A/C problems cold then hot, 1998 S70

scigarzz · Post by **scigarzz** » 15 May 2011, 15:08

I have a 1998 s70 sedan, i have replaced the evaporator and the orifice tube.
my problem it works fine for about an hour or so then it blows hot air.
if i turn off the car for a while......15 or 20 minutes, it blows cold again
, when it acted up today, i checked the clutch and it was not moving, do i need a new clutch or should i get a whole assembly ?
is this a problem with this model or ??
also does this have more than one compressor model ?
thanks in advance

Post by **jimmy57** » 15 May 2011, 15:17

The troubles of A/C have been covered many many times here.
Your symptoms fit the compressor clutch plate having worn enough for the gap to be too large. The electric coil that pulls in the clutch plate to engage it gets hot and its magnetic force drops and can't pull in the clutch when it does its normal cycling on/off. When it cools off the magnet coil works again.
The clutch gap is not very hard to adjust. Most shops will not do it. It is not 100% successful so they woukd rather put a new compressor or a new clutch on. The clutch assembly is almost the same price as a compressor.
Search for "compressor clutch gap" and you will find some very good instructions.

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 15 May 2011, 18:24

It could be your 3 pin preosstor switch or your high pressure switch. Get some AC sensors from a scrap yard and take it from there. That is how I repaired my AC which was out for a year.

Post by **jimmy57** » 15 May 2011, 21:52

was your out for a year a/c working for an hour before it quit and would work again after a cool down?

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 16 May 2011, 01:08

No mines would work every once in a blue moon for a few seconds.

Your sounds like you have a high pressure problem. Which means the fire wall sensor.

IownthreeVolvos · Post by **IownthreeVolvos** » 16 May 2011, 16:46

I have a similar problem with my 2000 V70 XC, which has about 148,000 miles on it. I never turned the car off when the A/C ran hot, I just turned the A/C off for about 10 minutes. This problem developed late last summer and the Volvo dealer service people insisted I would have to replace the evaporator. I decided to wait until the warm weather returned this year to put off the repair cost. Lately, I have been taking my car to an independent mechanic, who is a Volvo specialist. His diagnosis is the same as jimmy57's opinion in this thread. This makes more sense to me, since when my car's A/C is working, it blows very cold air. Usually when an evaporator fails, this is not the case. My thanks to everyone for sharing insight into this problem. Ed

scigarzz · Post by **scigarzz** » 16 May 2011, 20:29

thanks, it sounds like my gap is to large. i will regap
i love this forum !!!!!