Help: 90' Volvo 240 DL Wagon Air Conditioning Problem

My brother has a 1990 240 Volvo Wagon. He's NOT handy with cars - at all. He had his air conditioner charged w/ freeon two weeks ago. Last night he heard a squealing noice from under the hood and saw a little smoke, also. He called AAA and the mechanic said it was his AC unit locking up and suggested he cut the air conditioning/power steering belt until it was fixed.

Recently, I was told that Volvo air conditioning compressors require a mixture of oil and freeon and that lack of oil might have caused the AC unit to have friction/fail. Note - the AC compressor shaft still turns fairly easily by hand.

  1. Do you think it would be worthwhile putting the proper mixture of oil into the AC compressor to see if it solves the squeaking noise/smoke problem?

  1. If repair is necessary, what do you recommend to keep the cost to a minimum? (He was recently laid off by IBM after 20 years and is driving around without any power steering. By the way, if you know of anyone who needs a mainframe data back up professional around the West Point, NY, area, please let me know.)

  2. Finally, any other suggestions regarding the repair or related advice is welcomed.

Thanks,

Matthew at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com or 703-527-5660

Reply to
Matthew
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Help him out and get the new compressor. These things do wear out from time to time. It may have just munged itself out of age.

Reply to
Joseph Oberlander

Unfortunately there is no cheap way to fix A/C. Sounds like he needs a new compressor to me as well. And all automotive A/C require oil mixed with the freon, this is a function of repair quality. And there's no reason to cut the A/C belt if there's a compressor problem, there is a separate bearing on the front pulley that allows it to turn independently from the compressor when the A/C is not running.

Reply to
Mike F

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