Ac is probably the clutch. There are plenty of right ups on how to adjust the shims in the clutch to get it back to the right gap.

The over heating is of a larger concern. Did the temp gauge ever pass half way on your date or when you tested it in the driveway? Also what is your fluid level when the car is cold? The coolant reservoir is designed to release excess pressure that can be caused by the system being overfilled when cool or when the coolant becomes excessively hot which increases the pressure inside the system.

The two events maybe unrelated, but I think that these cars are smart enough to detect an overheating situation and trigger the heater in order to remove heat from the coolant (I know in my 06 manual it says that if the car starts to overheat to turn the heat on full blast). I would wake up early one morning about an hour before sunrise, roll the windows down (ac switched off) and take it for a long drive to see if it tries to overheat again.

 

RaymanSean Thanks for the reply.

I will try to get the same results by driving it out around, interesting you think it’s possible the two issues are unrelated. I guess that could be the case and I didn’t think about it that way. I will look into adjusting the AC Clutch Pulley to see if that addresses the lack of cold air and the compressor engaging.

When I was driving I got 0 warnings actually and pay attention to everything about the car when I drive. I got caught once and through a main bearing ever since then I listen to my cars like whispering babies.

The actual events went as follow.

1. I pulled over car on, AC blasting barely cool air coming out. As GF was getting out I noticed steam coming from the coolant reservoir area and immediately shut the car off. Nothing had gone off on the dash up to this point.

2. I popped the hood after shutting off the car. I noticed the reservoir was over flowing and was steaming heavily. So I was shocked that none of the cars sensors went off, especially a Volvo which is fairly electronically advanced.

3. While the hood was open and before I went to buy coolant, I put the key in the car and turned it to the ON position to see what would light up on the dash as I didn’t see anything while driving. The indicator for low coolant came on right away; notifying me the coolant level was low. I also looked at the cars temperature gauge and notice it was high but it wasn’t at the "Red" Hash of death, it was actually just below it.

After that left the hood open for the car to cool off, put in more coolant, turned the heat on full blast and drove it back home with no issues.

 

Found the culprit. The electrical fan was not kicking on and it was causing the truck to overheat and also not allowing for the flow of cool AC air.

Tested the terminal and the power connect was good, hit the back of the fan with a pry bar and knocked some debris out of the fan area and wouldnt you know it flicked back on. No more overheating and no more AC issues.

So my question to you guys is, should I replace the fan or was it stuck?? A new fan from volvo runs $370 and suggestions for replacement?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

Found the culprit. The electrical fan was not kicking on and it was causing the truck to overheat and also not allowing for the flow of cool AC air.

Tested the terminal and the power connect was good, hit the back of the fan with a pry bar and knocked some debris out of the fan area and wouldnt you know it flicked back on. No more overheating and no more AC issues.

So my question to you guys is, should I replace the fan or was it stuck?? A new fan from volvo runs $370 and suggestions for replacement?

Thanks for the help guys!

get all the debris out! I would be tempted to remove the fan, remove the rad and the condenser and give that whole area a good cleaning. Be careful not to get the engine wet (search for 2005 V8 CB shaft bearings)! Chances are it was just stuck, you may have a bad spot in the fan motor, but those can be hard to find w/o some high speed test equipment.

 

Glad you found the problem. The V8 puts out a lot of heat!

 

Overheating while idling associated with hard shifting

We have a 2007 XC90 Sport as well. Recently had the thermostat replaced along with a couple other things because it was overheating. Also, since this summer Scarlett (XC90's name ) would shift very roughly between 20-40 mph. Now its is getting worse and within the last couple weeks she overheats mostly when we are idle. It will reduce heat significantly once we start trucking and the wind gets to it. Does anyone think these could be affecting eachother? I am going to check out our electrical fan but I am really concerned about the hard shifting. Any suggestions?

 

Do a transmission drain and fill.

 

The transmission cooler goes through the radiator. If your car is overheating, coolant is boiling and affects the quality of the ATF as well as engine oil.

Fix the overheating and then do a comprehensive fluids and filters service.

 

Hey! So we ended up having to replace the entire fan assembly. We had a 75k service done which I assumed include the transmission flush but either way, transmission is working smooth. Thank goodness!