intermittent A/C

carguydean · Post by **carguydean** » 06 Jun 2011, 17:22

2001 S80 125,000 miles. Once again my wife has stated the A/C did not cool on the way home from work. It worked in the morning & at lunch. This is the 3rd or 4th time this has happened, and of course it never happens while I am in the car! Several months ago, had a weird issue with instrument cluster going dead, and air bag, and all other warning lites come on. Had suggestions on this site that the CEM, grounds, voltages, etc may have been causing that issue. Those issues went away without doing anything, but the SIRS warning message stays on. I have a suspicion that issue may have something to do with spending money to get SIRS 'inspected' at 10 years,(as indicated on the label on the door post) for a lot of $$$'s, at your Volvo dealer ! Also, several months ago,(after the SIRS/cluster issue,) installed new tires, brake rotors, pads, and battery. I think the car had original battery! Would like to sell car, but likely won't be able to do that with these issues. Any ideas where to start? thanks in advance

Post by **jimmy57** » 06 Jun 2011, 17:43

Is there anything else noticed when it doesn't cool?
Power windows still work?
Will fan change speeds?

SRS light being on would not be for 10 year inspection.
If the network had an issue then it would come on and SRS light is not like most other warnings that will go off in time if problem is no longer present.

carguydean · Post by **carguydean** » 06 Jun 2011, 17:57

thanks jimmy57. I wish I knew the answers, but I have not been in the car when the issue has risen. Wife & daughter have been in the car. if & when it happens to me, I will attempt to troubleshoot.

Beachbum · Post by **Beachbum** » 07 Jun 2011, 07:21

Intermittent AC could also be because of low pressure (not enough refrigerant) in AC system. You can check pressure yourself with an AC guage sold at Walmart, auto part stores, etc. It might just need a can of refrigerant.

If you check pressure yourself, you have to connect it to the AC port below the power steering reservoir. You can't use the one on top of the radiator. That one requires a "special" fitting that I think only Volvo dealers have. The one under the PS res is a standard port that doesn't need a special adapter. Remove the plastic cap on the port first with a socket and extension. It's easier to get to if you lift up the PS res first (release clip on coolant tank and pull straight up) and set it on top of the engine. (do not remove any hoses)

Good luck.

ffejie · Post by **ffejie** » 17 Jun 2011, 22:24

I had an intermittent A/C problem - it seemed to be related to when the car would get very hot. This would prevent the A/C clutch from engaging the A/C compressor. The best way to trigger this was to let the car idle on a hot day. The clutch would overheat and not properly engage.

I found this mostly happened when sitting in stop and go traffic. Then, it started getting worse and worse and worse (as the clutch electromagnet slowly died). If you are on a highway, the airflow might be enough to keep it cool, and keep the A/C clutch working.

To fully diagnose this problem, you need to get the car to exhibit the symptom and pop the hood (with the car running). On the passenger side, you will see a belt which is tied to the A/C clutch (which is in pretty deep, but in view). If the AC is blowing hot, and that's not spinning, you should be able to take a broom stick and knock it into place which will engage the compressor. At that point, the A/C will blow cool within a few seconds. If it overheats again, you'll have to knock it back into place, so it's just a test, not a fix.

I lived with this for a while, until finally it was out of control this summer, and I just had the clutch replaced. Part was $325, and it took about 2 hours (I had my mechanic do it, I'm no where near qualified). Total with tax was about $500.

There is another way, which is to reshim the A/C clutch, but eventually that will need to be reshimmed again and again - most shops won't do this work. Many shops will want to replace the entire compressor clutch system, but that will run you a great amount more (upwards of $1000?) and your compressor might be fine. There's another hack as well, which is to reshim the clutch without taking it apart. People have had success by shoving and gluing metal shims and bread clips (!) in the spacing.

mlanctot · Post by **mlanctot** » 25 Jun 2011, 05:12

Shim it with the little plastic holders used with bread from super market. I did this a couple years ago and is still working fine. My car has 250,000 miles on the clock. Clutch wears and solenoid can't hold her down when warm. Some where out there on the net is an instruction on how this is done.

Beachbum · Post by **Beachbum** » 08 Jul 2011, 20:25

Does anyone know how/where to install the "bread clip" shim? Thanks...

lotus4s · Post by **lotus4s** » 09 Jul 2011, 09:20

Here's a start and there are some additional links there to get you what you need.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=31130

schuse · Post by **schuse** » 27 Jul 2011, 14:42

We have noticed over the last 1.5 months, and this very hot summer with a black car, that our a/c is going on and off. Usually for 10 min. at a time at least. It tends to kick back on. It happens anytime of the day. We realize it because the air is warm coming out of the vent, but we also notice that the exterior temperature gauge on the dashboard drops to 22 or 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It will go up and down and then once the a/c kicks back on, it starts to record an accurate outside reading.

What does that tell you about our problem?