1992 240 AC Compressor Removal Install
 

Hello, newbie 240 owner here. I've been passed a great condition 1992 from a family member who has gotten to old to keep it up. AC hasn't worked in years and I've got all the parts to update to R134. I wonder if anyone could point me to removal/install steps for the AC compressor on a 1992 240. The manual I've picked up is no good - "AC work is dangerous so we won't show you how to work on it....." The threads I come up with when I search "AC compressor removal" all seem to revolve around discussions on how to ditch the AC while keeping the power steering. Just looking for a good series of steps on getting the compressor out. Thanks! Josh
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Pretty car. From Texas It's been garaged!

You will replace the compressor, the accumulator and the expansion tube.

Your first step will be to make sure all of those fittings come loose. 2 hoses on the compressor, hose and pipes on the accumulator. Work carefully - do not force anything. Aluminum ac fittings have a tendency to corrode on the inside and seize - sure it looks shiny aluminum on the outside - but not so much on the inside

If you can successfully get those off - many a AC job has been stopped by a fitting that won't come off without stripping. You might want to pull a vacuum on the system first - to try to find any leaks it already has! Some of those parts are hard to find.

I wish you luck - a 1992 240 converted to 134 works really well and will keep the car cold (compared to a up to 1990 240 conversion) .

Why do you need to replace the compressor, is it bad? Usually in a conversion you just need different oil (ester) in the system for the new refrigerant R134, as long as the compressor is OK.
Nice looking 240, is it a GL?

Those are/were the GL wheels - they look amazing after all these years! Usually the clear coat is damaged. And A silver car that the clear coat looks still perfect! It's missing a wiper nut cover but the rest of the trim looks like it's not been outside!

I just hope the new owner can keep it that nice. I wonder what the odometer mileage is.

Thanks for all the quick replies! It’s not a GL and from the condition of the paint I’m assuming it’s a single stage without a clear coat. There’s not any peeling clearcoat. Luckily it had a dash cover and seat covers since new so those have survived well too. It was well kept in it’s youth but for the last couple of years it has been sitting out under some trees at a lake house. I worked quite a bit to get it to this point.
I’m replacing the compressor because it has been in operable for so long. Truth is new compressors seem so reasonable in cost to me that I’m willing to start with a clean slate. I’m looking for our pointers on taking this compressor out. It’s down low in the engine compartment. I assume that I should take the power steering pump out to access it but I didn’t want to assume until I found some decent instructions. I’m surprised I haven’t come across a well-documented forum thread that says “start by removing the power steering pump…“ or something like that. I would be happy to document my progress if someone gives me pointers.
all the best,Josh
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More typical image of how I found it.

GL has electric windows, leather seats and those wheels. And Silver has clear coat.

AC - If you don't know the compressor is bad - DONT REPLACE IT. You will need more money than you ever imagined to keep that car nice and running. (now you may have more money than you need, but a I can't assume that at this point.)

Find out what's wrong - it is easy to convert to r134 without a compressor replacement (if it still works) . Drain compressor oil, replace accumulator and expansion tube, install r 134 fittings, put in appropriate volume of oil, then evacuate and recharge. And you are done.

Be very careful with the pipe leading to the evaporator - you are screwed if that fitting does not come loose - been there and have done that!

I'm serious - aluminum AC fittings do not come apart after XX years - make sure they do BEFORE purchasing any parts that need to use those fittings. Keep in mind that 1992 and 1993 ac parts are not the same threads - a 1993 hose/accumulator/compressor/evaporator/condensor DOES NOT fit on a 1992 - the threads are different.

If you really want to replace the compressor before knowing it's actually bad - it simply bolts on from underneath.

I wouldn't replace the compressor just because a replacement may be cheap. As with all new/reman parts today you never know what you are getting--keep that in mind for all your purchases for this car. I prefer to put good used parts in my Volvos rather than risk "new" Asian parts.

If you are going to restore the A/C, start by seeing if there is gas in the system, then see if the compressor turns on by bypassing the switch. Go from there. Novices always try to do too much thinking they are improving their Volvos but fortunately the quality of these cars means that almost always there is less wrong than you think--take advantage of it!

This is good information. I am all for using original parts. I'll test it for sure.
A couple of things that have me thinking it would just be smart to start new with a compressor. Uncle John told me about ten years ago it wasn't cooling as well. He started to top off the coolant seasonally until he broke the service port at some point. Then he just put it off. Obviously there was a leak. He would add refrigerant, but never replaced the oil that was probably leaking out too. Low lubricant couldn't be good for it. If I'm going to flush the system lines well and drain the compressor of any remaining oil, wouldn't I have to get the compressor out anyway? Once I take it out I feel that's half the battle. Putting that questionable compressor back in after just replacing the oil seems like false economy.

There's no GL badge. It's got electric windows but cloth seats (that were amazingly preserved under zebra striped seat covers).

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/volvofo...a78e53b05.jpeg

A leak is the biggest problem with any A/C system. And sure, you need to find and repair the leak to have hope of having functional air. The compressor works or it doesn't. If it was low on gas it shuts itself off by the pressure switch so you don't know.

How many miles on this car, looks very nice in and out, even the dash is not cracked which is rare! It may be a GL after all, I have seen GLs with cloth interior, Volvo wasn't a stickler about these designations. The wheels are a personal choice, many love them--they look elegant but they are hard to clean.

Getting back to an old question above: Odometer broke at 75K years ago. It's anyone's guess at this point, but I don’t think they used it much after the first 10 years.

