My A/C runs cold for a while then stops - the blower works but the air is hot. This happens when driving up a hill and then it stays off. Also happens when dring on the highway for a while. What causes this and is it an expensive repair?

 

Compressor clutch needs to be reshimmed.

 

Thanks for the info. Do you have an idea of how many hours of labor this would take / the cost? My car is a 2001 and has about 150000, if this is an expensive job might need to think about a new car.....

 

Well if you can find a shop that would just shim it it would be about 1.5 to 2 hours labor.
We charge like 2 hours labor to reshim it.

 

What does "reshim" mean.......install a new clutch? Also, can a new clutch be installed without removing the compressor?

 

When the center part of the clutch is installed there is washer looking things between the center part and compressor. There is usually 2 in there and I always remove the thicker one and install the smaller one and that fixes it.

Also see this post about it.

https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-850-16/c-compressor-clutch-reshimming-6665/

 

When the AC is on in my S60, it causes the engine to bog down and lose some power..........sound like the compressor clutch is failing?

 

No the car will bog a little with the A/C on.

 

We have noticed over the last 1.5 months, and this very hot summer with a black car, that our a/c is going on and off. Usually for 10 min. at a time at least. It tends to kick back on. It happens anytime of the day. We realize it because the air is warm coming out of the vent, but we also notice that the exterior temperature gauge on the dashboard drops to 22 or 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It will go up and down and then once the a/c kicks back on, it starts to record an accurate outside reading.

What does that tell you about our problem?

 

We have noticed over the last 1.5 months, and this very hot summer with a black car, that our a/c is going on and off. Usually for 10 min. at a time at least. It tends to kick back on. It happens anytime of the day. We realize it because the air is warm coming out of the vent, but we also notice that the exterior temperature gauge on the dashboard drops to 22 or 25 degrees Fahrenheit. It will go up and down and then once the a/c kicks back on, it starts to record an accurate outside reading.

What does that tell you about our problem?