A/C problems 60S 2004

Cheryls · Post by **Cheryls** » 22 Jan 2008, 17:02

Hi all new be here. Bought a 2004 S60 with 20,000 miles from car max with full warrenty. this is our first Volvo and as it is a daily driver for my wife and soon to be driver daughter.

So far my wife is very happy with her new car it is loaded model with all the toys. We are only getting 25 miles around town and 26 on the highway at 70 to 80 MPH Let say this still is much better than the last truck her chevy trail blazer was getting.

Our problem with the a/c is it runs so cold (we live in the south east) it freezes us out it has the dual zone feature. Our issue is that after about ten minutes it stops blowing cold air. You can hear the blower running and can feel some leaking air but no air from the vents

We have tryed to increase the fan speed and it may help but still the air flow is dimished and ends soon. Ok so we tough it out for awhile getting hot inside car still nothing. We turn off the A/C on/off and wait we get some cool air out of the vents. i think because we are driving and are getting fresh air running threw the condser.If we turn the A/C back on five to ten minutes it freezes us out again and the problem cycle starts all over again.Long car trips are a big problem with the A/C working like this. Any thoughts to our problem how to fix and cost? Thanks for all your help.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 22 Jan 2008, 17:21

Almost sounds like someone put too much gas (R134A) in your system and it freezes, quits and thaws again and the cycle repeats again. It's still under warranty- have it checked out. The problem is, unlike earlier 850's and pre-'01 V70's, your car's serviceable A/C port (at front of the car above the radiator- you'll see) is a high pressure port (and not the low pressure port) so you can't really take a gauge and measure the pressure (you risk injury among other issues with your car). Therefore, a professional will have to do this.
Good luck!

Cheryls · Post by **Cheryls** » 22 Jan 2008, 18:27

So you don't think it would be the Dampers closing down for some reason some older cars used to run on vacum pressure? You know we tryed to turn up the adjustable t- states to hot and still no Air

Only works if shut off for a bit. If it were frozen why would we get outside air

thanks for your thoughts.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 22 Jan 2008, 19:10

Yes, it could be the dampeners not fully functioning. Do you hear clicking sounds when it's trying to do its thing? Once again, you mentioned it's still under warranty- use it.

My original thoughts was that when regular airways are shut down from freezing, other airways will operate in their stead, thus outside air, but then again, I could be wrong.

Cheryls · Post by **Cheryls** » 22 Jan 2008, 19:24

No sound that i can hear. learned a few thing here, nice forum. Hope we did not make a poor choice of cars, repairs cost and general maintance, but any car now cost money to service, we hope the warrenty does cover this repair,we can't live in the south with out A/C thats what sold us on this car.

ICE COLD

Post by **JRL** » 22 Jan 2008, 20:25

MadeInJapan wrote:Almost sounds like someone put too much gas (R134A) in your system and it freezes, quits and thaws again and the cycle repeats again. It's still under warranty- have it checked out. The problem is, unlike earlier 850's and pre-'01 V70's, your car's serviceable A/C port (at front of the car above the radiator- you'll see) is a high pressure port (and not the low pressure port) so you can't really take a gauge and measure the pressure (you risk injury among other issues with your car). Therefore, a professional will have to do this.
Good luck!

Take it to the shop YOU ARE UNDER WARRANTY.
It sounds as if it's freezing up, something is blocked, or, as was said, over or under filled

Cheryls · Post by **Cheryls** » 01 Feb 2008, 09:54

Up date Thanks for all your advise.

Good thing we had that warrenty! the Volvo dealer had to install a new condensor and compressor as well as dryer and some pressure switches, cost was around $1,700.00 Ouch! You were right it was iceing up than compressor over heat and shut down. They said that my car needed new front breaks at 26,000 miles? I think some thing not right their they wanted $250.00 for the change. It has alot of break dust so I'd be looking for a diffrent product(low dust) to install any suggestions? Also said i should change the cabin air filter they wanted $45.00 any place cheaper? Also tryed to sell me the 30,000 mile service for $550.00 I passsed on that one. Do you think it is important to flush the raditor at this time?

Thanks

Post by **JRL** » 01 Feb 2008, 10:02

Cheryls wrote:So you don't think it would be the Dampers closing down for some reason some older cars used to run on vacum pressure? You know we tryed to turn up the adjustable t- states to hot and still no Air Only works if shut off for a bit. If it were frozen why would we get outside air thanks for your thoughts.

I doubt it.
For whatever reason that you will have to have diagnosed, it's freezing then when frozen shutting itself off.
You still will get outside air when frozen.
You just said it's under warranty, bring it back and have THEM fix it

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 01 Feb 2008, 16:26

Don't go for their 30K mile service...you can do most yourself. The cabin filter is not due until 40+K miles....brakes too...get a second opinion. Our first set went 40+K miles and I did them myself. If you don't want squeaky brakes, stick with the OEM pads...they will give dust but you can learn to live with that by waxing the wheels and cleaning them once a week by just wiping them off. Rotors are replaced every other pad change unless they're warped and giving you fits anyway. If it's been 2 years, yeah, you should flush your fluids....brake, coolant, even transmission (if at 30+K miles, but before 50K miles on the first one, then every 30K miles). Write-ups for these things are in the repair database. www.fcpgroton.com and free shipping on orders over $39 at eeuroparts.com are your friends.

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 03 Feb 2008, 14:53

I have seen in the Swedish Volvo forum a lot of discussions about this problem. Finally, one Volvo technician informed that on the left side of the evaporator it is a sensor checking that it is not getting too cold ( = ice) in the evaporator. Then the ice is stopping the airflow. If you turn the AC off for a while, the ice is melting and the AC is working for an hour again. Solution, buy a new sensor and change it. It should not be any problem to change it, just replace it. Price in Sweden as sparepart, 25 USD. It is placed at the left side of the evaporator. Loosen the panel above the pedals. The sensor is found up to the right somewhere at the evaporator. It is fastened by a espanjolett locking function. The lengt is appr. 3 - 4 inches.
After this information it has been at least a dousin of greatful Volvo owners.