1997 Volvo 960 a/c problem

ITSmyVOLVO · Post by **ITSmyVOLVO** » 14 Oct 2010, 14:50

hi, im new to this site and it seems awesome. so i was wondering if anyone could help me out.
my air conditioner is not working very well at all. it cools great , but when i select on the climate control to send the air to the face, it sends it all to my feet.
any selection on the climate control and no change.
when i accelerate the amount of air also seems to decrease.
does anyone know the problem? i have changes the electronic climate control and that didnt seem to fix anything.

Kmaniac in California USA · Post by **Kmaniac in California USA** » 14 Oct 2010, 18:37

Sounds to me like you have a vacuum leak. The air blending doors inside the dashboard are vacuum controlled. I suspect you have either leaking vacuum controllers, a disconnected hose, a leaking hose or a leaking vacuum reservoir. Start checking the integrity of your vacuum operating system before replacing anymore parts. Don't replace a part because you THINK it is faulty, replace only those that are PROVEN faulty. You save a lot of time and money that way.

ITSmyVOLVO · Post by **ITSmyVOLVO** » 14 Oct 2010, 23:07

thanks alot. do you know how i can check those?
and where can i find them and what they look like?
i am in serious need of this fix since im in arizona and 100 degree weather is not ideal with out a/c

Kmaniac in California USA · Post by **Kmaniac in California USA** » 15 Oct 2010, 08:48

ITSmyVOLVO wrote:thanks alot. do you know how i can check those?
and where can i find them and what they look like?
i am in serious need of this fix since im in arizona and 100 degree weather is not ideal with out a/c

I had the same problem with my 740 when I bought it six years ago. Air always blew out of the defroster vents regardless of vent selection and I had no heat regardless of heat setting. I found where the vacuum line to the controls Tee'd into the engine vacuum line (see below), hooked up a vacuum pump to the line and and pulled a vacuum on the controls. I discovered that they would select once the vacuum pump pulled a vacuum.

I traced the vacuum line down to a vacuum reservoir under the car (see below). I found the plastic reservoir was cracked and sucking unmetered air into the engine. Once I replaced the vacuum reservoir, the ability to select vent setting and control heat returned.

You could have a disconnected vacuum line, a leaking vacuum line or a leaking reservoir, as I did. Check this out on your car.

ITSmyVOLVO · Post by **ITSmyVOLVO** » 15 Oct 2010, 10:45

thanks. i was also reading around, and saw that some people had the same problem that was caused by the vacumm solenoid under the passenger side.
do know if that could be the cause for this problem?
because i saw i didnt have any disconnected or broken hoases

peteco · Post by **peteco** » 18 Oct 2010, 20:19

I got a 97 960 back in May with the same problem. I fixed a couple of leaky hoses. I checked the vacuum diaphrams and they were good. Then by chance I discovered when I wiggled the electrical connector on the vacuum solenoid behind the glove box it had some broken solder joints on it. After resoldering the connector to board joints on the solenoid that fixed the problem. See the below sites for more info, mainly on vacuum leaks:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 8&p=107551

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... f=2&t=5445

http://www.turbobricks.org/forums/showt ... ?p=1280228

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.ph ... 960-wagon/

http://www.turbobricks.org/forums/showt ... 2&t=214780

http://www.swedishbricks.net/700900FAQ/ ... %20700/900

ITSmyVOLVO · Post by **ITSmyVOLVO** » 19 Oct 2010, 10:18

will i hear a hissing noise if there is a leaky hose? (the colored one coming from the solenoid)

peteco · Post by **peteco** » 19 Oct 2010, 21:21

The solenoid shown in this post has 7 vacuum tubes connected to it.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... 8&p=107551

When I wiggled the green electrical connector I heard relays clicking within the solenoid and also vacuum hissing as the vacuum was being redirected. This indicated an electrical problem within the solenoid. I took the tube assembly off (don't pull each tube off). Then I removed the solenoid and resoldered the contacts. That fixed my problem.

If the solenoid is shot then these guys have used ones.

www.voluparts.com

If you hear a constant hissing then that means a vacuum leak somewhere. It could be a leaking solenoid, or a leak somewhere else in a vacuum line or one of the several bellows that actuate the doors that direct the airflow.

I would think it is possible that a leaking bellows may not have an audible hiss. A Mighty Vac vacuum tester is a great tool for tracking down vacuum leaks and for testing bellows.

Kent T · Post by **Kent T** » 20 Oct 2010, 17:03

I had the same problem in my 1997 960 Sedan. Had a vacuum leak cured by a new replacement hose. Had to put refrigerant in my AC system and all is well. Chilton's manual and a friend who's a good mechanic helped me a lot. Welcome to Volvo ownership and hope you get this cured. Glad to see you on MVS.

ITSmyVOLVO · Post by **ITSmyVOLVO** » 21 Oct 2010, 00:48

by replacing one of the hoses coming out of the solenoid?
and its great to be here. its a great site