As far as I know it indicates the ECC failure. It's going on for at least 9 months. About a month ago I put a little bit of R134a in the system but I didn't see any significant difference. AC blows cold air and on the sunny 80F+ day my black car is cold enough. In the winter it was blowing hot air. Temperature controls, automatic and manual blower settings are working properly too (if I set blower to auto and temperature dial to the same temperature as outside then blower runs at a very low speed). Recently I also replaced cabin air filter where I found the old one very dirty. It seems that everything works properly but I just worry that it might cause a problem later on.

This is my 4th Volvo and I still keep my first one, '88 740 GLE Wagon where we approaching 300K miles (299290's). It still runs with the original clutch and not even one bolt on the engine was ever touched. I changed only few electrical parts and only ones - alternator, fuel pomp and starter. Other then that - scheduled maintenance as recommended by original Volvo manual. Oh, light bulbs and tires…

I like to stay on top of things and that is why I have this question. Are those flashing lights can be reset or it indicates some deeper problem that I didn’t even get to yet? What sensors are actually activating them and where are they located?

Thank you for your help,

Zenon


Answer
Zenon,
The flashing lights mean there is a fault code in the system. You need a scanner to access the system read the codes and repair the faults. At the very least read the codes and clear them to see if they happen to return, and deal with them at that time. No way to know what sensors are causing the fault with out reading the codes. Now I have seen cars that have the flashing lights and the system works well and the lights go on with out anyone reading the codes. Just adding freon to the system will not always make the A/C work well. The proper amount must be in the system. If there is too little or too much the system will not work well. When I service a system I always recycle all the freon, evacuate the system and add the proper charge, along with some oil with dye in case of a leak.