19 replies to this topic

[johnloves850's]

so i found this topic here
i can try messing with it, but my major concern was that:

1. my a/c never really blew cold air after the first summer i had it 1 and 1/2 years ago
2. i recharged it last summer, it was cold, but shortly faded back to normal (warm air blowing while on coldest setting)
3. a/c pump kicks on
4. a/c and rec lights flash every once in a while upon initial start up
5. still puts out hot air
6. the air is dry, not moist/humid at all

i'm reaaally hoping it isn't the heater core or something that is a PITA to get to

thanks
john

[--Aaron--]

Have a tech pull your CC codes....your answer more than likely lies there.

If you charged it, it blew cold for a bit and then right back to warm and the compressor's working as it should you might have the common bad evaporator. There's also other components that leak with age but the evaporator as I'm sure you know is most common.

[Chilled Man]

Low refigerent
Evap Has a leak in it
Has nothing to do with the heater core. - also thats really easy to change
Evap requires removing the dash to fix.

theres your answer

[Brava]

Bad evap . Yesterday a friend of mine replace-it , it takes 1/2 day to do the job , and 150 $ .
http://www.woodjoiner.com/volvo/

[MadeInJapan]

I love it- quick can cheap
Problem is, over here in the U.S., it takes a day (or longer) and takes about $1300 (or more).

[johnloves850's]

so the majority is saying it is the evap?
and there is absolutely no other way around it..

ok, well i guess that is what i will be buying in a couple weeks
until then i guess i'll just deal with bad gas mileage on the highway, and everything being uncomfortably hot
i might just get tints before then idk

thanks guys,
john

[boltz]

I believe the standard procedure before spending a couple days yanking the dash out would be to pull a vacuum and add some refrigerant with dye, then take a peek with the UV light and special glasses. If the system still holds enough pressure to start the compressor, this should be possible. If the condensate pool under the car glows bright green, you got big trouble. If not, and your not seeing the evil green any where else, you need to stick a sniffer in the vents.

It probably is the evap, but before you do a PITA job like that, you want to be double-triple sure.

Good luck, I'm dreading the day that happens to me.

Just curious, does anybody know why the evaporators in these cars have a fairly short lifespan? I can think of three possible causes.

First, they could rot from the inside, when the system leeks down, and moisture makes it's way through the permeable hoses.

Second, they could rot from the outside, when environmental pollution ranging from tree seeds to acid rain gets sucked in the air intake.

Third, the metal could suffer fatigue from "hot soak", when you shut the engine off and the high pressures from the condenser equalize into the evaporator.

If we could figure out what's failing we could make these things last a lot longer.

Any ideas?

-JH

[Brava]

MadeInJapan, on 25 May 2009 - 01:49 AM, said:

I love it- quick can cheap
Problem is, over here in the U.S., it takes a day (or longer) and takes about $1300 (or more).

1300 $ ?? The Evap costs 128 $ ( http://www.fcpgroton.../category_id/69 ) , and you can change it yourself , it isn't very hard , believe me .

[boltz]

Brava, on 25 May 2009 - 06:50 PM, said:

1300 $ ?? The Evap costs 128 $ ( http://www.fcpgroton.../category_id/69 ) , and you can change it yourself , it isn't very hard , believe me .

Have you figured out how to do it without removing the dashboard? We're all ears...

-JH

[Brava]

boltz, on 25 May 2009 - 08:10 PM, said:

Have you figured out how to do it without removing the dashboard? We're all ears...

-JH

You need to remove the dashboard , but the operation takes max.10 hours .

[boltz]

Brava, on 26 May 2009 - 04:30 AM, said:

You need to remove the dashboard , but the operation takes max.10 hours .

Dashboard r&r in 10 hrs. or less? Color me impressed! How many times have you done it? Do you pull the seats? Special tools?

-JH

[murcielago]

Ouch! 10 Hours.. are you guys serious?

I guess the 1300 would be dealer price for fixing that!!!


I'm having some A/C problems myself, hopefully just need to refill..
Does anyone have any instructions on how to refill it? i know the kit is about $50..
Do i need anything special?

