I've done it on my cars and we do it for customers all the time. Works well, and usually gives a few more years life from the compressor.

A lot of dealers will estimate not only just the clutch, but a complete compressor...


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From the firewall forward, the C70 is no different than any other P1 Volvos and your access to the ac compressor clutch will be the same.

Do it the right way, and remove/replace the washer shims from behind the clutch assembly.
The quick fix of using bread clips or zip ties may work for a few drives or a few years, but it's not a guaranteed fix and you risk having these clips fly out of the spinning clutch and going who-knows where.

If you get to the point where you can remove all the washer shims and your clutch is still not within spec, buy a whole compressor assembly and just swap over the clutch. It's a much easier DIY job than replacing the entire compressor.
I've seen these AC compressors last upwards of 250k miles with no problems, but reshimming the clutch is an every 100k mile job.

 

"Myname".

Thanks for inserting that video - it is the clearest procedure I've seen. Other instructions have been accurate, but via photos, etc.

Don't worry, I am intending to do the proper internal shim/spacer removal (or replacement with thinner shims), rather than the "external" application of improvised little clips or shims.

In case I am not able to simply remove a portion of the shims, I am getting the spacer/shim "kit" from our dealer, Volvo PN 31332161. He'll have it in 2 days, and the cost is about $6. What's odd, is that when he looked up the part for my C70 (2007), he said that his system was showing that there was a new part number, and NOT the 31332161 kit. He said that the new PN hadn't been populated yet, so he couldn't tell me the part number, nor the price. And, that it was going to have to be ordered from Sweden.... This didn't make any sense to me, since his system WAS showing the 31332161 part as being correct for basically all other Volvo models of that year. So, I think there was some sort of error in his look-up. Maybe he was looking at a new part number for the complete clutch? That said, as far as I know, the same A/C compressor clutch, and therefore the same spacer/shim kit applies to all models made over a fairly broad range of years. Long story short, I am getting the 31332161 spacer kit anyway....

It will probably be a week and a half until I get around to doing the job - I haven't even checked my existing gap measurement yet, to confirm that it is too much....

 

I will say, if you have a hard time getting the clutch off (once the center bolt has been removed) don't be afraid to simply pry it off. Use two flat head screw drivers and slowly pry evenly on both sides of the clutch, frequently rotating to change your position.

The last clutch I swapped was hard to push off just using the threaded screws, but with a little prying, it popped right off.

 

Did the Shimmy Shuffle on Mrs. T's 2005 V50 AWD a couple of years ago. IIRC - removed all shims to meet spec - AC has been working great ever since...prolly 30K miles now? Stealership also recommended a new Compressor. $6 and an hour or so of DIY (borrowed clutch puller from AutoZone) and instructions from this Forum saved me over $1000.00! Don't get me started on the heater core seal leak...

 

Just a quick update on my AC clutch "shim adjustment" (I like tomkat's name for it - the Shimmy Shuffle...).

I won't try to go through my whole process, since the video posted above does that. But I did have a few comments.

- I jacked up that side of the car, and removed the wheel, which gave me more room to work, and made it easier to peel back the wheel well lining, etc.

- When I measured the gap/clearance of the front clutch plate to the clutch pulley, I measured somewhere in the .031 to perhaps .035 inches, depending on how flat I was holding my feeler gauges.

- At first I got just a clutch holder tool from Autozone, which worked great for removing the M6 bolt that holds the front clutch plate in place. I intended to use the same tool, along with a long M6 bolt and some large fender washers, to make an improvised clutch puller. This should have worked, but the front clutch plate just wasn't coming off. So I returned to Autozone and got the right tool, their AC Clutch Puller/Installer tool set. Using it's clutch remover plate, plus the remover tool with the long thin "nose" (that fits inside of the threaded area of the original M6 bolt), the front clutch plate came right off.

- I had one pretty thick shim inside the front plate, maybe .020 or .021 thick, plus one very thin shim, more like .004 or .005. So, my existing shims totalled around .024 to .026. My target clearance was .012 (whereas the starting clearance was somewhere between .031 and .035. I concluded I needed to reduce my total shim thickness by either .019, or maybe .020. I was probably going to be just fine if I simply removed the thick shim, and left the thin one in there. But I had bought Volvo's shim kit ahead of time, so to make sure I wasn't reducing the gap too much (which might lead to the clutch never disengaging), I went with a single shim from the kit that was maybe .007 thick. I should also mention that I didn't have a micrometer to precisely measure the shims, and was using comparison to my feeler gauges to get a reasonable approximate measurement.

- The clutch plate went on easily enough - after pushing it on, the original bolt was just long enough to grab it's threads, to allow tightening it up, again using the clutch holder tool. (Even if you have both the clutch holder tool, AND the clutch puller tool kit, you still need to have three M5 bolts, 30mm long, or so, to use to hold the clutch holder tool, as well as the remover plate from the clutch puller tool kit.)

- The gap/clearance at the end seemed to be right around .012 with the feeler gauges held fairly "flat", or a tad larger if you held the feeler gauges at an angle.

