How to fully remove aircon system

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glasgowjim
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How to fully remove aircon system

Post by glasgowjim » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:05 pm

Read the whole of this how to before starting the job to get a scale of what is required.

To fully remove the aircon system from a 480 you will need to source a number of parts ;-

non aircon pas pump and mounting bracket
the top pipe PAS reservoir to pump
the bottom pipe pas pump to steering rack
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change over alternator or alternator pulley (adjuster rachet)
non air con belt
the heater assembly plastics from a non aircon 480
the heater control unit from a non aircon 480
the cabling white length that runs from heater control switch from the non aircon to the aircon car
heater switch from a non aircon car.

first remove all aircon parts from the engine compartment.
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in some places not a lot of room so it can be a slow process
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You then will now have removed the following parts... :D
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Then remove nose cone and take off the air con radiator. Cut down the top mounting brackets to size.
drain the radiator and engine coolant system.
Now for the more difficult part remove the main heater body plastics from behind the dash of a donor car

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glasgowjim
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Re: How to fully remove aircon system

Post by glasgowjim » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:27 pm

Part 2....

Oh helpful hint when you remove screws put them in an envelope and mark what they are as there are 3 types of screws in the dash and I guarantee you wont remeber which is which :lol:
Now remove the black plastic trim which runs along the exterior front of the windscreen behind the wiper blades (remove wiper blades first of course) if this is proving difficult then use a pair of pliers to unwind the plastic screws as they are unwound by about 3 to 4 mm the plastic plug and screw should pop/pull out easily. Remove trim and you will see several small 7or 8 mm headed bolts see diagram below...
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remove these the dash is now held on by 4 main supporting bolts these are located inside the car at each end of the dashboard behind a plastic plate. Open door as wide as possible prise the door seal off the frame at the plate and using 2 long thin screwdrivers prise the plate off , the large brass bolts will either be allen key or hex headed(standard bolt) loosen both . Repeat at the other side of dash . Now before removing take off small black dashboard front then the grey dash "frame" having already removed the instrument pod and the clock , info switch , hazard switch etc. remove the aircon VEM and carefully disconnect the hoses mounting from the back of the VEM as these parts can be sold onto other 480 owners at a later date. loosen and remove radio etc as well. remove the centre console which runs down to the gearlever.
disconnect all cables carefully labelling them

Remove the vent from under the glovebox in the aircon car.Remove the glove box
you are after this lack plastic assembly which has been removed from a non aircon car. The assembly is held in place in all 480 cars by the two large bolts you see and two smaller bolts accessed from the engine compartment.
Remember before you remove the engine side bolts disconnect the two hoses leading to the heater matrix remove the bottom of plate of the assembly and expose the heater matrix itself feel underneath and you will see /feel a central bolt which secures a black plastic cross piece which holds the piping in place (7 mm headed bolt) remove this and you should be able to gently work the matrix and piping out of the car and store safely.

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when the assembly has been removed the bulkhead looks like this
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you can see above the main opening the bolt hole and the other one is to the right hand side.
Now having removed the non aircon assembly from a donor car you now have a good picture in your mind of where everything goes.
Some small but important things to do
cut all zip ties holding the wiring loom to vents etc.
disconnect battery for 30 mins before removing the steering wheel (24mm socket required) and air bag if you have it (4mm allen key one either side of steering wheel accessed from opposite side from driver).Remove the "spring assembly" of copper coiled wire in transparent mounting oh and the wiper + indicator stalks.
Oh and remove the bolt holding the steering coloumn to the two suport crossmemebers which run to the 2 brass dash mounting bolts.
Remove the heater vents if possible
now loosen and remove all the bolts that hold the upper part of the heater assembly from the large black assembly . Now loosen completely the bolts holding the dash board and remove the upper part with all vents will now come away completely from the assembly. Volvo have a habit of using gaffer tape to the vents and it will have dried up over the years. Lift and remove disconnect the wiring loom and remove paying particular attention to where it runs. If in doubt take a photo it will save hours later on if you get it wrong , even use a mobile phone camera its is worth it to avoid the hassle of a later screw up ;) .

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glasgowjim
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Re: How to fully remove aircon system

Post by glasgowjim » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:54 pm

Part 3...

I used the whole upper assembly from the donor car it made my life easier.

now remove the old heater plastic assembly from the aircon car I found it easier to remove the heater from the car to do this but you can leave it inplace especially if there is more than one person doing the job. replace the dashboard vent assembly and upper parts as there is an extra vent below the glove compartment. Whatever you do DO NOT DAMAGE the vent at side of radio housing (the long vertical one ). Swop over the cabling white length that runs from heater control switch from the non aircon to the aircon car duct cabling in align vents and reassemble dashboard carefully.

remember when you go to put the spring mounting back into the car if you have an air bag that the coil turns 6 turns fully wound to unwound so wind accordingly you will end up snapping the spring. If you have the wheels pointing straight ahead its 3 turns from limit and you will be ok. A non SRS system (no airbag) is easy just refit :lol: Reassemble dash in reverse order.
By now this should be easy as you will have learnt a lot about the dash by having to remove one from the donor car so it is one of these jobs that actually gets easier as you progress along the way.
It also presents you with an ideal opportunity to clean out the the vents and duct fully. Re fit is the reverse of dis-assembly.

DONT forget the two lower bolts holding the lower plastic heater assembly.

This is a BIG job so remember to allow up to 4 days from start to finish.

Proceed with care and attention and you will be able to do this job , it really only takes time I did it from scratch with no assistance and only limited advice .
Oh there is one thing you will have to do there is a black thin rubber pie which provides suction to the valves of the aircon car car it habgs down at the right hand side near the fusebox cut and seal.
There is another pie which can be cut away at your leisure from the engine compartment underneath the battery side and there is the whiote expansion assembly behind the osf wing but again that can be removed as and when you please.

This how to is meant only as a rough guide to a longish job and has been typed up in good faith it should not be taken as an instruction manual as I may have omitted stages or some small detail. Follow this guide at your own pace and be prepared to make adjustments as you do the work. I can not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. However you have mow a hell of a good start if you want to do this job. :shock:

oh and good luck.

mac0502
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Re: How to fully remove aircon system

Post by mac0502 » Mon Oct 10, 2011 7:35 am

Great post Jim

Have a question about the AC Pomp and the belt to power the alternator...-but will describe the issue first than will ask...

So, there is a belt (long one) that goes from engine and powers the AC and PAS, and then there is one small belt that goes from AC to power the alternator. Now when I start the engine there is a noise coming from the AC Pomp. I presume it is a bearing in AC Pomp (after I have take the belts down i noticed that the wheels on AC pomp are loose )

I figured out I can replace the AC Pomp or change the bearing. But after I have read your post I wonder If I could use non AC belt to power the alternator without removing the AC Pomp. If I need to change the AC pomp as dont have all the parts you mentioned about than I need a small advice. The pomp is attached by 4 bolts...and cant figure out how to unscrew two bottom ones. On your picture I can see that you use spanner (15mm) but there is no room to turn the screw...?
I will appreciate any suggestion of fixing the problem with AC pomp - or geting around the problem...

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