Hi all,

I have a 2010 Volvo S80 with about 160k miles that blows out hot air when it's hot out and frosty cool air when the sun is blocked or the temperature outside is low.

Today, a mechanic looked things over. He did the evac/recharge and determined that the compressor is not engaging and needs to be replaced along with the condenser. He can't get the part until next week which gives me plenty of time to really dwell on this and wonder if he diagnosed it correctly.

I am struggling to understand how the compressor seems to function totally fine when the temperature outside is low or the sun is blocked and only messes up when the weather is actually hot. Does this sound more like some kind of a climate control problem? Could it be something else? Or does it sound like the mechanic is providing a correct fix for the problem?

To further illustrate my confusion here with an example: today when I was driving under the sun, the AC blew out hot air. I passed under some dark rain clouds that blocked out sunshine and the AC then began blowing out frigid, ice cold air. After I made it through the downpour and out from under the clouds, the AC went back to being dry hot air again. I am trying to figure out why a broken compressor would blow out freezing air that is definitely colder than the air outside only when there is no sunshine or the temperature is relatively low.

My fear is that I am going to drop $1500 on a repair that won't resolve the issue.

Any advice here would be appreciated

This is a copy of the invoice I received today:

WORK PERFORMED: Evacuate & Recharge A/C $125.00
NEED: A/C COMP KIT $1006 CONDENSOR/COMP LABOR: $425