I can't envision a scenario where removing the AC belt would cause an issue. I'm new to redblocks, but not to Volvo, or mechanics in general. I would personally miss having the AC available for defogging the interior glass, even if I didn't care for cooling. That and I feel (as with all systems) it should be used from time to time for the sake of the seals, etc. But to get you by until spring to properly align the pump, or for testing purposes, I would do it.

In fact, I did just that two days ago: I had a weird scraping noise that would come from the front of the engine on my 940 about half a minute after a cold start. So I removed each belt one by one and ran it. I only ran it in the driveway, and very little after removing the most inward (water / PS) belt, but everything is fine after reassembly.

Let me ask you - was it tough getting the AC belt off the sheaves? On my car, with everything loosened up to the point where I could easily move the pump across the range of adjustment, it was still a bear to get the belt off, then back on again. I had to use a bicycle tire lever (plastic). The belts on my car were one of the recent jobs not done at the dealer before I received it, so I'm wondering if the shop put too short of a belt on by mistake. As I type this, I realize I can just cross reference the number on the belt with what's listed. However, I noticed that when my pump was moved all the way inward, there was still about an eighth of an inch of the slot visible, but it was a hard stop (all four nuts very very free - three of them completely removed, in fact). So I guess I'm really wondering if the range of adjustment on my pump is impeded somehow...