V70, freezing A/C system (manual A/C)?

Tiny
MARTINV70
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 VOLVO V70
  • 2.4L
  • 5 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 180,000 MILES
Hi, A/C in my car behaves like this: A/C will start cooling and for about 10 minutes appears to be okay. But after that the air stops coming out of vents. If you take a look under the hood, all pipes/hoses are covered by thick layer of ice (even on hot summer days). I imagine the evaporator is also covered by ice and the air simply can't get through it. If you stop the engine for let's, say 15 minutes, ice melts down and all of that starts again.
Important note, when I try to turn the A/C off by pressing the button, the compressor is still working - like the clutch doesn't disengage immediately, you must turn the engine off (I don't know if this is normal).
Please, can you give me some advice? I have no idea.
Sunday, February 18th, 2024 AT 6:11 AM

3 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

This can be the result of a few things. My first suspect is the refrigerant is low and it needs to be recharged. If it is low, the refrigerant is not able to absorb enough heat from the air, leading to ice formation on the evaporator coils and other components.

Have you been able to check anything to this point?

Let me know.

Joe
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Sunday, February 18th, 2024 AT 7:21 PM
Tiny
MARTINV70
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Hi Joe, yes, this was checked two times, and the amount of the refrigerant is okay (also no leaks have been found). The cabin filter is new. The system was also drained and cleaned - but the mechanic found it difficult because this system appears to have only one service port.
I personally blame one of those pressure switches or relay, but I'm not sure, and those switches are hard to get.
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Sunday, February 18th, 2024 AT 10:00 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,885 POSTS
Hi,

Take a look through this link and let me know if it helps:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/why-your-cars-ac-evaporator-ices-up-and-how-to-fix-it

Let me know.

Take care,

Joe
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Monday, February 19th, 2024 AT 7:23 PM

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