Your Car Won’t Cool Down so You Might Need Car Repair

One of the worst things that can happen to you is to have your vehicle’s air conditioning system break down on one of the hottest days of the year. There are many things that can go wrong and sometimes it is something simple as low refrigerant, or other times it can be more difficult and time consuming such as a broken condenser. If your vehicle’s air conditioning does start acting strangely and you are not getting any cool air, an auto repair may be needed to get your vehicle back to proper working order.

Sometimes a line or hose just may need to be flushed or the filter may need to be cleaned so that the airflow is regulated properly. If one of these is not working, then it could mean that your entire system will not work and you may need to get it into your mechanic for the needed auto repair.

Your vehicle’s air conditioning system contains many parts that work together to make sure that everything works as it should. It contains the compressor, the refrigerant, the condenser, the expansion valve, the evaporator, and the blower.

If you choose to do the auto repair yourself, you must first diagnose the problem. To do so, you must first understand how the system works. Refrigerant under pressure from the compressor becomes hot and runs through the condensing coils, usually directly in front of the radiator. It is then sent through the evaporator where it goes across air from outside. This cools the refrigerant back from a gas to a liquid. The expansion valve acts like a nozzle and removes some of the pressure causing the refrigerant to return to gas form. This mixture of gas and liquid then pass through the evaporator and evaporates. Then it is sent through the blower and cools the inside of the vehicle.

To diagnose the problem make sure there are no refrigerant leaks. These can be found very easily by adding a special fluorescent dye to your system. If the leak is large enough, there will be no pressure coming from the condenser. After you have checked for leaks, you need to be sure that the compressor is rotating by turning on the vehicle and the air conditioning system. With the hood open, you should be able to see the pulley on the side of the condenser turning, if not, then the condenser is not working properly and auto repair is needed. This could be related to bad wiring or fuse, broken dashboard switch, or low refrigerant. Now, check to see if you feel any cooling in the system at all. If there is some cooling, then it could just be a pressure issue and you just may need to add some refrigerant.

If you have checked the system and don’t see any problems with the condenser or leaking refrigerant and your air conditioning system is still not working, then you may want to visit your mechanic and get the needed auto repair done so that you don’t have to bake in your vehicle during those sizzling summer months.