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Volvo XC90 Air Conditioner Problems

22 messages,  Last post on Feb 18, 2013 at 1:53 PM

You are in the Volvo XC90 Forum.

What is this discussion about? Volvo XC90, Heating / Cooling, SUV

Messages Page 3 of 3

#16 of 22 Re: Mildew smell [virginia8] [condolawyer] by smellyxc90

Jun 20, 2011 (3:19 am)

Replying to: virginia8 (Feb 23, 2011 8:37 am)
I have an 04 XC90, and I have been fighting this mildew smell from my a/c for YEARS! I live in FL, so it is constantly moist and frequently rainy. The smell is absolutely horrid after a good rain. When the afterblow feature activates, after even a dry and less humid day, the air coming through the vents smells like ammonia.
 
I ruled out all other potential causes - sunroof, weather stripping, cabin filter. I have been in and out of multiple dealers, trying to locate the source of the wet dog stench, but it went nowhere. All they would keep saying is that I needed to not use the recirc (which I don't), and that I just need to clean the car more often (I keep my cars very clean). They would flush the system with some type of disinfectant, which would help for about 2 weeks. The evaporator casing was replaced, condenser cleaned, and cabin filter changed out many times. The smell is obviously coming from the a/c, but no one can figure out from where.
 
I hired an odor detection/removal company to look at the car, and they determined that it was what we know already - an a/c smell. They performed another flush of the system, but the smell inevitably returned.
 
Then, it was a lawyer's turn. Even though the problem had been documented within 6 months of my ownership of the car, and continued through nearly 20 visits for the same problem, it wasn't a lemon law case. He did put pressure on Volvo, but all they wanted to do was settle, and not for enough money to get out of the car. I forced them to look deeper into the a/c to find the problem, instead of paying me the money. About 6 weeks of the dealer replacing different parts of the a/c, Volvo told them to stop. I gave up fighting and settled for a small payment (for years of time lost going to/from the dealer).
 
So, here I am, extremely frustrated, with a car that still smells like a used gym sock. I have found MANY others with this same problem, but NONE with a solution to it. I will listen to any suggestions, but the only one that sounds reasonable is to not buy another Volvo.

#17 of 22 Re: Driver side air not cold [acphoto] by wwetzler

Jul 29, 2011 (9:54 pm)

Replying to: acphoto (May 15, 2011 8:33 am)
This happened in my 2006 Volvo xc90. We added freon and it cooled off on my side but makes a really loud noise when the ac cycles on and off in idle positions. Did you solve your issue??

#18 of 22 Re: Driver side air not cold [wwetzler] by mortonkm

Jul 30, 2011 (4:53 am)

Replying to: wwetzler (Jul 29, 2011 9:54 pm)
My issue was that the passenger side was not cooling, I don't remember a noise. They took off the condenser and it rattled from thousands of pieces where it had crumbled inside. The dealership mechanic said it shot those small pieces all through the lines and tripped off sensors and blocked lines. After replacing the condenser and putting in new lines, the air works great. Like I said it was 2500 and took 5 days, a lot of that was researching the issue.

#19 of 22 Fan running after cutting car off by rmcdavitt

Aug 30, 2011 (8:48 am)

Replying to: army03wife (May 19, 2011 2:38 pm)
I am buying a new volvo SC90. We shut off the care in garage, no fan running, came back 30 minutes later and the fan was running, blowing air out vents in the car, not the fan that cools the radiator. Has anyone had this too? Has the dealer been able to fix it? If so what was wrong? Don't want a dead battery!

#20 of 22 fan running by marciar

Oct 14, 2011 (6:31 am)

I have the same problem,,so i took out the fuse on the side panel by the door. But, I forgot to do it last night and now have a dead battery. Did you get this fixed?

#21 of 22 Re: Driver side air not cold [army03wife] by rsr1960

Feb 29, 2012 (12:18 pm)

Replying to: army03wife (May 19, 2011 2:38 pm)
We just got a new 2011 XC90 (yes, there was still one on the lot) and found the same thing. The dealer is telling me that "The Interior Air Quality System runs at random times, and will not drain the battery". I hope he knows what he is talking about.

#22 of 22 Re: Driver side air not cold [rsr1960] by momofgirls

Feb 18, 2013 (1:53 pm)

Replying to: rsr1960 (Feb 29, 2012 12:18 pm)
I own a 2009 xc90, and the battery has died twice in summer time and I have had to call a tow truck to jump start the car. I have talked to the dealer but they just simply will not acknowledge the problem. Needless to say they have also have the nerve to blame ME for the problem. The only good thing is that the problem only appears to happen during hot days, so most of the year I'm ok.
I love my car but my husband is ready to change it. The question is what to buy, all cars have their issues.

Messages Page 3 of 3

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