Since spring/summer is quickly approaching, I was thinking about taking my car to get the AC recharged. Last year it seemed like it just wasn't blowing as cold as it should, compared to other cars I've had, but then again, it is a completely black car with black leather and a moonroof (01 V70).

I'm just trying to figure out if I should waste my money getting it charged. It's 8 years old, it does blow cold air, but I don't know if the AC on Volvo's in general is frigid cold or just average compared to other cars.

What do you guys think? How would you say it ranks compared to other cars you've been in?

Above Average (Very cold)
Average (cold enough to eventually get the job done)
Below Average (can barely keep it cool enough to feel it)

Just looking for some input. Thanks!

 

Haven't had the a/c on in my 2002 V70, but in my 2001 S80 it was frigid compared to my past vehicles. Our XC90 was equally cold. Any shop can check it for you and a recharge if needed shouldn't run more than $50-60 if needed.

 

my probe thermometer said 38F last time i checked, and that was in the sweltering heat of a florida summer! it should be even colder as i live in NC now. the system should be running around 32psi on proper r-134a gauges if i remember correctly. seems to be a very reliable a/c system in my car, colder than any other car i've had. mine's a 2000 v70 btw. you probably need a recharge.

 

I'm going to say my 745 is above average. Considering it has to cool such a large area, it does so very well. It certainly doesn't lack in cooling and will eventually get teh car quite cool.
It's just gotten even better now I am running an efan for primary cooling too.

Regards, Andrew.

 

Hi,

I think you are right . I have the same problem. I have an indica car and it's AC is not as good as we need. In a very high temperature it's not working. Please help us and tell us which one is best for our cars.

Stella

 

I was thinking about just charging it myself. I've done everything else myself on that car so why not. I just don't know how to do it. I haven't tried it though in the heat with the new air filter, so I may just wait a bit until it gets a little warmer out. I don't think the AC will blow very cold if it's only 60 degrees outside.

 

This is spam. Check the nice Samsung link, and AC has been around for nearly a century, so all I can say to this is WTF......

 

I read that post like 3 times trying to figure out what it was saying...

My A/C is also not as cold as I believe it should be. I go to Phoenix in the sweltering 3 digit heat and it's just not good enough. Sounds like a recharge is in order for me. I'll be taking mine to a shop to do it, though.

 

I don't know what it is with shops around here, but half of them are afraid of Volvo's lol. It's like a forbidden vehicle or something. They are so easy to work on so it makes no sense to me.

Taking it to a shop is a good idea I think.

Oh, and I think our new friend was just trying to be nice. Looks like he/she is posting things in other threads.

 

I was going to take it to one of those places that advertises they do the recharge. I don't even know if my regular shop does the A/C stuff.

 

They will if they aren't afraid of it

The specialist places usually do a decent job as long as they don't overfill it. It doesn't take all that long to do.

 

Guilty as charged! I owned and operated a Radiator and AC specialty shop from 1989-2002. The Volvo's AC systems during the eighties was marginal, at best. My goal for an AC system was a vent temperature of 35-40*F. On most of those cars, it was next to impossible to achieve anything below 45*F vent temps. Fortunately, most of my customers already knew that the system was sub-par; and if I could get it to blow 45* air, they thought I had worked some sort of magic.

I just don't believe that the earlier systems were correctly engineered by the Swedes; because they never really had to worry about AC until large numbers of the cars began to be imported to the States. (My opinion only...no facts to support the theory.) Optimum performance of an AC system is dependent upon all components of the system being designed to work together. The sizing of the condenser and the evaporator, and the metered flow of the expansion valve must be such that everything works in concert with the pressure output characteristics of the compressor. IMO, the earlier AC equipped Volvo's used components that were chosen simply because they would fit in the space constraints of an existing platform.

Interestingly though, compressor failures on the cars of the early eighties was rare. These cars used an AC Delco A6 compressor that GM had used on all of it's cars during the sixties and the seventies. It was dead-on reliable and relatively inexpensive to replace when it did fail. Volvo later switched to a Deisel Kiki compressor which was very prone to internal lock-up and was very pricey when a replacement was needed.

Apparently, Volvo began to get their act together during the nineties; because the number of problems I saw from cars imported during this period dropped significantly. I have absolutely no knowledge of the current systems.

 

That's interesting information. Thanks for sharing!

I think the theory about having a clean filter might have some merrit after all. I recently changed the cabin air filter but hadn't really had a warm day to test the AC. I tried it yesterday when it was 70 (that's warm these days for Chicago) and the AC seemed to be blowing noticeably colder then I remember it. It doesn't make sense to me why a dirty air filter would affect the temperature of the air.

My other change since last summer is that I replaced the timing and surpentine belts, and all pulleys and tensioners associated with them. The old belt was worn quite a bit but I spend the extra money and bought some premium Goodyear one that supposedly (I emphasize that) griped your pulleys better then factory. I think the compressor may have been slipping with the old belt because it just always felt kinda off when the AC was on, and not in that sluggish way, it just felt like something wasn't catching right. With this new belt and pulley setup, it doesn't act that way and the air is colder, so just maybe it's ok.

I guess the big question is, in an ideal AC system on a car, should you ever have to recharge it, or do they usually last the life of the car? If you do, how long does a system usually last before it needs recharging? I'm not sure how it all works.

 

The air temperature is directly affected by variations in refrigerant pressures between the high (discharge) side and the low (suction) side of an AC system. The air flow over the condenser affects pressures on the high side; and air flow over the evaporator (cooling coil) will affect pressures on the low side. A dirty filter can restrict air flow over the evaporator and affect the pressure enough to cause a slight loss of cooling to the evaporator coil. Restricted air flow over the condenser will have a much greater effect on cooling. Excessive pressures on the high side are also very likely to cause severe damage to the compressor and the other components of the system. BTW, that's a good reason never to disable the high pressure cut-off switch on your AC system. It's there to protect your system in the event that something malfunctions which might cause excessive pressures.


Regarding the second question, the ideal system would never need recharging. Unfortunately, the ideal system has not yet been invented. All systems will, ultimately, lose some of the refrigerant charge. There is not a single answer to determine how long this will take; because leaks come in various sizes. Most of us can remember owning a car that we had to add refrigerant once a year and not worry about it until the next summer. Others, might recall adding freon to a car at the beginning of summer, only to have it disappear within a matter of days or weeks.

Just a couple more bits of trivia about AC leaks...then I will shut up. The rubber hoses used on cars with R12 systems would actually allow the refrigerant to escape through the process of osmosis. It was extremely slow, but eventually the refrigerant charge could actually escape through the walls of the hoses on a system that was solid in all other respects.

R134a has a much smaller molecular structure than R12 so a new hose design had to be developed to overcome the osmosis problem. The new hoses developed for use with R134a are lined with an impermeable membrane on the inside and the rubber covering on the outside. These hoses are commonly referred to as "barrier" hoses, in the trade. This is important to remember if you have an older car that you are converting from R12 to R134a. You do not have to change the hoses in order to make the conversion; but if you don't, be prepared to top off your refrigerant charge more frequently than would be required with the change to barrier hoses.

 

Thanks for the great info. That explains alot. It's actually doing much better in the warmer weather with the new filter. Also I just changed my voltage regulator since it was bad and I see some improvement as well. Between the new belt, regulator and filter I think my problem is solved.