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'96 850 Turbo Wagon - AC compressor does not engage after replacing radiator and thermostat and temp sensor

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

'96 850 Turbo Wagon - AC compressor does not engage after replacing radiator and thermostat and temp sensor

Post by insession »

Had a shop replace a leaking radiator, malfunctioning main thermostat (and the temp sensor while at it)
Before the repair, the AC compressor would kick in as long as the car was cool, and would not kick in when (due to the malfunctioning thermostat) the car appeared to get too hot.

After a successful repair job, the AC now doesn't come on at all. Clutch is not engaging.
Given that it worked well (on and off with cool/hot temps) a week ago, what could it now be?
I don't mean to blame the shop, it could be coincidence after all.
I bridged the high pressure sensor, no dice. Clutch is free, using stick to engage it no dice. Fuse #31 (AC) is ok.
I had successfully shimmied the clutch gap years ago, should be ok.
Last week while the compressor would kick in and then stop, so I checked the freon pressure (I had topped it off last year when it no longer blew very cold air - successful job), and it settled in around 35psi I believe, certainly in the green area of the gauge.

I've read up on this online a bit, and have come up with the following *possible* culprits:

*AC relay (behind glove box?)
* Baro-sensor (should be by ECU box? -I don't know what a baro sensor is) and acceleration sensor (on subframe bottom front - I don't really know what that is either)?
*Cooling fan relay (under fan shroud) cause it sounds like the AC compressor is linked to it.

Any tips would be most welcome. My suspicion is electrical since it otherwise basically worked a week ago.

Peter

insession
Posts: 60
Joined: 11 December 2019
Year and Model: 1996 850
Location: CA
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by insession »

This topic as resolved itself. See viewtopic.php?p=596468#p596468 for details. Thanks.

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