[Brava]

boltz, on 26 May 2009 - 02:20 PM, said:

Dashboard r&r in 10 hrs. or less? Color me impressed! How many times have you done it? Do you pull the seats? Special tools?

-JH

No special tools , only a set of torx , screwdrivers and some keys . First remove the tunnel console , than the dash .

[boltz]

Brava, on 26 May 2009 - 04:19 PM, said:

No special tools , only a set of torx , screwdrivers and some keys . First remove the tunnel console , than the dash .

How many have you done? Does that include evacuate and charge?

-JH

[johnloves850's]

guys, there is a write up on dash removal
it takes maybe 1/2 hour if you take your time

mods you can close this thread

[boltz]

johnloves850's, on 27 May 2009 - 03:00 PM, said:

guys, there is a write up on dash removal
it takes maybe 1/2 hour if you take your time

mods you can close this thread

Yeah, it takes about a half hour just to read the writeup, lol!

Sorry if I'm beating the crap out of a dead horse here, but 10 hours to R&R an evaporator is pretty amazing, if it's done to a high standard, ie: no broken plasic parts, no difficult to clean stains on the interior, no squeaks and rattles, etc.

If Brava can do this with evac and charge in 10 hours or less, he's definitely a stud with a system, and I want to see if I can learn some stuff.

'nuff said...

-JH

[Cal3thousand]

boltz, on 25 May 2009 - 04:42 PM, said:

I believe the standard procedure before spending a couple days yanking the dash out would be to pull a vacuum and add some refrigerant with dye, then take a peek with the UV light and special glasses. If the system still holds enough pressure to start the compressor, this should be possible. If the condensate pool under the car glows bright green, you got big trouble. If not, and your not seeing the evil green any where else, you need to stick a sniffer in the vents.

It probably is the evap, but before you do a PITA job like that, you want to be double-triple sure.

Good luck, I'm dreading the day that happens to me.

Just curious, does anybody know why the evaporators in these cars have a fairly short lifespan? I can think of three possible causes.

First, they could rot from the inside, when the system leeks down, and moisture makes it's way through the permeable hoses.

Second, they could rot from the outside, when environmental pollution ranging from tree seeds to acid rain gets sucked in the air intake.

Third, the metal could suffer fatigue from "hot soak", when you shut the engine off and the high pressures from the condenser equalize into the evaporator.

If we could figure out what's failing we could make these things last a lot longer.

Any ideas?

-JH

Evaporators die for the same reason as other metallic items: corrosion. That's why its good practice to run the fan without the A/C on for a little bit before you completely shut it off. This allows for more thorough evaporation and reduction in condensation.

[AlvinL]

Cal3thousand, on 27 May 2009 - 04:55 PM, said:

Evaporators die for the same reason as other metallic items: corrosion. That's why its good practice to run the fan without the A/C on for a little bit before you completely shut it off. This allows for more thorough evaporation and reduction in condensation.

+1. The Volvo kit for this repair includes the cabin filter. The filter keeps the incoming air clean to reduce the dirt buildup which can be corrosive with moisture on the evaporator (like a wet rug) and also allows the evaporator to dry off quicker.

[mbsl98]

Adding a cabin air filter certainly does keep a lot of junk from accumulating in the evap cooling fins. Interesting though that the '98 and later cars had the filter as stock from factory, yet they seem to have around the same rate of evap failures. The '98 we bought last year had its first evap replaced at 29k, under warranty, and the other '98 we have had it replaced before we got it at 108k, so I don't know just how long it lasted but not much different from my '95's life. The later P2 cars have a computer program that turns on the cabin fan after you have left the car - around 30-40 minutes after being shut down. It turns on to dry excess moisture from the evap, according to the manual, so that probably is a good practce to get into.

[cbon]

AlvinL, on 27 May 2009 - 05:05 PM, said:

+1. The Volvo kit for this repair includes the cabin filter. The filter keeps the incoming air clean to reduce the dirt buildup which can be corrosive with moisture on the evaporator (like a wet rug) and also allows the evaporator to dry off quicker.

I had my evap replaced a couple years ago at the dealer. Guess what? -- no cabin filter retrofit was put in. I ended up putting it (cabin filter retrofit) in my self not long afterward.