Last april, I received my brand new V50 2.0 diesel (probably not available in the Americas but very popular in Europe, where I happen to live).
After a few weeks I noticed a strange problem with the air conditioning. If there is a temperature difference between the in- and outside of the car the air conditioning continuously makes a repetitive sound. If the air flow is big enough to hear, it continously varies in strength (stronger, less strong, stronger, less strong, etc.) every few seconds.

I took the car to the dealer, and after an unsuccesful attempt at fixing it, they now tell me that Volvo Sweden acknowledges the problem and are working on it. The problem seems to be related to an air valve not opening properly, which causes the air conditiong system to keep on attempting to open it.
However, I was wondering if there are people here experiencing the same issue who have received different feedback from their dealer.

Anybody?

Hi, I live in Australia and took delivery of my V50 in March and noticed exactly the same problem immediately. Volvo in Australia have given me a similar story that Sweden are working on a software patch to fix the problem. It was supposed to have been resolved weeks ago but apparently Volvo are having some problems coming up with a fix. I receive regular updates from my dealership and Volvo Australia although I no longer recieve an estimated delivery for the patch only the message that it has high priorty. It is a very annoying problem that I am quite unhappy about since this is my first Volvo.

Thank you for this information, they hadn't told me yet that it was an issue with the software. I'm not sure if that is good news though; I happen to work at a software company, so I know how long it can take to solve a "simple" software problem...

I'll keep in touch with my dealership, and let you know if and when they start mentioning dates.

Hi. Update today from Volvo Australia is that recent testing of a new software patch has been unsuccessul and Sweden are, in the words of the guy from Volvo, "back to the drawing board". Unfortunately this is not very encouraging.

Hmm, sounds somewhat familiar...Got my V50 2.0 diesel 2 weeks ago and almost immediately noticed a faint, low "buzzing" sound (almost like in my old car where bad speaker cords caused interference and the engine sound buzzed through the speakers). The intensity doesn´t change too much but wind gusts make the sound luoder which made me suspect the ac. So far I´ve noticed it only when driving for longer periods and became puzzeld when it didn´t respond to changes in fan speed or to switching the ac on and off. Made a few phonecalls but the only advice I got was to bring the car in for service. Do you guys think we're talking about the same thing here?

Maybe, maybe not. In my case it's not really a buzz, but I'm not sure how to describe the way it does sound (I might be running into somewhat of a Dutch-English language barrier here...)
Anyway, in my case the interval between the sounds does vary with the outside temperature and it does stop when I turn the ac off.
If it is the same problem then your dealership should recognize it just by listening to the car if you do bring it in. The people at my (relatively small) dealership told me that they have by now had 4 or 5 different 2006 V50s in that experience "my" problem.

I got the impression that Volvo is taking that problem seriously, due to the large number of customers experiencing it and the fact that it takes a big bite out of the driving pleasure (I really can't express how annoying it is without being banned for bad language).
So, all they have to do now is find a solution...

On the Dutch version of this forum I just found a reasonably good description of the way my ac sounds. It sounds a bit like a cuckoo is trapped under the bonnet.

Ok, thanks for the answer, sounds like the sound is different...I would have brought the car in already but "the sound" has so far appeared only after the engine has been running for a while and with higher speeds. The sound is "electric", very much like interference coming from speakers, only it doesn't change depending on the enginges rpm. The only thing which makes the otherwise constant sound change is when a gust o wind hits the car...Haven't had time to really study the problem yet because every time it occurs I've been on a business trip so stopping the car hasn't been an opition. Guess it might be a loose powercord or something...

I'll stay in touch and report on the findings. Have a nice week!

Same problem in my car, S40 My 2006, but the noise is only then engine is running, engine off and the fan is on, no noise!

I received a letter from Volvo Netherlands today, in which they say that they expect the fix (i.e. a software update) to be available by the end of September. IF the tests of the version that is now nearly complete are successful, that is.
I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed for another two months...

Thanks for the update - it is more than Volvo Australia could tell me. This week they said that Volvo in Sweden has closed for three weeks for summer holidays and nobody can give any update.

We don't have funny noises, however, we have had to take our V50 in 3 times for the AC blowing HEAT instead of cold air. The first time they replaced the compressor, within a week it was blowing HOT air again, agian they replaced the compressor. Then a third time, we took it back and they had it for a week, replaced everything, compressor, sensors, etc. and updated the software. It still has the problem! Occasionally on HOT days when you want AC the most, you turn on the AC and it blows HEAT. The most recent occurances seem to go away if you turn the car off and on a couple times, or last time I revved the engine to the red line (anger) and that seemed to fix it.

It sure sounds like a flaky software issue to me. Anyone else have this experience?

BTW even when the AC is working, it really doesnt get as cold as other cars would, you have to keep it on full blast to be comforatble here in the California summer.

Same problem here, the noise and the hot/cold air. Will hand in my car next friday, I'll hope they fix this.

// D

I have the same problem as rbergen. Bought a V50 (my first Volvo) four weeks ago, and experience a lot of noice from the air condition when the outer temperature is higher than in the car. I think it is the same problem, but I'm not sure... The air condition control seems to very sensitive, and it keeps changing the valve back and forth. Also very sensitive when the car changes position relative the sun (e.g. sun changes from hitting the front window to back or side).
Any news from Volvo? Is it a confirmed software problem? My local dealer had not heard about it...

I haven't heard from Volvo since they told me last July that they expected to have a fix by the end of this month. Regarding your question about the source of the problem: they have not as such confirmed it's a software problem, but rather that they are trying to fix it using a change in the software. That might indeed mean that it's a bug in the software, but it could also mean that they are trying to use the software to circumvent a hardware problem. Personally I think the latter is the case, because I can't imagine that it takes 6 months to fix a software bug. I happen to know by experience that you can build a mid-sized software application in that time...

The dealer changed three of the valve motors, seems there were some kind of disturbance in the system, noise is gone now - hopefully it will stay like this.

Please keep us updated on this issue -- especially if you hear something from the factory about the fix. My car arrives in four weeks.

Sorry to say - the sound came back again - car will be back at the shop the 13th of october. There will hopefully be a software fix for this behaviour by then said my techichian..

I am from Portugal and I have a V50. Since beginning i have a with ir conditioning problem. When I go on long travels ( sometimes not so long ), my air conditioning start to have problems and the cold air that should continue in the vents seems to disappear. The only thing that I feel is a small dispersion air but definitely not cold air like should be. I also check that normally this happens when the external temperature is the same ( or almost ) like the temperature that we have inside the car.
If I turn off the air conditioning and wait some minutes, everything start to work properly form some more time and then happens again. If I turn off the car, in the day after everything is ok, and even worst, it keeps ok in some journeys, so is very difficult to have the chance to show the problem happening to the dealer.

My dealer already update software and change two sensors but it seems that nothing resulted because I still continue with the problem.

What I know is that we are clients and we don’t have the fault of these problems so Volvo should start working really hard to solve this otherwise in the future they will need too much marketing to convince someone to buy a Volvo car. Where is the quality of these cars?

We still wait for a positive answer. If Volvo doesn’t know the problem at least should change the completely system. I’m sure that it will solve the troubles and clients will be definitely more happy!!