Generic P80 AC clutch shim , bread clip, zip tie thread

[Cookeh]

Coke can would be my guess, without actually measuring one.

[abscate]

It is hard to find a piece of flat stainless steel that thin. Where to find such a material?

Guitar picks.

Coldplay a natural choice here.

[jreed]

It was from a left over piece of 316 stainless steel sheet that I had in my cut off box in the workshop.

[xHeart]

I originally shimmed it in 2010 with thin brass shims and had been riding around for years with good AC and no problems. Last week it got unusually hot and the AC kicked off after working for a while -- a classic symptom of a clutch gap that has gotten too large over time and won't allow the clutch to engage when the clutch is very hot. I went off and reviewed the helpful videos made by Robert DIY over the years (rspi here) first. Then I checked the gap and found 0.7 to 0.9mm all around.

Did the gap grow since it was shimmed in 2010?

Our 2001 V70XC quits cooling and blows warm air after a while, but the cooling returns if I turn off the AC and turn it back on after some time. Is this a symptom of a very hot clutch disengaging?

Now, our 1997 850 has quit cooling altogether. The clutch has zip tie treatment from last year, and it engages when pressure switch has paper clip therapy. Is this a sign of growing gap and needs a re-shim treatment?

[jreed]

Yes, I'm sure the gap on my clutch grew. In 2010 I reset it to be within spec, and then I didn't monitor it regularly because the system was running fine for a decade, but after 10 years I'd estimate it grew from about 0.4mm to about 0.8mm on average, an increase of about 0.4mm. During that time we put about 80,000 miles on the car in the NC area -- lots of air conditioner use.

[abscate]

I originally shimmed it in 2010 with thin brass shims and had been riding around for years with good AC and no problems. Last week it got unusually hot and the AC kicked off after working for a while -- a classic symptom of a clutch gap that has gotten too large over time and won't allow the clutch to engage when the clutch is very hot. I went off and reviewed the helpful videos made by Robert DIY over the years (rspi here) first. Then I checked the gap and found 0.7 to 0.9mm all around.

Did the gap grow since it was shimmed in 2010?

Our 2001 V70XC quits cooling and blows warm air after a while, but the cooling returns if I turn off the AC and turn it back on after some time. Is this a symptom of a very hot clutch disengaging?

Now, our 1997 850 has quit cooling altogether. The clutch has zip tie treatment from last year, and it engages when pressure switch has paper clip therapy. Is this a sign of growing gap and needs a re-shim treatment?

Thats the classic description of the compressor clutch gap being too large but not huge, so it should respond well to either the bread clip/zip tie fix or the re-shimming internally (the official Volvo way)

[99TurboBrick]

Well, I finally did the zip-tie shim. I only used two ties, as close to 180 degrees apart as possible. Compressor works fine now. My slight concern is that the gap is not quite as even all the way around as I would like. It's about .3mm in places, but a bit over .5mm on about 1/4 the diameter of the clutch. I suppose I could add another 4 ties to make 6 total. Not quite sure how much of a difference that would make.

One tip I'll add...don't freak out if after you put on the first tie, then measure the gap and find that it's completely closed. When you shim the other side the first area will open up a bit, and the gaps will even out. Yes, I suppose this is common sense, but it did not occur to me right away.

[MoVolvos]

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Going to attempt the zip tie fix today on the C30.

Found this video helpful to engage the clutch so you don't have to use a screw driver for wedging.

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[MoVolvos]

Well, I finally did the zip-tie shim. I only used two ties, as close to 180 degrees apart as possible.

Installed 6 on the C30 today. I didn't like the idea of distorting the circular springs with just 3 so used 6 instead. Had a choice of 3 ties and 2 colors. Decided on the small black ones. Using your picture, I installed them where the red line and circle is rather than up higher. I used a flat head (yellow arrow) and turn 90 degrees to open the gap for the zip ties.

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AC Zip Ties.jpg (36.52 KiB) Viewed 1480 times

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[99TurboBrick]

FWIW, I did go back and apply a zip tie to every other semicircle. So I did end up using 3 zip ties total.