The A/C in my 20 year old Volvo has started acting up. Everything is fine up to about 80 degrees ambient, but after that it eventually stops working. Yesterday afternoon it was 80 degrees and the A/C worked for about twenty minutes. It seems as if the compressor stops kicking in. The higher the ambient temperature, the faster this happens. Yesterday I switched it off for a few minutes and then switched it back on. It will give me another five minutes if I do this before it quits again. Somehow I doubt its the charge because it will deliver cold air with ambient temperatures above 90, but I could be wrong. It seems to be control related because the automatic climate control slows the fan down when the compressor isn't running. Any thoughts?
Intermittent A/C Problems
- Thread starter Astro_Guy
- Start date
Check or replace the A/C relay for a start. It is easy to test by checking for power going to the clutch but if you don't feel like messing with it its a very inexpensive part to replace and at 20 years old may not be the worst idea anyway.
Besides the relay, check the gap in the compressor clutch. There plenty YouTube videos of how to adjust it!
Is the Freon charge at the proper level??
Is the Freon charge at the proper level??
I had a car that acted in a similiar way when things warmed up. The coil for the compressor's clutch would open up in very high temperatures and would not engage the clutch at all. When temperatures were a little cooler, the clutch would only engage for about the first five minutes and then stopped working until it cooled down again.
