I bought a 1998 V70 wagon earlier this year. The only major problem has been the A/C. I took it to a local mechanic who added a little refridgerant and dye to check for leaks. It worked after that but just barely. About a week later it started working fine and continued to for about a month. It then started taking longer and longer to cool down until now when the air coming out of the vents is barely cool. The clutch for the compressor kicks in for a second or so, then shuts back off for a few seconds. It does this continuously. One of the lines into the passenger compartment gets cold. I have stopped using it until I can figure out what is going on. Any suggestions?!

 

Hello Randy,

Welcome to the forum, I hope you find it helpful & enjoyable.

Unfortunately, the air conditioner on V70 (as well as S70, 850, etc...) is guaranteed to fail, and the culprit is the evaporatour. Due to its poor design, after years of use it develops leak. At this point, I can only suggest that you replace the evaporatour. While the new evaporatour is not that expensive, much of the dash has to come out in order to get to it, so the labour usually reaches $1,000 or more. If you can afford to work on it by yourself, it will save $ on labour, but allow 2-3 days.

https://volvoforums.com/m_7365/tm.htm
https://volvoforums.com/m_62590/tm.htm

Sometimes the compressor also quits, in which case I would try an aftermarket A/C recharge kit to see if the system is holding charge. If it is, the compressor may need to be re-shimmed.

I hope this helps. I would also post this in the V70 forum to see if they have better ideas.

Good luck,


JPN

 

Thankyou for the advice. Are there problems with the evaporator besides deveolping leaks? I don't have an adequate set of gauges yet (just one of those that come with the refridgerant cans), but what I have says I still have a charge. I also wondered if therecould bea restriction in the line, such as at the orifice tube that could cause something like this. I've worked on cars a lot through the years, but never on A/C stuff and not on vehicles as sophisticated asa V70. I bought a 940 new and have never had any real problems with it. This used V70 is going to be more of a challange. This web site is fantastic!. I've learned a lot about my cars already.

Thanks Again,
Randy

 

Hi Randy,

If the kit's gauge is reading normal system pressure, your evaporator is probably fine.

I can only assume either the compressor needs to be re-shimmed, or the expansion valve (orifice) is blocked, unable to release R134a inside the evaporator.

At this point I can only suggest that you try either a Volvo dealer or an automotive A/C specialised shop for proper diagnosis. If there is an electronic control problem, only the dealer has the diagnosis equipment, and an OBD-II scanner cannot access the A/C, as far as I know.

Also, wait till other V70 members reply to you, as they may know something unique to V70, which I am not aware of.

In the case of 850, the compressor shim develops problem such as follows:
https://volvoforums.com/m_34431/tm.htm

Sorry I couldn't be of better help.


JPN