I’m new to this forum. We have (and love) a 2019 VolvoXC60 D4 2.0 however it’s just been diagnosed with a dead A/C evaporator?
To me this shouldn’t happen to a less than 4 year old car. we’ve owned since new and it’s been exclusively maintained by dealer bar one service at an independent because dealer couldn’t service for over 6 weeks. It’s done 103,000km

Is this a known problem?
Replacement cost is $$$$
Has anyone had any issues / experience regarding this type of problem
How long should one expect a evaporator to last? I’ve never encountered this issue before.

 

The evaporator is buried deep in the dash - I had one replaced on an 850 and it was like a 10 hour job. The part wasn't all that expensive though. In terms of what can fail - the reason the 850s would fail was due to the drain tubes clogging. As your AC cools the air, frost will build up on the evaporator. as the AC cycles it will melt and drip off and drain through the tubes. If that water can't drain it can cause corrosion on the evaporator from the outside. That said, I'd really doubt that the evap would corrode to failure in 3 years so I'd suspect ether a manufacturing defect or a problem with one of the o-rings that seals the lines in/out of the evap. It may still take a lot of hours to disassemble the dash to get at the evap and see where the dye test shows a leak. I'd ask the shop more about how they'd test to find the exact spot of the leak (ie the part or a seal or a line.)

 

advice regarding repair of A/C system. Problem diagnosed as leaks relating to evaporator. I understand it’s about a 15Hr job but replacement part no longer available. Any leads for obtaining one or is there an aftermarket a/c system?

 

parts not available on a 2019? On the 850s the problem was due to clogged drain ports would lead to water that would rust the bottom of the evaporator after 10-15 years. On a new car like a 2019, its pretty rare for the evap to fail so I'd suspect a failed seal or connector - but the shop would need to open up the dash to see exactly where the leak is. Repair Pal suggests its about a 5 hour job with another 500+ in parts so you're probably looking at 1000-1500 US. Your dealer should be able to quote a price since this would all be book rate and assumes the diagnosis is correct.

 

One common problem is related to the AC evaporator, a critical component responsible for cooling the air that enters the cabin. Symptoms of a failing AC evaporator in a Volvo may include weak airflow, inconsistent cooling, or the presence of an unpleasant odor inside the vehicle due to mold or refrigerant leaks.