One of the most common complaints that vehicle owners have about their car’s air conditioner is that it is not properly cooling the interior of their vehicle. On exceptionally warm days, it may take a well-functioning air conditioner a few minutes to circulate cool air into the cabin of your vehicle. However, you may have noticed that it takes longer than normal for your car’s AC to kick into full gear or that the cooled air from your air conditioner is not as cool as it once was. Perhaps your air conditioner has stopped cooling air at all, and it is now circulating warm or even hot air when the system is on.

There are several different reasons why your air conditioner may not be functioning as well as it has in the past or may not be functioning well at all. One of the first steps that should be taken to identify the cause of the issue is to check the refrigerant in your system. There are do-it-yourself kits located at many auto parts stores that provide you with all of the tools and equipment needed to check your own refrigerant. However, you should be aware that this is not recommended. Certain aspects of checking and replacing the refrigerant can be dangerous. A refrigerant is a harsh chemical that should be handled with care, and it is sold in a highly pressurized container that is combustible. Furthermore, the low pressure port that you must access when checking the refrigerant must be kept clean. Exposing your compressor to even a single speck of dirt can break your compressor, and this can be costly to replace.
Because of these factors, it is best to bring in your vehicle to check the conditioning systems. The refrigerant level can easily be checked while performing a diagnostic service on your system. In some cases, simply recharging the refrigerant in your vehicle’s air conditioner system will result in cooler air blowing out from your vents. In other cases, more significant work will be required on your system.

Featured Image:

Ferrari 458 Italia Spider by nan palmero, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License  by  nan palmero