My '97 Volvo 850 has a rather odd A/C problem. I turn the A/C on and after a few minutes it turns off for a few seconds and then turns back on. The fan keeps blowing but the air is not very cold (rather uncomfortable in the summer). I can hear the compressor clicking on and off which makes me think there maybe an electrical issue or possibly some sort of compressor problem unless it is just low on freon. This happens at both idle and when driving the car on local streets. Recirculation switch is turned off. The car has 130K miles on her. Any ideas?

 

My vote is low on freon.

 

It's more likely than not low on r-134a...pick a can up at an autoparts store

 

Okay. I'm thinkingthefreon is probabylow. When I first got the car in May it was blowing such cold air that I had to turn off the A/C. Now it is somewhat cool and it keeps cycling off/on. I'll do the R-134A charge. Thanks.

 

Recharging did the trick. It works great now. As soon as I hooked up the refill can it stopped cycling. It's all fixed now. Thank You.

 

Now that he feels all good about it do we tell him about the evap change in his future or not?



...Lee

 

LOL I guess we will wait till he asks again. LOL

 

Well, after hearing that, Ill wait to send him the how to link.
Cant stand to see a man cry.[]

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

My 2001 C70 just started doing the same thing. It used to blow so cold that I had to turn it off. I started to think it was my imagination and that it was getting warmer and now its just not cold its more like just below warm making it an uncomfortable 140 mile daily commute. I see you mention the evaporator may need to be changed out. I thought about recharging the refrigerant but was curious if it may have been something else. What do you think?

 

You are low on Freon too......So, just recharging the system might do the trick for you.
The evaporator change that is mentioned above is a common leaky spot in 850s and I guess you shouldnt be worried about that.

 

well my concern is that it had to leak out from somewhere. What type of refrigerant does a 2001 c70 use?

 

I've changed the evaporator on both of my 850s now and they have been problem free since. I'm attaching a link to some very good instructions on how to do the work. I recomend sending a donation, these instructions will save you hundreds in repair costs, convince you that the work is best left to a professional or that you don't need the a/c after all!

http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/