It was 97F yesterday and 103F today. Yesterday, I threw in a 12oz can of r134a because it was really low. I had the temps set at 72F, the black car had been sitting in the sun, so the cabin temp was about 150F+.

As soon as I started the engine, the ECC closed the circulation vent, and off I went down the highway. Cold air from the vents felt good, blower on auto was full blast and the compressor didn't cycle. Until I slowed down. About 20 minutes into my test drive, the compressor stopped. It was too hot!

When I pulled into the driveway, I checked the clutch. Fine. Checked the pressostat. Fine. Everything was good, except the compressor would not engage. The engine cooling fan was on high.

The compressor is not designed to run for 20 minutes straight! It shut down to save itself from my ignorance.

Today, the hotter day, I ran for an hour without a shutdown. How? I opened all of the doors and the rear hatch. Turned the blower to 0 and started the car. After 30 seconds, I closed the doors and the hatch and started the 1 mile drive to the highway, windows down.

When I got to the highway (50mph), I turned the blower to auto to start the AC and closed the windows. I set the temps to 78F, just to give the unit time to cycle once in a while.

Morale: Don't over cool your hot Volvo.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.