Hey everyone -

I am pretty new to the world of forums, so I decided to take the plunge here.

I have a 96 850 with around 230k on it. Mechanically the car has been wonderful, surviving a few bad snowstorms, floods, and hurricanes all without issue!

The main issue I'm having is with the AC, so hopefully with some searching here I can find some helpful hints to cool my cabin down before awful FL summer hits.

Anyway, I look forward to reading and posting. Hope everyone here is well.

 

Welcome.............. Someone else from Orlando! I'm over by the Fla. Mall area. What part are you in?? There are 2 more on here from Orlando. What's wrong with the AC?

 

Hi thanks. I'm in Dr. Phillips. The AC will turn on and blow cold when I first turn it on, but it runs for a few minutes then stops blowing cold. If I turn the AC off for a few minutes then back on, sometimes it will start to blow cold air again. Other times I have to wait and turn the car off for a bit and it will work when I start back up.

 

Man, practically neighbors... Im right off the bee line and I4....( williamsburg area, right next to Sea World)...You might want to go over to the 850 section and start a new tread on the AC issue as this section is for new members introductions. Just a formality, but have u charged your AC system?

 

I'm just a few miles (an hour) north of you guys... woo!

In regards to your AC issue: sounds like the compressor needs to be shimmed. I've read where the tolerance for the clutch is pretty tight, and after a few bajillion miles, the space between the clutch and the rest of the pulley becomes too large and causes the exact symptom you're having.

You can shade-tree test it by starting the car, turn the ac on and when it decides to kick off, use the end of a broomstick handle and touch the fan clutch on the compressor to see if it kicks back on. If it does, then you know that's the culprit. do that at yer own risk though!

there's a couple of methods of shimming - the best way is to remove the whole front of the ac compressor deal and shim it up from behind with flat washers. the other being kinda lame wherein you put washers on the front of the compressor in 3 spots where the clutch goes in and out.

I'm certain there's a thread on this forum somewhere that points to this fix...

 

theothertyler, check this link out... Sounds very similar to your issue! https://volvoforums.com/forum/showth...t=conditioning

 

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, most likely your compressor needs re-shimming. If the evaporator is shot, you would not get cold air at all and the compressor would not kick in.

You guys in FL are lucky to be close to Tech!!!


JPN

 

Thanks for everyone's help. I just joined the forums here and I feel like you guys have taken me in!

Yeah, I spent about 40 minutes reading through that whole thread... and trying to fight back tears. I sure hope that my AC issue isn't quite as involved as that one. I've seen on here a few people talk about reshimming, I'm just not sure how comfortable I feel doing it myself. I certainly don't mind getting my hands dirty and doing it, but I definitely want to create a larger problem for myself than I had before.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being changing a taillight and 10 being re-building the engine, where would you put this process on level of difficulty for someone who hasn't done much car repair?

 

Well, Honestly I do certain things myself and others I drop off! But at least it helps in the fact that you dont't have to pay anyone a fee for diagnostic and also you can get parts cheap so if you do have to go somewhere, you are at least prepared and not a sitting target when it comes to prices,etc....... Not sure on the HVAC system, but I am sure we can figure something out to help you or maybe find a place that will help you out and not be that expensive.....

 

Welcome.