96 850 GLT Air cond. intermittent

Air conditioning works fine when I first start up the car. Also it is
usually ok driving down the highway. In slow town driving or while parked
the AC will suddenly blow slightly cool or warm air. You can tell right away
because the humidity in the car seems to go up. If I shut off the AC and
start it again after 5 or 10 minutes it works again - for a while.
I had the car in to the garage because the AC clutch was cycling every 5
seconds and had the problem as described above. They said it was about a
pound? low on refrigerent. It does not cycle often like it did before but
still have the sudden loss of AC. Fan is fine.

Any ideas?

 

My 95 850 had similar symptoms. I had AC recharged and it lasted about one
year. Then recharged again and it lasted about a week. Problem was leaky
evaporator .... depending on where you have it replaced (not a job for the
faint hearted shade tree mechanic !!!!) it will run $1000 to $1600 for a new
Volvo evap, dryer bottle, and several O rings. Suggest you have the 6
instrument panel illumination light bulbs replaced while the dash is apart
and also the recirculation plastic arm (if a white part, replace. if a
black part, it has already been replaced).

Good luck.

 

" In slow town driving or while parked
the AC will suddenly blow slightly cool or warm air."

OK, mine does that as well it has been doing it for 3 years. It ONLY
does it when I am using the AUT setting that lets the car manage the
temp inside the cabin. I have never added freon.
To wit: I was driving to work this AM and it was 75 degrees outside. I
had the temp set to 72 and had it on AUT and it's was like it wasn't
even blowing. So I manually adjusted the fan speed up high and here
came the cool air.
Moral of the story, don't use it on AUT. I don't in particular at
highway speeds, as the cycling bugs me. It will turn on and off once
every minute or so. If you turn the fan up and the temp down it does
not cycle.
Try it, and see.

 

[Steve J.] (Wed, 23 Jul 2003 20:34:25 -0700):

Heh, the cycling comes because you need to add som R134a to the system..
(10% of it just disappears every year)
Got mine refilled friday, and damn what a difference.. They also put in
something called ProSeal that should take care of any leaks up to 2,4mm in
size.

 

Same thing, '96 850 GLT, new evaporator after 54,000 miles and at 104000
miles, 4 years later, need another one, legendary Volvo part failure on this
model, can fill with freon every year but time to bail on this car I'm
afraid. dealer won't help with this one.