Found on a forum: My 850 needed Freon recharge last summer and again the a/c is not providing cooling any more. I understand that a punctured condenser has been a common problem. Is this true? If so, where is the condenser located? I guess it is way down in the bottom and a stone or other sharp object can result in a hole in it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The condenser is the first thing behind the grille. The upper half is fairly well protected by the grille and the bumper protects the upper part of the lower half. The bottom 2-3" face a huge hole in the spoiler, just where protection is needed the most. Volvo made available a subgrille to help protect in this area. Any puncture in a condenser is accompanied by an oil stain. If the leak is slow, dust gets stuck to the oil as it leaks out, so there is an oily mud around slower leaks.
More common on the 850 is an evaporator leak, which is even more expensive to fix.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I like some this poster has had recent problems with my AC. I have an 850 GLT 1997. I have already replaced a compressor. I go into the shop this Saturday July 7. I am really afraid of a big bill to replace the compressor again ( last time was two years ago ). I get intermittent and inadequate cooling. Sometime it blows hot air in the cabin. This may be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I will probably look into buying a Japanese car that aims for the same market as the 850 Volvo if the A/C is shot and I have to get a new compressor. Odd Volvo really stresses the service quality; but I had the car in for 85,000 in June and they never checked the A/C as the summer months were upon us. They will get something other than excellent on the next survey. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have a similar problem and suggest having the freon recharged and when have tracer dye added to the freon. That's what I just had done and the problem (see below) was traced to the accumulator which needs to be replaced.
I have a '96 850GLT with 105,000 miles which I bought new. At 75,000 miles in May 1999, I had to replace the evaporator. This summer I have had intermittent cooling and inadeqaute cooling when it is very hot, but adequate cooling when it is not so hot.
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