The other day I was driving in steamy Florida, where I live, with the air conditioning "on" with the blower on 3. All of sudden, the air was no longer blowing cold and became warm and musty smelling. I turned the blower down to 1 and the air began to blow cold once again. When I turned it back up to level 2 or 3, the air would blow cold for a few minutes and then back to the warm and musty smelling. This is the first time this has ever happened. Could my air conditioner be low on freeon? If so, could I recharge it myself and how or would I need to have it serviced. Thanks...

 

Either it is low on freon or the compressor is turning off intermitantly.
With the car idling and the A/C on let it idle and see if it cycles.(The compressor turning on and off)
Also at the same time make sure the cooling fan under the hood comes on.

If it is low on freon you can buy freon and charge it up yourself.

BTW:Where in Fla do you live?

 

I have a '96 850 and I have the very same problem. The A/C will blow cold anywhere from a few seconds to 30 minutes....very random but it does seem to be getting worse. I can tell immediately when the A/C goes out because the air gets musty and warm. To fix the problem, I have to turn off the blower motor, turn the A/C button to off and wait about 3 minutes. After turning the blower and A/C button back on it will blow cold again as described above(sometimes I have to go through this a couple of times).

I wouldn't think the Freon needs to be recharged as it blows quite cold when it's working. Would a compressor that is turning off intermittently cause this odd musty and warm smell?

Thanks in advance for your help with this.

 

Yes sounds like the compressor needs to be reshimmed.
I made a post about doing the job.
Some have been able to do it on the car.

 

Tech,

Great post on the compressor reshimming. I'm a noob to Volvo repairs as well as any type of A/C component repair. Can you give a short description of what's going on here mechanically that a thinner shim needs to be installed? Also, where exactly is the measurement taken for the gap between the outer and inner part of the clutch?

Thanks again!

 

What happens is the inner and outer part of the clutch wears over time. And when your car does what it is doing they have worn alot. Then when the compressor gets hot the Magnet cannot hold it anymore due to the excessive gap between the inner and outer part.
You take the measurement in the gap between the inner part that you can turn when the car is off and the part the belt attaches to.

 

Tech,
You just saved me about a $1K. Printed off your instructions for reshim and the garage followed the steps. Fixed the A/C after two years...for just over $100. Thanks for the fabulous advice. Keep it up!

LARK

 

Do you have a link to the instructions ??

 

It is either in the 850 or S70 sticky.

 

I had the same problem and it turned out to be the pressure switch. Just keep that in your mind if the shimming does not work.

 

Does this also apply to 93 240 compressers ? I just filled mine with freon. Worked great. My issue is the outer fan in front of the radiaor doesn't turn on.