Air conditioning cuts out

[tornrock]

My 98 V70 AC works fine and puts out cold air when you first start up. After a while it cuts out and actually starts pumping HOT air into the cabin. (I'm thinking this happens at about the time the engine comes up to temp.) Sometimes you can shut it off for a while and get it to work again for a few minutes but not reliably. The dealership said we needed a new compressor @ $1800. Obviously the compressor works because it delivers cold air, but they said there's another part that is integral with it that failed. Does anyone have any idea what that is and if this is for real? Could it have anything to do with a thermostat? Thanks for everyones help.

[Ocean Racer]

Your compressor needs to be rebuilt.
Get you mechanic to use the clutch coil from an older 850.
Shouldn't cost more than $300.

[TheDarkKnightt]

Mine just started doing the same thing, again.

The first time, I took the advice in a previous post about cleaning out the little sensor and fan that is located in the climate control module in the dash- it was full of trash and it worked fine until now. Of course, that was 100K+ miles ago I cleaned it.

If you can see lint in the little fins in this sensor- clean it first before moving on to the compressor.

I figure mine has got to be the compressor since I've got 270K miles on mine , but I'm going to check and clean the sensor and fan first- while keeping my fingers crossed.

[tornrock]

First let me say I'm in awe that you have that many miles on your XC. We have two '98 V70's - the GLT has 113k and the XC has 55K (my baby). The GLT is the one that has presented one problem after another and is destined for a trade in I'm afraid. Over the weekend we installed zipties to shim the compressor clutch and it seems to be working. The clearance was 1.1mm so that could explain it. The failures always occurred when the temp's were in the 90's and it had been on the freeway for a while which hasn't happened yet...since we're on to the next failure- see my post on ABS system. That's not just a convenience item so if it can't be fixed for cheap, the car is gone. All that said, it wouldn't surprise me if there was junk in the control module. This car has been in the elements for the past 5 years. I'll check that out if we get the other issues fixed. Thanks.

[ycmike]

My 98 V70 did the same thing for a couple of reasons.
First was a worn clutch, which I shimmed that and it was ok for a while.
Then the gas charge was low- it would start cooling just fine, but when the condenser (radiator) fan started, the pressure would drop and the clutch cut out on the low pressure switch.
Added more gas, and it's been fine for some months now.