Hi,

I have a question about my ’98 Volvo V70 GLT for you guys. It was involved in an accident a little over a month ago. The front-right side of the car was struck by another vehicle. I took it to a body shop recommended to me by a couple of friends and had the damage repaired. The day I was to get the car back, I got a call from the body shop asking me if the AC had been working prior to the accident. It had and they said it wasn’t working then and that they would try and get it straightened out before I picked it up. About an hour later I got a call back and got this report:

Auto Bodyshop mechanic said: The air conditioner wasn’t working and since he was neither an expert in engines and such nor Volvos in particular he wasn’t able to get it working again. The symptoms were that the AC wasn’t working when the car was running normally BUT it would work when the fan which provides additional cooling to the engine was engaged. Also, if the fan didn’t engage, there would be a loud hissing noise as built-up pressure inside the AC would be released. He said the engine cooling fan helps move the air out of the AC and into the ventilation system (or something like that). So, he concluded that there was just a broken switch or something such that the AC itself didn’t engage that fan but when it was otherwise engaged by the engine temp sensor then the AC would work fine. He recommended I take it to an expert in Volvos.

The thing that struck me most strange about the malfunction is the AC worked fine between the accident and the time I took it into the body shop. (Didn’t get to the body shop for about a day afterwards.) A couple days of days after getting it from the body shop (and before I had the chance to take it to a Volvo guy) I had to take it to get a smog check. I took it to my local mechanic (not a Volvo expert) to get it smoged and after he finished the check I asked him to take a look at the AC. He took a machine with a couple of gauges and hooked it up to a valve on the lower right side of the engine compartment (this one: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/ac_page.php ) which he said was the refrigerant line. He had me turn on the AC and said the pressure was fine (which I took to mean there was ample refrigerant, i.e. Freon or whatever they use these days). I then described to him the characteristic of the AC working so long as the engine fan engaged and said I planned to have a Volvo expert look at it. He said that it was probably a good idea and that it was probably just a switch or something. (Later that day I checked all the fuses and they all looked fine.)

A couple of days later (while I was out of town) my father (whose car this is) took it to the local Volvo dealership. I had explained all the above to my father so he could pass it on the mechanics there. Two days after having taken it in he called me and said the dealership said it would be an ~$1800 repair because some line that goes behind the firewall had a crack (leak) in it and the also refrigerant was low/out. I was shocked after having had both mechanics say it was probably just a switch (which I should imagine would cost less than $1800). Additionally, their assertion that the refrigerant was low I thought was just flat wrong. Although I never directly spoke with them, I’m told they said the only way to see if there is ample refrigerant is to physically take all the fluid out and weigh it. (So what was the one mechanic checking?!) I told my father to take it to another shop to get a second opinion. (Some additional information: the AC compressor was replaced in May.)

What is your opinion? Is what the dealership described realistic given that we had a report from one mechanic who said the refrigerant level was OK and the other who said the AC worked fine so long as the engine fan was turned on.

Thanks in advance for your help. Kyle

 

I would still get one more opinion.
They are right on one way about finding out exactly how much is in there.

The Pressures won't tell you exactly how much is in there.

Also if it turns out to be a line or something like that leaking I would try to have the Insurance company pay for it. Make sure it looks like it was from the Accident.