AC stops working after 10-15 minutes - Volvo, S70 SE, year 2000

Discussion in 'Volvo S70' started by Bob135, May 31, 2006.

  1. Bob135

    Bob135 Guest

    Hi,

    I have a problem with the Air Conditioning in my Volvo. After 10-15
    minutes of working just fine it stops working and it will blow only air at
    the outside temperature. If I shut down the engine for a while the air
    conditioning will start working again for another 10-15 minutes.
    The 10-15 minutes that is working the Air Condition is working properly
    and is cooling very well.

    I had the car cheked air Conditioning freon and presure and the guy told
    me that there is no problem with AC so they have to check the electrical
    system.

    Can anybody tell me what is the possible problem with the AC?

    Please advice!

    Thanks

    Bob
     
    Bob135, May 31, 2006
    #1
  2. Bob135

    Mike F Guest

    There are 2 common causes of the A/C working fine for a while -
    typically 30 minutes - then cuts out and doesn't work until the car has
    cooled off.

    One is a superheat switch that turns the compressor off when it gets too
    hot. This switch is on the backside of the compressor. You need to
    join the 2 wires going into it together. The best way is to follow both
    wires to a connection about 6" (15 cm) away, disconnect the superheat
    switch wires and connect the 2 other wires together. (The connectors
    will just plug into each other.) Do not remove the superheat switch, as
    the refrigerant will come blasting out. Note that the design idea of
    the superheat switch was to save the compressor from overheating, its
    setting is too low, causing the compressor to turn off when there's
    really no problem.

    The other cause is that the gap in the compressor clutch being too
    large, and the magnetic force is not strong enough to engage the
    clutch. (Removing the superheat switch from the circuit as described
    above will help this problem, as it will increase the voltage available
    to the clutch a small amount.) Others have used the wire going to the
    clutch to engage a relay that is fed power directly from the battery.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Jun 1, 2006
    #2
  3. Bob135

    Bill Guest

    I had the very same problem this week with my 98 V70. Took it to the
    shop and they sucked out the freon and found it significantly low. They
    recharged with the right amount of freon and added a leak detector dye.
    The system has been working perfectly since then.

    Bill
     
    Bill, Jun 1, 2006
    #3
  4. Bob135

    Eric Guest

    Hi,
    I've got the other problem with my AC. My clutch doesn't engage. I'll try
    the fix this weekend and post an update

    Thanks

    Eric
     
    Eric, Jun 1, 2006
    #4
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