97 V90 A/C trouble

volvowagongirl · Post by **volvowagongirl** » 16 May 2013, 22:11

Help! ASAP! Sorry I posted this in the wrong forum, can you move it please?

Does anyone have any ideas? I have a 1997 V90 (same as 960wagon). The A/C hasn't been working for over 2 years so I finally took it into the dealer since we're going to drive it from CA to VA in June. He had it 3 days last week and said it was fixed, but it was still doing the same things. Took it back on Tue and it's still there (Thursday), they can't figure it out. It stops being cold after a couple miles, maybe 4 miles or 10 minutes. When it stops blowing cold it also smells (musty?). Also the dash vents all shut off a lot. You can hear the fan blowing but nothing from the vents. I took it on the freeway and as soon as I did the vents shut down for the whole time.

First they put in some new bellows and vacuum tubes. Now they are trying a compressor clutch. Must not have worked either.

Post by **abscate** » 17 May 2013, 04:59

It sounds like are losing the AC charge , and my guess is its the evaporator with the hole. The musty smell is a common description of the oil in the AC system when it leaks out.

To confirm, take it back or buy a gauge and test the charge in the system. If it is low, that needs to be fixed first.

volvowagongirl · Post by **volvowagongirl** » 17 May 2013, 09:27

Take it back? It's still there! But what about the vents cutting out? That wouldn't affect them, would it?

Post by **abscate** » 18 May 2013, 04:09

No, that sounds like a separate problem. Do you have manual AC or is it the electronic type ? On electronic climate control, the doors and dampers that control the air flow are moved by small motors.

Does heat And defrost work normally with respect to air flow?

volvowagongirl · Post by **volvowagongirl** » 18 May 2013, 11:37

Ummmm, I think the heat & defrost work. I don't remember. They still have it! 2 weeks now. Can't imagine what the bill they are running up. I hope they don't hit me to hard. I paid $1,500 for the first week of work and so far I've heard another 900 for the compressor clutch. Now they are saying something about a bolt and they don't have a tool for it and they have to make a tool? I don't know what kind I have. I have 3 dials....
first one is fan - auto and 0-5
middle is vents - auto and diff vent selections
right one is temp w/ degrees

Post by **JRL** » 18 May 2013, 12:11

You can't bring a 960 to a dealer, you already spent what the car is worth.
Have someone (any decent mechanic) shim the compressor clutch. can be done in 15 minutes with "bread clips"
There is a "how to" in the database
$900???!!!
Get it out of there NOW

volvowagongirl · Post by **volvowagongirl** » 18 May 2013, 12:18

I do take it to an independent mechanic but he doesn't do A/C work. I wouldn't have even fixed the A/C (it's been over 2 years) but we are driving across country June 1 and 2 years ago we went to Florida from CA and it was pretty bad w/o the A/C with the humidity and the "love bugs" in Florida. Had to have the windows up.

springsman · Post by **springsman** » 24 Aug 2013, 19:37

The AC shutting off after 10 minutes sounds like the compressor override switch shutting off the compressor. This switch can be bypassed with a simple snip of some wires attached to the compressor. Google V90 AC bypass.
The vent flaps not working is an unrelated separate problem: It's a electronic valve control module located under the glove box.

lindy8_man · Post by **lindy8_man** » 25 Aug 2013, 15:05

Ok, this post was from May 2013. What happened? Did the dealership find your problem? Did you have to trade your first born to get your car back?