'00 s70 GLT: AC works fine, then quits-every time

[Gubernaculum]

Hi folks -

I have a 2000 S70 GLT SE. The summer heat is coming, and I'm moving to Texas. So, I need to fix my AC.

It has been doing this since last summer. The AC works fine when I first start driving. After 5 to 10 minutes (sometimes longer) it just stops cooling the air, but the fan continues to blow. My pressures are OK I think - 60 or 70 PSI with the engine off, and about 32 PSI on the low side with the engine on and AC working on full blast, with the compressor not cycling (80 degree F day). I took the car for a drive today and the AC quit on me, so I left the AC on "full blast" despite it blowing warm and popped the hood - the compressor clutch was not spinning, so it sounds like (at least in this instance today) I'm not compressing for some reason (but I didn't put the gauges on it at that time).

Any idea what could be causing this?

Thanks!

[jimmy57]

Search "compressor clutch gap". You are describing to a "t" the issue where compressor clutch ears and gap increases. The electromagnet is stronger when it is cool but once compressor cycles off and electromagnet is hot it is not strong enough to pull in plate.

[Gubernaculum]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. My gap didn't seem that huge (but I didn't have feeler gauges to measure with), but I was already dirty and under my car so I went ahead and closed the gap a bit using 3 small zip ties. I thought I might have gapped it too tight, but I could still get a sheet of paper in there all the way around. Super Ghetto, but so far so good. When I get my hands on a set of feeler gauges this weekend I'll see how tight it is. I took pictures if anybody needs to see them - I had a hard time finding photos of other peoples fix.