My 1993 850 compressor clutch is frozen now. It did what you all describe for the past year where it would blow cold for a while and then blow warm. If I turned the system off and then back on it would blow cold again only for a little while. I could also hear a click as it started to blow warm and the air would turn to a funny smell when turning warm. It turned out that the gap on the compressor clutch was getting larger and so my compressor clutch was failing to engage. It apparently is a magnetic system of engaging and thus when the gap enlarges from wear the magnetic force isn't strong enough to engage. Then the pressure in the system drops and you have warm air. When you turn the system off and back on, it will sometimes engage the compressor and then you'll have cold air for a while. I also noticed that I would often lose my cold air when going around a long corner (like a highway exit ramp) and it kind of makes sense because of the lateral arrangment of the compressor clutch. You can check for this easy. When the air is blowing warm, just look down at the compressor and see if it is engaged and spinning. In my case it never was when the air was warm. If you (very carefully) tap the compressor clutch with a stick it would engage and the air would become cold.

Anyway, after a year or two of this my A/C was completely shot. Then two weeks ago it began to make this awful racket and i was losing power from the engine. Apparently my compressor clutch is frozen and since it is a single belt system I was losing power from the engine. The mechanics are telling me that the car can't be driven. I can't take the belt off because it drives other things too - like the power steering and alternator.

Does anyone know any tricks for freeing up the compressor clutch to spin freely. Then atleast I could drive the car without air? Thanks.