Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hello everyone,

I was wondering what these blanks are for. I'm guessing the one next to the heated seats is to turn off traction control on cars that have it?
No clue on what the one under the glovebox might be though. It just leads to wires behind.




thanks

The one by the heated seats is always a blank. As far as I know the only function Volvo ever had in mind for it was for a central locking switch for the US market that never happened. Don't know if it still is but it used to be a legal requirement in some US states that cars with central locking must have an interior override switch.

It is very useful for fitting a switch to override the electric aerial, you just press out the blank and fit an extra spot-light switch. Balances that panel up nicely!!

The blank under the glovebox is a small air vent on air-con cars. It cannot be closed, the idea being that since the interior fan is always on at its lowest speed, you can't close all the vents against it.

Some early models had a similar vent or blank in the bottom of the steering column shroud - on early cars the rheostat is on the LHS. Later cars it moved to the bottom in the middle and the vent/blank was done away with.

David

On my car that blank under the glovebox has a removeable shroud which reveals some extra fuses as far as I can see and is handy for looking down when replacing the CEM, other than that, it doesn't really serve a purpose

Thanks for the answers!

MisterH wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 12, 2022 5:58 pm

On my car that blank under the glovebox has a removeable shroud which reveals some extra fuses as far as I can see and is handy for looking down when replacing the CEM, other than that, it doesn't really serve a purpose

The shrouding is the rear pipework for when there is a vent there.

When I am next outside I'll take a photo of the vent in place for you.

David

The mystery switch was indeed for the central locking - it's a legal requirement in America and overrides the door release - you have to press the switch first before the car will unlock and it has to be in the centre consol. Our Saab has the same thing - we've had it a couple of years now and still haven't got used to the door handles not working until the switch is pressed. Just to add to the frustration it's difficult to find in the dark - maybe it should light up but has a blown bulb.