Help with manual temp control system 2003 V70

Keensali1 · Post by **Keensali1** » 27 Apr 2016, 16:36

Hi everyone. I have searched as best I can, but keep coming up with posts about the automatic temperature control units. I have a base model 2003 V70 with approximately 180k. I have the base temperature control panel. My issue is getting consistent AC.
When the AC works, it is great and the air is nice and cold....when it works. Most days it works as designed at start up, but it is a crap shoot after that. I can turn it on and away it works, then 10 minutes later, no AC. The AC light stays lit. Sometimes the AC shuts off by itself and I can see the light switch from green (ac on) to orange (ac off). Sometimes I can watch the light go back and forth from on to off 20 times in a minute....all by itself!
The fan is very unpredictable as well. Seems like the potentiometer is wearing out. I can hear the fan speed up and slow down on its own. I can also hear the under dash control doors searching and moving. Not all the time, but a fair amount.
When the AC is not working right, I can turn on the panel switch and it will be green and stay green....I open the hood and can clearly see the compressor is not turning. The clutch is free wheeling.
Does my manual control panel have a processor in it? If so, I have to think it is failing and causing these odd issues. For some reason, it seems odd that the manual control panel would need a brain or processor.
Any help would be appreciated. Living in Alabama during the summer with occasional AC is not good at all.

Post by **JRL** » 27 Apr 2016, 17:18

Compressor clutch gap has become too large, this happens.
You can try to shim it, instructions on how to should be in the fix it dept. here

Post by **oragex** » 27 Apr 2016, 18:52

I don't remember if the lights were changing with the clutch gap issue.... but worth a try. The post above is missing a link, but just google it, very common issue. 5 cents fix, instead of $1500 a new compressor from Volvo

with same results

If additionally you happen to have frozen a/c lines under the hood, then it's the evaporator temp sensor (thermistor), another common issue

The doors do move by themselves. However the fan blower should not change speed. I'd rather try first turning the blower by hand (after pulling it from the dash) and see if the rotor turns easily as these are known to get the bearings inside stuck from rust.

Keensali1 · Post by **Keensali1** » 28 Apr 2016, 17:57

I have read about the clutch spacer fix. Guess I wonder how it relates to the panel switch. I truly have a war with this switch every day. The AC comes on all by itself, when ever it wants. I turn it off with the button and within a minute it comes on again. It shuts off every time I hit the button, but it just comes back on again.
Then, when you really want the AC, it shuts itself off. Not always, but many times. I understand how the clutch gap could result in the AC going off, any thoughts on how it comes on by its lownsome?
Thanks for the replies.

Keensali1 · Post by **Keensali1** » 28 Apr 2016, 18:02

Here is my panel if it helps. A reply mentioned that the doors move on their own, I have a hard time understanding this. Not trying to be difficult at all, just trying to understand is all. Why would the doors move without input on a manual system?

Post by **oragex** » 28 Apr 2016, 18:45

First time I see manual only climate controls on a 2003. I thought all of them were automatic? Maybe this panel was swapped by previous owner?

I hear some flaps moving from time to time, don't now why but heard others have the same. My climate is automatic (with manual mode) and I always have it in manual mode, still some mechanism inside the dash moves now and then for some reason.

Post by **packetfire** » 01 May 2016, 09:32

If you hear flaps/doors moving "on their own", then it may very well be that your controls, manual though they may be, are closing doors at wrong times. Do you still feel air coming out of the vents at all at full fan? Is it cold (A/C), hot (heater core), or middling (outdoor air vent)?

The controls may be "manual" as opposed to "computer", but there is still a thermostat, and the barn doors inside the heating/cooling duct are still operated electrically. They have complex mechanical linkage, and watching them operate is pretty easy to do, you take off the inner footwell kick panels on either side of the center console (first remove the side panels on either side of the center hump where the armrest and gear shift sit, taking great care to be gentle, and not break plastic bits. A diagram is attached of the motors and their linkages.

But, if the air blows fine, and it is just not the correct temperature, you may very well have a clutch that has gone bad on the compressor. One can replace just the clutch, but it is difficult to find a mechanic willing to do this, rather than rationalize replacing the whole compressor to you.

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