I have a post about this going on a model-specific forum, but I thought I'd ask the A/C experts over here.
My car is a 2006 Volvo S40... recently, the accessory belt started slipping and smoking, but everything was still turning. When I was trying to test it turning off the A/C, the belt broke (and jammed under the timing belt causing it to slip). It seems like I didn't bend valves, because the car runs OK with a re-timed belt. Whew!
Anyway, the compressor is totally locked up, whether the clutch is powered or not. I took it off and found that it was dry of oil. I've been taking the system apart, since I plan on replacing the dryer/accumulator, condenser, and compressor and flushing everything else.
When I took out the orifice tube, it was clogged up with some kind of light tan material. I don't know what this is -- dessicant? Stop leak? Here is a chunk of it. It is dry and kind of powdery.
Anyway, the system had clean green oil in the suction tube (outlet of the evaporator to input of drier/accumulator) but no signs of oil anywhere else. No oil evident in the condenser or compressor. I haven't found any signs of "black death" - I guess to make sludge you need to have some oil, lol!
What happened here? My guess is that this material (dessicant or stop leak) clogged up the orifice tube and because the flow was so reduced, there was no longer enough flow to pass lubricant out of the receiver/dryer and it all just pooled up there.
When I bought the car a few years ago, the A/C was not working, but I reshimmed the compressor gap and it fixed it. Yet, the A/C performance was always just marginal. I put that down to untinted windows with a sunroof and black leather interior. Now it seems evident that things weren't working quite right.
My car is a 2006 Volvo S40... recently, the accessory belt started slipping and smoking, but everything was still turning. When I was trying to test it turning off the A/C, the belt broke (and jammed under the timing belt causing it to slip). It seems like I didn't bend valves, because the car runs OK with a re-timed belt. Whew!
Anyway, the compressor is totally locked up, whether the clutch is powered or not. I took it off and found that it was dry of oil. I've been taking the system apart, since I plan on replacing the dryer/accumulator, condenser, and compressor and flushing everything else.
When I took out the orifice tube, it was clogged up with some kind of light tan material. I don't know what this is -- dessicant? Stop leak? Here is a chunk of it. It is dry and kind of powdery.
Anyway, the system had clean green oil in the suction tube (outlet of the evaporator to input of drier/accumulator) but no signs of oil anywhere else. No oil evident in the condenser or compressor. I haven't found any signs of "black death" - I guess to make sludge you need to have some oil, lol!
What happened here? My guess is that this material (dessicant or stop leak) clogged up the orifice tube and because the flow was so reduced, there was no longer enough flow to pass lubricant out of the receiver/dryer and it all just pooled up there.
When I bought the car a few years ago, the A/C was not working, but I reshimmed the compressor gap and it fixed it. Yet, the A/C performance was always just marginal. I put that down to untinted windows with a sunroof and black leather interior. Now it seems evident that things weren't working quite right.
