A/C stop working after a few minutes

2007 VOLVO S40
130,000 MILES • 2.4L • 4 CYL • 2WD • MANUAL
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SHREETZ
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My issue like a lot of others, my A/C works only for short intervals. Once it starts blowing warm air I can turn it off and wait 5 minutes and it will work again. We thought it may have a slow Freon leak and be low on Freon. Once hooked up to the Freon the car will not accept the Freon however the a/c works beautifully. Once we unhooked the Freon the A/C went back to not working well to not working at all. Why would the A/C actually work when hooked up but not be accepting the Freon itself? Is this any insight to pinpoint the issue?
Jul 24, 2019 at 8:42 AM
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KASEKENNY
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Hi,

This sounds like you have possibly have the system overcharged. Hook up a set of pressure gauges and see what the high and low side pressures are. Let me know what they are and we can go from there. If you don't have a set of gauges, then you should be able to rent them at a local parts store.

Here are some guides that will help fill in the gaps at this point. However, once you get the pressures we should be able to see what is going on. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-air-conditioner-not-working-or-is-weak

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-a-car-air-conditioner-works
Jul 24, 2019 at 5:20 PM
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JIS001
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Hello and welcome to 2CarPros. Just wanted to jump in real quick as well. When I was working at a Volvo dealership we had this issue a lot and it was the compressor clutch that would fail. The air gap clearance gets wider with time so on very hot summer days it disengages. You can pull over, turn it off and after it will work again. My S80 did the same thing when I was in Palm Springs A/C quit and had to pull over. Wifey was mad at me for no A/C out there! Trip was not fun after that.
Aug 2, 2019 at 10:43 PM
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