Thanks to Michael Cerkowski for reposting this in alt.autos.volvo

From: Ian Edwards In article <36B0F7B4.674E@albany.net>, Michael Cerkowski writes >If it's any consolation, those blowers can screech for quite a long >time before failing. The one on the "new" 240 we have did it briefly >during subzero weather. We lowered the speed to "1" and it stopped. My >'67 122S has a blower that would also do it occasionally. It's a shame >that no one has figured out a way (if one exists) to get in there and >just squirt a little oil into the bearing... Funny you should say that! Here is a copy of a post I kept from the alt.autos.volvo newsgroup from about 6 months ago. My fan motor was just starting to squeak so I filed this reply in my '240 useful' file. Quote mode on> The 240 heater motor is prone to failure of the lubricant in bearings. This is typical after about 8 years (more or less depending on how much you use the fan). When the lubricant fails, you will notice the fan running slower, emitting a squeal, and/or emitting a burning insulation odour. Repair by a dealer involves replacing the motor (~$150 part) plus about 7 hours labour. This can easily cost a total of $700. For the more frugal and those willing to invest a little time and virtually no money, there is another solution! It is relatively simple to lubricate the motor bearings. This will take the average ham fisted home mechanic 1 to 2 hours the first time and probably no more than 1/2 hour thereafter. Re-lubrication is recommended every 2 - 4 years (depending on use). For the benefit of those interested in trying this process, I describe it below. I have added the relevant parts of a posting by Bill Leonard after he did the job. - - - - Remove the centre console so that you can get access to the heater housing (usually beige plastic, but later grey). The centre section of the housing is a drum about 8 inches in diameter and 8 inches long. The centre axis is horizontal from left to right. At each end the drum shaped section the housing is a couple of inches larger in diameter. An ASCII art rendition of the view with your eyeball between the driver's and passenger's seats looking forward: ___ ___ | |____________| | | | | | | | | | | | 0 @ 0 | | | | | | | |____________| | |___| |___| o = where to drill holes @ = optional hole for improved visibility At each end of the 8 in dia drum, and an inch above the middle, drill a 1/2 in dia hole - 3/8 in will do if you find 1/2" hard. An even larger hole will make the job easier and will not adversely affect the hater. Your drill will be horizontal, pointing towards the front of the car. You will need an oil can with a long spout or other means to deliver the oil through the holes to the bearings. A light oil (like sewing machine oil) will be best, as it must be able to soak into the porous 'oilite' bearing material. Now, with a flashlight or other light showing the way, look through one hole and put the spout of the oil can through the other. You will be able to see the bushing on the end of the motor shaft. There is no oil port as such, but it is pretty obvious where the bushings are. Put a drop or two of oil on the bushing. Now switch holes and lubricate the other bushing. Let the oil soak into the porous bushing material for a half hour and repeat the process. Try the fan. It should run like new. Seal the holes with duct tape or any other method you prefer and reassemble anything you took apart to get in there. With any luck at all, the motor will run happily for another few years. Comments from anyone who can improve on the description or otherwise add something are most welcome. From: Bill Leonard First I want to Thank Randy Hess for telling me how to do this. Here is my explanation: First disconnect the battery. Remove side panels. This is done by removing the two screws on top and two plastic clips on bottom of each side panel. Now console face should pull forward at the top, a little. Remove two phillips screws from bottom of console face. Pull console back and remove wires from switches and lights on top of console face. I marked these wires with electricians number tape but you can just remember if you want. I left in the a/c control switch attached to it's capillary tube (white plastic coated flexible tube) and just moved the console face out of the way by removing the first of 4 big screws holding the console to its supports and slipping the cap tube by. Remove the other 3 big screws, the console should be loose. Remove the 4 smaller screws that hold the plate with the heater controls, ( temp slide, vacuum buttons and motor switch). You should now be able to remove the console and this should be all you need to take apart. Now, move the wires out of the way and take a good look at the plastic motor housing. Mine is tan plastic, the motor sits in this in a horizontal positions. One each end is a fan blade housing attached to the motor housing. Drill a hole (I used a dremel type tool) small to start, about 2 inches in from the end. Be careful, if you are too close to the fan blade housing you will drill in to a lip of that on the inside of the motor housing. That won't hurt anything, it will tell you where you are and you can drill a little more toward the motor. You want to stay out from the motor as far as possible in order to get a good angle to shoot the lube into the motor bushing. At this point I used a flexible light on a tube that a friend lent me. Walmart sells them for $14. the light is at the end of a 12" tube and can fit thru a 1/4 " hole. It also helped me position the spray tube so I could spray the lube into the bushing. The holes ended up being about 1" dia and could have been bigger without hurting anything. The motor shaft is about 4 " lg on each end of the motor. I covered the holes with aluminum duct tape but cloth would work too. Put it back together and that is that. How long the fix works is unknown tome. Bill Leonard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quote mode off < Good luck, Regards, -- Ian Edwards. ('88 240, '84 924, '74 MG BGT) Watford, United Kingdom.