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1994 960 Wagon AC (seasonal recharge?)[ALL/1998] posted by JH on
Thursday, 17 July 1997, at 12:10 a.m.
Early this summer our AC was not working well and the compressor was cycling on and off. Volvo Customer Service told me a seasonal recharge was not covered on the warranty. I had a dealership recharge the system and now it works fine. They told me they used a (leak detector?) after the recharge and could find a leak. The warranty would cover a leak. Anyway it cost me $115.00.
My question is if there is no leak, where is the refrigerant going?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might locate a leak if there is one?
Thanks, JH
Re: 1994 960 Wagon AC (seasonal recharge?)[ALL/1998] posted by abe crombie on
Thursday, 17 July 1997, at 1:20 a.m.
If your system requires partial refrigerant recharge every third year then you may not have a leak that could ever be accurately pinpointed. A/C systems on automoblies use rubber hoses that have a certain amount of seepage (I believe scientist types use the term "permeable membrane" to describe this condition) that will allow miniscule amount of refrigerant loss that eventually affects a/c performance. R-134a refrigerant that your 960 uses is a lighter gas and will seep faster than the R-12 that likely was used in your past cars. The front seal on the compressor also tends to have a seepage, but if there is no visible oil leakage at the front of compressor then there likely is no repairable leak.
Car makers have become more picky with warranties on A/C due to this seepage and if there is no traceable defective component or seal, then your dealer would be reluctant to call your need to have a partial charge a defect that can be warranted. Preservation of the environment (i.e. the new refrigerant) does have a price. I can detect a decline in performance in my Ford truck that is 2 1/2 yrs old that I blame on seepage since I can find no detectable leaks on the system.