'98 S70: 16 y.o. A/C system presents first problem

[mecheng]

Enjoy

[kallekula]

have the same problem on my car. the clutch gap is way too big. a friend of mine told me to run a new wire from the battery and put a relay before the on/off cable on the compressor. The stronger current will make the clutch holdup without slipping. Havent tried it yet so I dont know if it works but it might be worth a try.

Don't listen to it, it will not work.
The current drop in the factory system is virtually nothing.

Doing the "zip tie" mod is quick, easy, painless and takes only 15 min or so.

If Volvo uses electromagnetic clutch plate at A/C then kallekula is on to something.

Well, I was to cheap to buy a relay so I went for the proved "Getto-Fix" and it still works like a charm after 5K miles.

[Ben850]

I am not a technician as of yet regarding HVAC, I smacked the compressor wheel on the '93 with a dead blow mallet, and it came to life.
I don't think the system was charged in Eight years or so.
Still functioning with no new parts. The ECC must have stored codes and shut things down for the previous owner. I had also swapped in a new ECC unit.

[ams]

This thread has morphed a bit into a current to clutch discussion, but as it is my habit to report back results after seeking advice, here 'tis.

My existing gap was a whisker more than 1mm. I read up on the various methods of shimming--bread ties, mechanic's wire, and zip ties. As just a matter of personal preference, I liked the bread shim the best because it offered more bearing surface than wire and placed it in the location that the factory designed, i.e. the three bumpers on the thick triangular plate attached to the hub. For esthetics, I made mine out of aluminum. A Texas license plate is high quality .7mm aluminum--perhaps recycled from those expensive imported XX Dos Equis cans--and easily cut with metal shears. A used the bolt holes in the plate for my slot and enlarged them a bit with a Dremel tool to the correct width. Also made the back end about I" longer than needed and scored it on both sides at the correct spot to snap off in the right place. The I'' tab, slightly angled, made them easy to insert in the cramped working area. After a test fit, I installed them with quick-set epoxy.

So the result is that the compressor is working 100% correctly. Now....How happy am I that I came to MVS and sought advice? rather than taking it to a shop that would have no doubt said I needed a rebuilt compressor = my wallet being whacked for about $450 or so.

A sincere thanks and thumbs up to the experienced veterans of MVS who share their time helping others. Not to mention the original thinker who first engineered this fix.

dos

how about putting a visual to that writeup?

[dosbricks]

For a visual see the last grouping of three photos in mecheng's above post which used plastic bread tie clips. Same procedure, unless you are wanting to see the license plate I used which had a Texas endangered horned lizard on it and said at the bottom "Keep Texas Wild."