Volvo S40 A/C blows hot air

Post by **ryan3** » 22 Mar 2012, 11:33

Any help would be appreciated. My 2006 Volvo s40 will only blow hot air. When the issue first started the A/C would work for a while and then slowly turn to hot air. If you parked the car, turned the engine off and back on the A/C would work again for only a little while. First time I took it to the dealer while it was under warranty and they said it needed a software upgrade. Well that fixed it for a little while but now that the car is out of warranty the problem is back and worse.
I also notice that when I turn the fan completely off, there is still hot air coming from the defrost vents. I can't stop it.
Has anyone else had an s40 with faulty A/C?

Post by **MoVolvos** » 22 Mar 2012, 16:13

Not sure if yours is the same setup as the ealier s40's but my initial thought was a blend door whether by vacuum or electrically but here are several other items to look at.

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s40- ... ime-52466/

Blessings,

BKM

RdFaerie · Post by **RdFaerie** » 22 Mar 2012, 18:55

Mine has always done this. At first they tried to tell me it was some kind of interior censor that thinks "oh it's cold, let's shut off the AC". This is actually a HUGE issue w/our Volvo. Unfortunately mine is the AC clutch so it's gonna cost me $1200 to fix. I may be able to shop around but this is the price I got from 1 mechanic. GL, man!

Post by **MoVolvos** » 24 Mar 2012, 01:28

RdFaerie wrote:Mine has always done this. At first they tried to tell me it was some kind of interior censor that thinks "oh it's cold, let's shut off the AC". This is actually a HUGE issue w/our Volvo. Unfortunately mine is the AC clutch so it's gonna cost me $1200 to fix. I may be able to shop around but this is the price I got from 1 mechanic. GL, man!

The AC Clutch WILL Not cause your car to blow hot air all the time. It may cycle the AC on and off or poorly due to slippage to produce less cold air but not hot. The interior sensor should be part of the blend door assembly and is only letting the hot air through.

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s40- ... ime-52466/

Blessings,

BKM
-

jejo94 · Post by **jejo94** » 27 Apr 2014, 06:28

I got the same issue w/ my Volvo. Have you figured out what was wrong w/ the car and have you got it fixed? If so, how much did you have to pay for it. My Volvo dealer told me that the entire A/C system needs to change and they gave me a $2000 quote.

Nolan

malindv · Post by **malindv** » 05 May 2014, 12:11

I have the same issue. It starts off cool then blows hot air. Then I have to turn it off open the windows (ewww, I live in Arizona) for a while then close and turn on the AC for cool air then the whole cycle starts again. I'm not sure what to do now except take it to the dealership. I only just spent over $700 for a a service etc 2 weeks ago

Hudini · Post by **Hudini** » 08 Jan 2016, 06:06

This is an old thread but for anyone looking like me..... For 2004.5 and up 2.4L and 2.5L cars (not the 1.9L 2000-2004 model)

A/C starts out cold but then turns to ambient temp, then after awhile blows cold again and the cycle repeats. This is a symptom of a compressor clutch that is just ever so slightly out of tolerance. Specifically, the gap between the clutch face and compressor is at the wide limit. When the compressor heats up from doing it's job the gap expands just a tiny bit more and the clutch slips. When it cools the gap closes and it catches.

The beautiful thing is the fix. It's free. (and shame on dealers for suggesting such outrageous fees) Once the car is safely on jack stands you remove the right front wheel and inner wheel liner. This exposes the compressor. Remove the center bolt on the clutch. Now be careful when you pull the clutch face off because there are 3 shims between the clutch and compressor and they may stick to the clutch face as it's removed, or they may stay with the compressor, or they may try to fall out on the ground. On my car the clutch face came off with no issues (you do not even remove the a/c belt) and the shims remained inside the clutch face shaft. Once you find the shims you will see they are 3 different thicknesses. I removed the middle size one and then put the other 2 back where I found them. Put everything back together the way you found it and you are done. A/C should work normally now.

The procedure is called "shimming" but should be called "deshimming" as you are removing a single shim.
Here is a link with pics. My 2005 S40 didn't need any puller tool or need the belt removed.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/downlo ... AC-Fix.pdf

meryl324 · Post by **meryl324** » 19 Aug 2016, 11:59

I also have similar problem and have taken it to Volvo x3 with no help.. THEY want to replace compressor and I believe it has another problem poss software - computer issues .. meryl