Also, the cooling fan comes on with the AC running to keep the gasses in the condenser cool. So your recent AC use and erratic cooling fan are probably linked.
As for the engine surging when the AC is switched on, my god, you've never experienced an early 1.8 NA Volvo engine with the AC running. It's so tragic it's almost funny. If I'm climbing a gentle hill in mine, in fourth gear doing around 40mph and the AC clutch kicks in, I literally have to change down a gear immediately. It's like someone has instantly dropped a 2 tonne weight in the back. I'd say around 30 of the 115 raging Swedish (ok, Dutch) horses take a dive.
Lord knows how bad an early 1.6 is with this system switched on. That's why I only really switch it on when the temperature gets past around 25 degrees. On the plus side, it's pretty good going that a 20 year old AC system is still going!
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Current: 2003 VW Passat 1.9TDI, 1979 Saab 99 turbo, 1968 MGB GT,
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