- The clutch was engaging and disengaging properly, so things appear to be working fine. Nevertheless, the original problem only occurred on quite hot days, say 90 degrees, after driving for 10-15 minutes. It was right around 90 the day after I worked on the car, and my wife drove it about 15 minutes with the AC working fine the whole time, but I still want to see it hold up for 20+ minutes, on an even hotter day.....

I got the loaner tools from Autozone. You basically "buy" the tool, and then have up to 90 days to return it for full refund. The clutch holder is PN 27000, and the up-front charge is $25 plus tax. The AC Clutch Puller/Installer took kit is PN 27150, and the upfront charge for it is $100 plus tax. I definitely recommend getting both tools. I returned both yesterday, and got both of my charges reversed. I really appreciate this "no charge tool loan" program from Autozone! (They advertise it as a tool loan program, both on their web site, and also at the store, where they have a plastic laminated card that shows all of the available loaner tools.)

 

So, I wanted to get some advice on a new "development", which is (I think) associated with the AC clutch "shim adjustment" I did a few months ago, in August.

Since then, my AC is working fine, and I think the clutch is both engaging and disengaging appropriately. However, when the clutch is engaged (driving the compressor), I am getting a fairly loud "ticking" noise. It occurs if the engine is cold, or at least not fully warmed up, and it seems to go away once the engine is at full operating temperature. It is very hard to tell where the noise is actually coming from, but it seems to be related to the AC clutch operation. The ticking noise seems to come and go with the AC clutch engaging, and disengaging. And, if I turn off the AC (from the dash switch), then there is no noise.

My first thought is to take the wheel off, pull back the wheel-well lining, watch what is going on with the AC clutch, etc., and also measure the clearance. But I am having a hard time figuring out if this might be a case of still having a bit too much clearance (need to remove a bit more shim), or perhaps having too little clearance (maybe I removed too much shim the last time...)

The normal symptom of too little clearance (too little shim thickness) would be that the clutch doesn't disengage. But it seems to disengage OK. On the other hand, it is also apparently engaging OK when it is supposed to, and the AC is cooling - it just makes this not-normal ticking noise.

Anyone else experience this? Any theories? Is it possible I need to bite the bullet and get a new clutch assembly? Is it possible that it is a bigger issue with the compressor itself?

Given that re-checking the shim adjustment is basically zero cost, I think it should still be my first step. But on the other hand, if it is most likely something more serious, I don't necessarily want to waste time on messing with the shim "re-adjustment", especially when it's not at all clear to me if I want less, or more.....

 

This is the best discussion of this work-around that I've found. Thanks to all who have contributed. Now to find out IF this is what I need and IF my indy wrench will perform such a "fix". I(and a friend with the same issue on his '08) surely don't want to be replacing compressors and spending over a grand IF this patch-job will work!!!
Anybody in central Texas tried this one??? Any experts in the area??? I'm due in on the 23rd for an oil change and evaluation of my current AC de-lemon. Would love to spend a couple hundred instead of 5x that amount!!!
BTW, it's hitting 100F each day this week, with heat index above 105...It ain't even summer yet!!!

 

I'm glad I started visiting this site again after several years away. There just wasn't much going on with our C70 and I had a great mechanic walking distance from my office. They did all kinds of work for me and then one day the two older owners retired and closed the shop. Shortly after that I had another shop replace the timing belt, water pump, and tensioner for me. Now we live in Georgia and I'm semi-retired. I hope to do most future work myself. We are approaching 100k on the odometer, so this AC clutch thing could rear its ugly head some day soon.

 

I'm glad I started visiting this site again after several years away.

I have been lucky enough to find a second generation Volvo only shop that has a shop rate significantly less than the Volvo guys. Forty miles away but worth the trip. Ohio owners try Mark Drennen Volvo in Ravenna,Ohio. They did the A/C clutch fiasco for $80 and apologized for a full hour charge for only 20 minutes work so they did a full inspection and advised of many new parts underneath (without a $1200 repair that local Volvo shop wanted) Easy/simple/cheap at Volvo dealer seems like fantasy.

 

Hi guys/ladies
I have a 2002 v70 xc
How would you get the clutch off ,there's barely enough room to get a quarter inch ratchet and socket in there.
If i get the bolt off it doesn't seem like I have the room to pry the clutch off.
Maybe it's different on other models? I have 2.4L with turbo.

Any advice?

Thanks Jay

 

Hi guys/ladies
I have a 2002 v70 xc
How would you get the clutch off ,there's barely enough room to get a quarter inch ratchet and socket in there.
If i get the bolt off it doesn't seem like I have the room to pry the clutch off.
Maybe it's different on other models? I have 2.4L with turbo.

Any advice?

Thanks Jay

If I remember correctly, the compressors are slightly different on the P2 models. I dont remember if we were able to "shim" those like we did the P1 and P80 models...

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I found this link in the S60/V70 R section:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/downloads/Volvo-850-S70-V70-AC-Fix.pdf

Here's the thread I found: A/C Clutch Plate Air Gap adjustment

Apparently, there's little to none space to work there. I wonder if it's possible to lower the engine by removing a mount to gain more access.

When I had to do it in my car, I rented this tool (link here) from O'reilly's to pull the clutch.