XC60 Aircon compressor

[redxc60]

2010 XC60 with 125k miles.

Our AC failed 2 hours into a 6 hour drive across France at 30C

And then again 2 hours into a 4 hours drive up the M1 at 30C

The failures started as warm air coming through the vents, we turned AC off then back on after 5 min and it worked fine then it failed after 20min, and that cycle repeated with reducing times until turning off/on made no difference.

It worked fine on the long drive south at the start of the holiday at 25C, and it was fine when we had a couple of short drives at 30C while we were away so I'm assuming it was the combined temperature and duration.

Bearing in mind the aircon is fine on short hot journeys or cooler long journeys I assume the gas/sensors are OK and that the issue is likely to be the compressor clutch.

There's a great video on youtube by Robert DIY showing how you can check the clutch by tapping it with a broom handle.

Broom handle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFGJQKwnjHs
Shim with zip tes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReG1uQiMhm8

I love his style but the AC compressor is way down at the bottom of the XC60 D5 engine. Is there any way to easily inspect the AC clutch without needing to take off the wheel & arch liner? It would have been nice to see what was happening when it failed on our long drive. Obviously i didn't have the tools with me, nor would it be popular with the family to strip down the wheel arch in a French autoroute rest area when everyone just wants to get home!

I suspect I have no choice but to go in through the wheel arch to measure the clutch gap. Having gone done that I'm thinking I might as well do a proper job with the shims on the spindle rather that zip ties or external shims.

Is it possible/practical to change the coil as well in case that has lost it's oopmh over the years?


I'll follow this video which shows an AC clutch that I suspect is in a similar arrangement & location to my XC60 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6084NqhbeE

Does my plan make sense or should I try some other diagnostics first? Bear in mind the AC works fine in the normal UK weather so it's hard to diagnose a fault when it is not occurring - at least the clutch gap is something that I can measure when cold and the symptoms seem to match that being the cause.

[Tannaton]

Sounds very much like the clutch gap. I can't recall from memory if you check the clutch gap through the wheel arch but I have changed a few compressors on XC60 and they drop through the bottom - but you still need to remove the wheel arch liner to take off the belts.

The wheel arch liner isn't difficult or too time consuming to remove. Access is a little limited, to be honest I'd be tempted to remove the a/c compressor, reset the clutch and then have the system re-gassed afterwards (using new o-rings on the a/c fittings) - it will cost an extra £50 or so but will save bruised knuckles and you know the system is full of gas.