My new-to-me 2002 S60 had a burp in the AC system today. While in traffic the AC got very, very weak. Went home got the thermometer and inserted it into the center vent. re-started the car and the AC felt cold. Went for a drive and at highway speed it is blowing 40 F --- fine with me. Went for a long drive and it ranged in the 40F area. Went on a road that I could go about 30 MPH and it still blew cold. If it is blow 40F I don't think it would be low in refrig and it doesn't' seem to be doing it again.

I am not very familiar with this car. Wondering if there is an ambient temp sensor inside the car that could be acting up? The outside temps are 90F.

I hope it was just a burp in the system because climate controlled systems can make me go crazy. This is my wife's DD and she won't stand one moment for no AC in her 60 mile round trip commute.

Maybe a good evac of the system but Volv has gone out of their way to hide that low side down under the pwr steering pump. I have yet to find the high side. Where the heck is the accumulator?

I need to add this car to my Alldata account.

A borderline refrigerant charge will do just that. It will run nice and cold while cruising around but in low airflow across the condenser situations where the high side pressure rises , there isnt enough refrigerant to compensate and you get a dropout and bloop... warm ducts. Much more common than worn clutches. Compressors will usually give out before their clutches will wear enough to need adjustment
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-------Robert,:'00 XC70. '95 960, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '94 940SE, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually

Just went through something similar - generator was failing. Low voltage caused the computer to start shutting down systems. No ac after 10 minutes. New generator today. seems to solve the problem (at a cost of >$500).

R Stuart

I heard a rumor to this before and I was interested. If the alternator is not producing enough voltage, the clutch can not engage the compressor.

If this is the case, don't buy a new alternator, just get new brushes for it. The 850/70 alternators have a plastic cover, removal exposes the brushes and regulator. Easy to swap out and no belt to mess with! Plus only around $40 for a new regulator. If you could find out the brush sizes, that would only cost around $10...

Sounds like the classic AC clutch wear problem. Search for "AC compressor clutch fix" on this forum and you will find several solutions. My recommendation is to remove the clutch plate and remove shims to get the gap down to 0.015.
Good luck,
Tom

Thanks for the reply.

Oh I always hate when my car has the "classic" problem. :)

Is there enough room to remove the clutch plate with the compressor on the car. I know on my XJ6 there was enough room to do it.

Is there any way to measure tolerance with the compressor mounted?

I have 6 cars at the moment and spend a decent amount of time on my back under them. At age 60 it sometimes gets a little old and lately I actually have mechanics do some work. An AC clutch could be one of them.

Let me know about the removal etc.

Removal of the splash pan/air guide will give you great access to the compressor and clutch. Just use a feeler gauge to check the clutch gap, it should be around .020 or so. When the gap approaches .040, the electromagnet is no longer powerful enough to engage the clutch when the compressor gets hot.

There are many sources to re-gap the clutch in less than 30 minutes without having to remove the clutch and move shims. The 'bread clip' will not work for your S60, but using thin pieces of metal or reasonable gauge wire will work.

If this happens again, do not shut off the engine and test the clutch with a broom stick. You should be able to tap the center of the clutch with the stick and engage the clutch. Watch out for moving belts! It only takes a few ounces of pressure.

Thanks and it is good to know that access is available.

I guess I'll need to read about the "bread clip" and then determine what can be done with other metal.

If the clutch is engaged I guess there will be different problems such as blend flaps opening at the wrong time, ambient temp sensors giving out wrong info to the computer.

If there is a problem with the vent flaps, the warning lights will blink on start up.

If your wife drives like mine, remind her that full throtttle with a hot engine will cause the car to turn off the compressor! If the engine gets too hot in stop and go traffic, same thing. The computer will preserve the engine before the passengers.