Hey guys, I just bought a 1990 240 DL and I’m super excited. It’s my first car and I know basically nothing about working on cars so you will probably be seeing a lot more of me. First off I want a service manual, the original copies are like $77 and I really don’t want to spend that money right now so I was wondering if anyone has the link to a free pdf or knows where i can get a cheaper copy. Next off, i took it to a mechanic I trust and it seems to be in a lot better condition than i thought. My question is about the compressor. He says the compressor is bad because it is making a sort of grinding/clicking noise but the ac is blowing and even feels a little cold. I told him to refill it but I’m not sure if I will need to replace it. My question is if this is something a novice could do as my first attempt and working on the car. Also should I just go ahead and replace it now or wait until it dies? I’ll be in texas so I need ac.

 

A 1990 240 AC system uses an expansion valve and was designed for use with r12 freon. I trust by now it has been converted usually to r134. Those old systems were just marginal as built (for swedish summers!) and after conversion to r134 will blow about 5 degrees warmer - So even if perfect it will never blow cold enough air for Texas. (I grew up in Austin, "summered" in Houston, and had many relatives in west Texas (Midland, Abilene)

My shop converted hundreds of pre 1993 Volvos to r134 using the factory kits. (in the late 90's) The pre 1991 240 is the worst due to the basic design of the system. First problem is the evaporator - it is a suck through design. (all 240's are) Ambient air has a chance of diluting the airflow through the evaporator. Newer 740,940,960,850 and all other Volvos have a blow through design. The 240 uses all rubber hoses that leak faster than - the aluminum pipes that are used beginning with - drum roll - the 740. Evaporator and condenser are designed for - r12. Air flow over the condenser is limited due to the mechanical radiator fan.

The factory conversion kit for an early 240 replaced the oil in the compressor (to be compatible with 134) the high side hose (double layer to not leak as bad) the receiver drier, expansion valve and the evaporator with a more enclosed design to transfer more heat. A 134 charging port was added on the high side next to the drier - making it difficult to charge and requiring an ac machine to fill the systems with the compressor off. I doubt your car was converted using all those parts - it was very expensive back then! Even with the factory kit the cars would not cool in traffic - an electric fan added to the front of the condenser helped - but the cars were never really cold enough for Atlanta, GA weather. If you parked in the shade you might be able to cool the car down after 15 minutes of driving on a 90 degree day.

If your system is cool that's as good as it's going to get. As far as noise from the compressor - the compressor on my daughters 91 240 made horrible noises for at least 5 years until she damaged the engine and gave the car back to me.

Sorry, if you want cold ac - you will need to find a different car.

 

Understood, thank you for your help. I think I’ll just refill it for now.

 

https://ozvolvo.org/archive/
Try this. It's a little archive for every sort of documentation by volvo, brochures, manufacturers specs for transmissions engines you name it