There wasn't a lot of guidance above on how to take out the AC compressor so I got a Bentley guide and have taken my time. I also recommend Rob Siegel’s book, Just Needs a Recharge The Hack Mechanic Guide to Vintage Air Conditioning for a good overview of AC work. I work at a pretty slow speed and get sidetracked so it has taken me a while to get back to updating this thread. I will put up what I have done (warts and all) in hopes someone can get helpful information from this. Spoiler alert: There is a happy ending. I’ve gotten so much from this forum already, I wanted to ad to the resources with my own experience.

I started with checking the compressor and seeing if I could get it to run. It sounded a little rough when I jumped the pressure switch and cycled it on. When I later flushed the system out and drained the compressor's oil, there were a good amount of silver flecks. That sort of sealed my decision to replace it. I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let me go back and outline how I got the compressor off.

First thing I did was loosen the pivot point bolts on the AC compressor from below. Then I loosened the belt tensioner bolts and removed the AC to crank belt and the AC to power steering belt. Then I removed the belt tension bolts and related assembly. I put some spray penetrant on the lower mounting bolts of the compressor and let that soak in.

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Pivot bolts
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belt tensioner assembly

I should think if the compressor works it doesn't need replacement-- flushed it should be good. I am partial to used OEM parts as opposed to "new", aftermarket or remanufactured parts. I don't know how to estimate the condition of a working A/C compressor and gamble on its longevity but I'd give it a chance rather than buy a "new" or remanned one.

Then, I moved to the top. I got some electrical and vacuum lines out of the way. I removed the air inlet hose from the throttle body to the air cleaner. This gave me a chance to inspect and clean the MAF as well as replace the air cleaner filter. The MAF looked good but the air box was a horror show. Here’s where I learned about the temperature driven piston that moves the flap to let heated air into the air box. Of course mine had failed in the "apply heat" position. That was all taken out and the heated air inlet in the air box was sealed off.

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Removing zip ties to get electrical and vacuum lines out of the way
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Removed air hose at throttle body
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Disconnected MAF
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MAF mounting bolt
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Inside air box. Oh the horror!

Now with all of that out of the way above the compressor, I could access the lines going into the compressor. This system hasn’t worked in years and I double-checked to make sure there was no pressure before doing this. With the compressor still securely fastened I was able to get a 22mm crows foot down around the high pressure inlet nut.

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Checking to see if the 22mm crows foot would fit.
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Used a couple of extensions to reach it

With the high pressure line loosened, I used a 27mm wrench to remove the larger suction line nut. Once those were both removed, I moved back below and removed the compressor mounting bolts. There is a ground wire connected to one of the mounting bolts. Be careful with that. Also there is a bracket holding the high pressure line that is held on with a compressor mounting bolt. Taking out the air box completely made it much easier to lift the compressor out (and put back in).

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high pressure line removed
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27mm low pressure line
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bracket that holds in the air box. Removing the air box makes it much easier to pull the compressor out.

I guess that's it for getting the compressor out. I'll go ahead and detail the steps I took to get the AC working too. Once the compressor was out, I turned to the hose connections. Before tackling them I used Kroil penetrant for a few days to help loosen any corrosion. I didn't want to break any of these aluminum fittings. I also made sure to use the correct wrench for the nut and a counter-hold wrench. Here are the sizes:

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Accumulator/dryer to compressor 32mm nut. I had to use crescent wrench for support. It might have been a 29mm and I don't have that one.
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U-Pipe to accumulator/dryer, 27mm nut and 32mm support
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U-Pipe at firewall 32mm nut and 27mm support
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Once accumulator/dryer is removed you can access the high pressure line at the firewall. 22mm for the nut and 19mm for the support
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Under the car at the orifice tube connection. It is a 22mm and 19mm. I didn't have a photo of it but the connection at the condenser was the same size.

Next step was flushing the hoses, condenser, and evaporator with AC flush and pressured air. This is where I found a good amount of silver flecks. More came out when I emptied the oil from the compressor.
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pressured ac flush

Here was my biggest mistake on this job. I ordered a cheaper replacement "kit" supposedly for the 1992 240 that included compressor, dryer, o-rings, and orifice tube without paying close attention to the photos of the compressor. When I got it, the compressor looked slightly different. The mounting ears were all in the right place but the inlets were cocked at a slightly different angle and there was a bit more to the body in the back. Thankfully I test fit it before I filled it with oil and found that the high pressure line from under the car could not be attached. I packed it all up and sent it back - luckily in time for a full refund. The next kit I got was much better. A made in Japan unit. It looked the same and fit the same. The second compressor came from Parts Geek.
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Here's the one that didn't work.
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Here's the one that did

While I was sorting out my compressor mistake, I took advantage of easier access to the engine bay with the AC stuff removed. I did a bunch of overdue maintenance. I replaced the motor mounts. The front two looked a little saggy but the transmission mount had completely separated. Changed out the flame trap. The trap looked clear, but the hose going to it was hard as a rock and split. Put in new spark plug wires, spark plugs, distributor cap, and rotor. I also put a new valve cover gasket in and cleaned up the valve cover.
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Test fit the new compressor. Once I was convinced it would work, I removed it and installed oil and a little dye. I used ester oil just in case there was any mineral oil left in the system. I put new o-rings at all hose connections. Inserted the new orifice tube. Test fit all hose connections. I went ahead and put a new low pressure switch on one port of the new dryer/accumulator and new R134 port on the other port on the back of the new dryer/accumulator.

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Test fitting the new compressor. Everything fits.