Just bought an '08 C70. Air con issue.
Discussion
Just driven home in my new (to me) 2008 C70 D5 SE Lux manual. Brilliant car, and it really shows up what nails the other two I've test driven are despite their very low mileages. Astonished by how good the Dynaudio system is!
Air con isn't working, although the seller says it was working but weak a while ago and I believe him. I gather there have been issues with condensers on these, I was wondering if anyone knows if Volvo are helping out with the cost on 6+ year old cars or if I'm on my own...
Air con isn't working, although the seller says it was working but weak a while ago and I believe him. I gather there have been issues with condensers on these, I was wondering if anyone knows if Volvo are helping out with the cost on 6+ year old cars or if I'm on my own...
Condenser. I've found the part online for £100 ish, they are quoting £130 and the rest is labour and the £50 charge to regass etc. Seems about right from phoning a couple of places, they are all £350 - £400. Yes I could do it myself but to be frank 4-6 hours of my limited free time spent working out how to get the sodding thing out is worth more than the £200 labour charge. Working on cars is a greatly overrated activity, I foolishly decided to service it myself today and am still aching from the ridiculous contortions I had to pull to get the cabin multifilter changed 
FivePotTurbo said:
Well I've got away with just a re-gas, and no leaks detected by the garage. Fingers crossed it holds and there isn't a slow leak.
Yeah that's what they said with mine. Lasted 2 days, despite spending 20 minutes on their vacuum machine to test for leaks. I usually find condensers go at around 10 years old, but their appears to be a manufacturing or design issue with the one used in the Volvo V50/S40/C30/C70. My 11 year old V70 still freezes your eyeballs though!Find a decent garage rather than a drive in which has a machine to do it all. Ask if they are looking for leaks using tracer gas under a pressure test. Its a mix of nitrogen with a smidge of helium. Molecules of helium are smaller and escape quicker to allow easier detection. Testing on a vacuum is not acceptable o a guarantee of soundness. Leak dye can be good, but unless they can get the uv torch in the right area, can be tricky to locate a small leak. Looks for signs of oil vapour on any parts. Condensers do suffer badly, as most are made from alloy, they get eaten by salt off the roads and hammered by stones. Remember to run the a/c once a week, such as to allow the oil to lubricate the mechanical seal on the compressor, because if that dries out, will leak. Sticking it on a rig is not always the answer. I am in building a/c and have been in the business too long to remember. So know a little about these things. Good luck with leak finding.
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