Common Causes of Car Air Conditioner Problems

Now that summer is gone and fall is rolling in, you may find yourself in that strange seasonal limbo: using your car’s heater in the morning and the air conditioner in the afternoon. After the long, hot summer, you may notice that your AC isn’t working quite as well as it used to. Some of the symptoms of car air conditioner problems  include:

• Your car’s AC is blowing too cold. This doesn’t seem like a symptom. After all, doesn’t this mean your AC is working just fine? Not really, especially if you’re being frozen out instead of just cooled down.
• Your AC is not blowing cold enough to keep the sweat at bay.
• There are odd sounds emanating from your AC unit.
• You’re struck by an odd, funky, creepy smell each and every time you turn your AC on.

Do any of these sound familiar? If so, your car’s air conditioner is in serious need of some maintenance.
As you might have imagined, your car’s AC is composed of several parts. These include things like an evaporator, compressor, condenser, filters, hoses, and compressed coolant. If one of these components breaks, fails, or runs out – as might happen with your coolant – then the system won’t function properly. Letting it go until next summer might not be the best idea. Don’t wait until it’s hot out to get your air conditioner fixed. Aside from being roasted in your car as you drive to pay a visit to your local mechanic next summer when the heat rolls in, more serious damage could be caused by waiting all winter.
Here’s what you can expect your auto mechanic to do when they take a look at your car’s air conditioner:

• A cursory visual examination to see if any parts are broken or missing.
• A full-tilt system performance inspection.
• A dye detection test to locate the source of a tough to spot slow leak.

Don’t wait until the weather turns hot to take care of your car’s AC. Make an appointment today with a mechanic near you to get your air conditioner into ship-shape condition.  Need to find a good mechanic? Start with Openbay and compare pricing and book service from quality local shops with the click of a button.