2000 S70 - Question about A/C compressor shim fix

[C@lvin]

Why won't "e" clips work??

I think most e-clips I have seen are too thin plus they have a hole in the middle. Same reason a washer wouldn't work, though you are likely more able to find one thick enough - but it has a hole in the middle.

The bread clips or other shims commonly used have to slide under the spring spacer to raise it up. With an e-clip or a washer, there wouldn't be anything under the spacer to shim it. Mabye I am confused about how an e-clip would be used for the shim.....

[greencupbay]

Trying this... again tomorrow morning and I will report back. I kept putting the clips in wrong and the bread clips kept flying out. This time I am going to follow the instructions here http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.ph ... ch_id=2554, like someone else said. I have a 1999 Volvo S80. Has 181k and going strong (just replaced 3 of the 4 o2 sensors). About to paint it, drop it, put 19's on it (those hideous plates are about to say goodbye) and black the tint. But it's unacceptable for no AC in a Ga. summer. Thank you guys so much for the info. MVS rocks.

Edit: Worked great! I tried the breadclip fix once before with no avail. Here's how I did it with this clutch design. I just used a sheet of aluminum I got from home depot for 7 bucks to do a project with. After everything, almost a tube of superglue,time, and tapping it with a stick for some encouragement to start, now its perfect.. for the first time since owning it.

[hilldomain]

[quote="C@lvin"]

3. Decide the appropriate thickness of flat plastic or metal material that will bring the gap back to .3mm. Bread bag clips are popular. I originally used pieces cut from a plastic "For Sale" sign. This time I used sheet metal. Whatever material you use needs to be easy to cut to the desired shape and size.

5. Use a screw driver or other similar implement to place in the space labeled "A" to pry the plate away from the rubber spacer and hub so that you can slide the shim in. You will need three shims. After placing a shim you can just twirl the plate around with your hand to the next spring/spacer. Placing the third shim may be more difficult than the first two because you have removed a lot of the play in the clutch but it is quite doable.

[quote="C@lvin"]

so after you cut the small tin pieces do you have to snip a hole in the center to fit around the screw? is that why bread clips work well? Or do the square pieces of tin just slide under one side of the rubber spacer?

[98S70T5silverbullet]

Hi Guys,

I have a 1998 S70 T5 with 365,000 km and have had to do the bread tie trick twice in the last 3 years, AC blows cold as the winter air up north here, cheers, it works, saved alot of coin!! Thanks......

[nrandolph51]

I did mine with the car on ramps. After removing the gravel guard (two screws - one on each side) just lay on your back and look up at the compressor. You can check the gap with a feeler gauge if you're not sure it's out of spec. It's a little awkward to reach it but is quite doable.

If the gap is too large, the clutch will not re-engage each time the compressor is supposed to come on. The common symptom is that the AC comes on at first and works fine but starts blowing warm air after 5-10 minutes. Then if you turn it off for a few minutes and then back on it will work OK again for 5-10 minutes before blowing warm again.

The "official" repair for this problem involves disassembling the clutch and removing internal shim(s) that were installed by the manufacturer. This serves to pull the clutch toward the compressor, narrowing the gap. The bread clip fix is applied from the outside surface where the bread clips push the clutch towrd the compressor to narrow the gap. The clutch is engaged magnetically, so if the gap is too wide the magnetic pull will not be sufficient to engage it.

The only "trick" is to make sure you don't narrow the gap too much - many people have found that the thickness of a common plastic bread clip is the perfect sized shim to bring their gap back into spec.

You really don't have anything to lose by trying it. If you apply the shims without glue and the compressor won't cycle off - then just remove them. If this fixes the problem then go back and put a touch of glue on them and you're done.

Just did this on Mama's car [2001 S-80 T] on ramps. Used those 1.5" metal discs that come with roofing nails that I cut in half. Three of them fit in the existing clutch gap. So I used two under each of the clutch plate stops. My clutch is the one that looks like three inverted Moorish Arches in a circle around the center hub [when viewed from under the car] with the clutch plate stops near the center of the plate.

Tacked them [shims] in place with some Gorilla Glue. Made a bit of a mess with too much glue so I had to pry the clutch plate free with a small screw driver in the center of the hub. Left plenty of glue in place to hold the shims in place.

It hit 100* around parts of San Antonio today [Jul 22] during about 100+ miles of driving around the county on errands. That task use to require openning the moon roof top 6 or 7 times.

Now Mama's happy

You know what happens in reverse!

Norm

[cn90]

I used 14-gauge solid copper wire, the same wire used in your house electrical system.
Just cut a short section, maybe 1" long and push it in there, the plastic insulation of the wire is squeezed nicely, so it is not going anywhere, checked and everything is good.
Will post pic when I have time.

------------
Another DIY using "C-Clips", see post by "theshadow27":

http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread ... oner/page3

[Duncanthedonut]

Ok, all the spacer types sound good but where do you guys get the hands small enough to work in that space??? ( I need a shoehorn for XL gloves )

[Duncanthedonut]

By the way, thanks for all the great ideas.

[cn90]

My latest: 6 zip ties as shown below.
You have to do it the trial-and error method because every car is different.
Make sure you have different assortments of zip tie sizes.

My AC Gap is now 0.35mm.

You can use a screw or screwdriver to wedge the thing open while you install the ziptie.
Make sure you remove the screw/screwdriver before firing up the engine!

Here are the locations of the 6 zip ties. First pic showed the black zip tie: Too Large, did not fit!
Then I went with the Smaller Grey zip tie, perfect!

VolvoACShim.JPG (106.1 KiB) Viewed 4900 times

[falconbrother]

Just a note on the shim fix. I have used bread bag ties and the "for sale" signs for shims. They work for a year or so, then melt, and I'm back with no AC. So, I figured out a more "permanent" shim fix for this compressor.

I used the cheap hose clamps from Harbor Freight. They arent as good as the stainless steel ones you frequently see and are made from a softer, slightly thicker, metal. The thickness is perfect for shims. Not great hose clamps but, perfect for this application. What I did was use my wire cutters to snip off a section of the clamp that's enough to hold one end with my needle nose pliers and slip them into place on the clutch. I also use plenty of super glue to keep them there.

It's been bloody hot this summer and we have had nice cool AC. Also, since the whole system is jacked up (slow leak in evap causes the clutch issue) I went ahead and used one of those cans of R134 that has the oil and the stop leak in it. If I look at the evap I can see where it has leaked some oil so, I needed a little oil. If you choose to do this get the right stop leak. There's the kind that works on "O" rings. That's not most people's issues on these Volvos. You will need the kind that "seals" small leaks. The sealant reacts with O2 and turns to something like concrete. As long as it's never exposed to Oxygen it never hardens. So, it will float around in your system till dooms day and never get hard till it's exposed to outside air (assuming you have no outside air in your system). Once it gets to the leak in the evap core and starts to leak out it hardens and, in theory, seals the leak. So far, I have not had to add much R134 this year. I keep some in the car but, I've gone a couple of months without adding any so, the leak has significantly slowed or possibly stopped. I don't plan to add any till it starts cycling on and off to see how long I can go but, it's blowing cold for now.

As you're aware, the location of the compressor in these Volvos is pretty terrible to work with. If not for that part I would have switched that compressor out a long time ago.