Well, over the past month or two, I've been experiencing some strange problems with my AC system. When I start my car, my AC works fine, but about 15-20 minutes into driving, it cuts out.... The fan is still going, but it stops blowing cold. It seems to happen, not just under constant driving, but if I'm going around running errands and stopping/starting the car often. I did find, however, that if I turn the AC off, for about 10-15 minutes, and then back on, it will start working again. On my roommates suggestion, I bought a recharge kit, thinking it was just low on fluid. When I hooked up the gauge, it read normal (in the blue) but I decided to try and add some fluid anyway. I was actually able to empty the entire can into the system with no major change in pressure (still read in the blue when empty). Afterwards, the AC seemed to get colder faster on startup, but it is still having the same problem of cutting out after 15 to 20 minutes.

Has anyone here experienced a similar problem... I'm hoping it's not anything major, as I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg at the dealership to fix this.

We have a 2001 s60 and the ac is doing the exact thing you have described. I took it to a local shop and he tried adding freon and when I was almost home, it cut out again. Took it back and he has now told me he has no idea. Have you figured anything out yet?

http://www.volvo-forums.com/index.php?show...2&st=0&p=73372#

possibly the problem, that is if you follow my post.

I am experiencing the exact same problem on my 2001 S60 2.4T. I drive for 10min or so and then the AC will start blowing hot. If I turn the AC off for 10-15min while driving it will sometimes come back on and start blowing cold again, until the compressor freezes up. I recently took my car in for a smog check and asked the guy to look at the compressor and he said it cut out after running for a bit, if that tells anyone anything. I'm going to print out this page and the linked page and take it in to my mechanic. Does anyone else happen to know anything more regarding this problem? Thanks for any replies.

-Morgan

I do know about your problem and it has nothing to do with electrical anything and everything to do with the a/c clutch.

A common issue with Volvo's are that their a/c clutch as it wears internally like a transmission clutch get thinner. As the engine creates heat along with the compressor, the compressor will run normally for about 30 mins or less then kick off when the a/c gets hot.

You can try fixing it yourself by removing the clutch cover and removing some of the internal shims, but more than likely only a temp fix. Since its almost impossible to get a hold of a clutch by itself more than likely you will have to replace the entire compressor.

Its a crappy situation when there is nothing wrong with the compressor only the clutch, but yet another way the a/c folks keep padding their pockets.

This is also noted on many other Volvo forums also along with pics and directions.