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2003 E39. I've checked that there is no gas in the system by hooking up a set of A/C vacuum gauges. Nothing at all registering. So I figured it all leaked out from a damaged condenser or something. I hooked up the vacuum pump and it got it down to 29mmHg and after shutting it off and closing the valves ( and fixing a leak in the connector), the system held a vacuum for at least an hour. I bought the car with the A/C not working (winter buy), so I don't know for how long it's been out or if anything preceeded it not working. The compressor obviously won't run, but I cant force it on in INPA (diagnostics program) neither, so don't know if it runs. Maybe the gas just slowly escaped and the P.O never bothered to fix it? If there anything else I should check before going to a A/C place for a charge?
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Jun 17, 2023 07:00
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:24 |
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Motronic posted:The correct next step is a pressure test with dry nitrogen. Ok, so in other words it's time for the professionals (We can't buy R134a here as a consumer) to handle it. At least now I know that there isn't a massive leak somewhere. Thanks!
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Jun 17, 2023 17:49
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Ah, I see. I think they pressure test as well (at least it's in the description) when going to a/c shops here. I could start swapping o-rings as well as I've also had cars where the o-rings were the source of part of the leak. It's usually around $150 here for someone to look at the system, so I'm trying to do as much as I can to avoid repeating my trips to the mechanic. Not to mention nothing is open on weekends, so have to plan it around my work. Letting them do all the repairs usually ends up up with insane costs. Last time I was quoted like $1300, but fixed it for about $250 including the charge. Broken condenser and leaking o-rings in that case. Another thing to consider is that I perhaps might a well change the condenser and aux fan if I'm taking the whole front end off to get to the connectors. 20 years old as this point.
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Jun 18, 2023 07:59
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I don't know if the pressures are normal but on the E39 with dual zone climate, only one side blowing cold is a symtom on it being low on gas. Might be the same on your car. Edit: Went to some A/C people and sure enough there was a small leak when pressure testing. It was too small for them to easily locate, and they gave me the option of putting in the leak tracing fluid and fill up the gas or start disassembling stuff to find it. I chose option number one since I didn't have time to wait around for hours and I wanted to see if the compressor and AUX fan works. Thankfully everything works, so no need to start buying new stuff. I figure that as long as it lasts this summer and fall, and if it stops working I'll hopefully be able to see where the leak is coming from. It's insane how much a working A/C that blows ice cold air improves life. MrOnBicycle fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Jun 26, 2023 |
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Jun 21, 2023 16:13
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A bit of a sanity check before I swap the part. My Dads Volvo V70 from 2014 has had problems with the A/C for years (I think I've posted about it many times). Each time we've taken it to the A/C shop(s) they've said it's fine, but it's continued to just work on and off before it finally stopped working last summer. The symptoms before that was basically it working for 5 minutes, then had to be off for maybe double that. When the car was at operating temperature it failed faster. He again took it to an A/C shop to see if it was low on refrigerant, / diagnosing and they told him that the compressor needs changing as well as that they couldn't find any leaks (IIRC, going to ask him to find the estimate again and double check). I don't think that it has exploded and become stuck as that seems to lead to you being stuck at the side of the road and unable to drive unless you cut the belt. I'm thinking it's the clutch mechanism that is hosed. Does this seem reasonable? The compressor itself seems easy enough to swap out, and the system should be evacuated as well. I know this is a bit of a "is it ok to be lazy" question, but if I only have the lines disconnected from the compressor for a minute or two, will I still need to change the dryer? The whole job will end up about 20% of the cost the A/C shop wants, so pretty keen to just get it done before it gets too warm and humid out.
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Apr 30, 2024 06:38
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 20:24 |
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CommieGIR posted:Its the clutch for sure, this is a common V70 Compressor issue, happened to my wife's V70 too. There's a different style clutch you can get or replace the entire compressor with a different model, I recommend the latter option. Salami Surgeon posted:I'd check the clutch first. I remember Volvo AC clutches being prone to wearing. It was popular to shim them with bread ties. I knew a guy who would collect them, had a drawer full of bread ties organized by thickness for whenever the clutch would slip again. IOwnCalculus posted:You need to diagnose it yourself before you load the parts cannon. Is the compressor clutch actually disengaging when the A/C isn't working? If it is, is it because of a pressure issue? Or a wiring issue? Or a bad pressure switch? Or is the coil itself bad? Motronic posted:Yeah, not nearly enough information to start throwing parts at that. The symptoms sound like low refrigerant/evap freezing. Thanks! Yeah I don't think I can do much more diagnosing on my own and have to defer to the A/C shops diagnosis really. Especially since they emptied the system. I think (IIRC) the shim trick won't work on more modern Volvos like ours, but the worn clutch is still a problem on the newer Volvos. I also seem to recall something about since it being electromagnetic clutch, it gets weaker when hot and a worn clutch won't engage then. That would seem to align with the symptoms. The A/C shops (different ones) have repeatedly said that there are no leaks, no low refrigerant and nothing wrong with the system until now when they said it's the compressor that is dead. VVVV: Yeah or I'm just wishfully remembering wrong from like 2 years ago so that it aligns with what I want it to. :P MrOnBicycle fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Apr 30, 2024 |
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Apr 30, 2024 16:15
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