2004 S60 Weird A/C Problems

Holty44 · Post by **Holty44** » 25 Jun 2014, 07:38

My a/c blows nice and cold on the driver's side, while on the passenger side, I would say it's cool at the most. Could it just need a new charge? Second problem, possibly unrelated. Sometimes when a/c is on, the center driver's vent will blow out a white vapor or smoke. It's really weird and doesn't have much smell or anything to it. I have no clue would that could be. Any ideas?

Post by **rmmagow** » 25 Jun 2014, 08:31

Vapor's not a problem, just condensation like breathing out in the cold air. The passenger side issue is probably a jammed up vent control thing under the dash and most likely an easy fix. Sorry I don't really know how to check if the vents move the way they should.

Post by **chrism** » 25 Jun 2014, 14:53

When my 2003 V70 was blowing cold on one side and warm on the other side, the problem was that the refrigerant charge was low. You should find the low pressure side fill port sort of hidden under the P/S reservoir and coolant bottle.

Post by **abscate** » 25 Jun 2014, 19:06

It's much more likely that this is a blend door problem than a charge problem. The cold air on the driver side means the evaporator core is getting nice and cold and this means the charge is pretty close to correct.

Make sure the climate system drain is open, the vapour could be water stuck in the climate system which will help corrode things if left.

Corrected by jimmy below...later model AC different than my 1999 with regard to full flow evaporator prior to blend doors. It's good that are people like jimmy here.

Post by **jimmy57** » 25 Jun 2014, 19:17

The individual side to side temp control systems have a wall in the ductwork from the evaporator through the heat blend doors to the distribution housing. When they are low on refrigerant side to side temp difference can be a result. I can't remember which side gets hot though.

A first easy try is to turn that side temp knob FULL hot and wait a couple of minutes and then turn it to FULL cold and see if it gets cold. This is a way to force a blend door calibration correction.

Post by **regent** » 27 Jun 2014, 11:12

I just had a similar issue; the RH side temp control potentiometer in the CCM was 'noisy' thus causing the temp damper motor to fluctuate within a few notches back and forth. Tried calibration to no avail and then fixed it in less than 30 min. by replacing the whole board in the CCM with one from a salvage module that I'd got earlier for parts. (No soldering or reprogramming required).
If you go this way, do not forget to disconnect the battery.