My wife’s '98 V70-T5 which has ~250,000 miles, has had some difficulty keeping up with the last three weeks of 100-105 degree temps. Yesterday she calls me and says she heard a loud pop sound, like a tire blowout accompanied by complete AC failure. At the time she was parked on the shoulder with the car running and AC on. She looked and the tire was ok and the accessory belt was ok so I had her run it home w/out AC "on" and take another vehicle to finish her day. When I was looking it over I discovered that the lower reinforced rubber line running to the compressor had burst from where it was crimped to the metal end. The hose did not fail; it came out of the crimping sleeve. If the line was slowly working its way loose, I can see the refrigerant leaking out slowly accounting for the off and on cooling depending on load.

My question is what would cause this situation and am I likely looking at problems in addition to a new hose and refrigerant? Should I take it to an AC specialist or a Volvo specialist...not necessarily a dealer? Is it possibly a DIY thing...I have never done AC work but have done lots of work on this car.

Thanks for any help,

Michael