Hello everyone, I am a new Volvo owner and have been searching for anything on my XC90 to see how difficult it is to replace the AC compressor & receiver drier. I know from reading other posts that I'll need to have a shop evacuate the system and then have them recharge once I'm finished or buy the equipment to do it myself. I grew up working on farm equipment and vehicles, but the newer vehicles always have their quirks and engineers that try to fit the most amount of parts in the smallest of spaces.

My vehicle is a 2007 XC90 AWD with 4.4L V8 motor.

So, if there's any advice on this and what I'm going to get into I'd like to know it before I dig in. I've already found the OEM Valeo part for the compressor, which I've seen other people say don't shortcut on - noted. I found it on Parts Geek, however, there are different Valeo versions that are different in price, but they all say OEM or OE and they differ by some saying w/Clutch and others don't say that. Is there something there I need to verify based on my VIN # or Chassis? Have seen some notes on things like that too on various threads.
I appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

 

more important question is whether your issue requires a new compressor or a rebuild of the clutch. Check out some of the threads discussing reshimming of AC compressor clutches - a problem the I5s of older vintage (850/V70 etc) seem to share, not sure about the V8s. As to the part, plenty of Volvo friendly parts sites carry a choice of OEM and rebuilt compressors - not very expensive for the rebuilds and easy enough to match to your exact specs. Tascaparts.com has a good diagram with OEM PNs and shows when there's a a parts number change by serial number. When I did my 850T, I replaced the dryer/accumulator, the orifice valve (expansion valve) and system o rings and had a professional evac/charge done.

 

The easiest way to get to the compressor on the V8 is to first recover the refrigerant and then remove the condenser and radiator. From there, the compressor is right in front of you.

I would not recommend trying any other way to access the compressor since you'll spend more time trying to reach everything and in the end, there is not enough room.

 

I should have mentioned that I already had it checked out by a pretty respected mechanic in my area and he said the low side pressure wasn't cutting it. Plenty of freon, put in the dye, etc. Seems to be the compressor unless a bad clutch could cause the same thing. I will look at that website too.
Thanks.

 

When I have had a bad clutch, I opt for a reman compressor since you have to remove it to get the new one installed.

The only exception is where the air gap is too large to get the clutch to engage when hot. There I pull the clutch face off and remove the shim.