Lee, i appreciate the feedback. also glad to hear that i'm not the only one in this boat. my 850, however, is not a turbo... so this might be a hole in your service reps' explaination. no offense to them, as i'm sure they are more than competent.

you're right, as the car cools down, i seem to notice the noise less. at higher fan speeds (i.e. 4 instead of 2), the sound seems to be minimal, although maybe it's just getting drowned out. ringing sound aside, i feel as though my AC sounds like a respirator when i am idleing. problems with the AC in my previous 850 actually caused smoke to come through the air vents.. not to mention it made the car stall when i turned the air on.

regarding the thermometer, when i had my old 850's AC recharged (and later on repaired), they used the 'meat' thermometer both times. i had the same reaction you did, but i guess it does the job.

can anyone else out there help us? a past experience or a hunch maybe?