Troubleshooting Car A/C Problems: What’s Wrong?

Car A/C problems are the ultimate frustration in the dry, summer heat. You want to ride in a cool, air conditioned vehicle, not be stuck to the hot, sweaty seats.

Do you have one of the common car A/C complaints listed below? An experienced professional can easily diagnose your car A/C problems.

Problem #1: Air Isn’t Blowing

No matter how high you turn up the fan, you still have little to no air coming out of the vents. It’s probably a sign of a serious component failure. A car’s cooling system is made up of multiple important parts, including the condenser, evaporator, compressor and fan/blower motors. If one of these parts fails, the A/C won’t work.

Problem #2: No Cool Air

You thought there was nothing worse than a car cooling system that doesn’t blow any air, but a cooling system that blows hot air isn’t any better. It’s normal for the system to blow hot air when it first gets going, but if the air stays hot, you’re better off opening the windows and heading to our shop.

This is one of the most common car A/C problems, and a broken condenser is usually the cause. The condenser is supposed to cool the refrigerant that cools the air in the evaporator. But when it fails to work properly, it cycles warm refrigerant back through the system, making it no longer possible for the evaporator to do its job correctly.

Problem #3: Air Starts Cold Then Turns Warm

When you start out your drive with cool air and then it turns warm, you’re probably wondering what happened. It was just working!

This could be caused by the icing over of some of your vehicle cooling system’s components. If the evaporator freezes, it can’t cool the air, but once it thaws out, it starts working again. This is the reason for your system’s stop-and-go action, and our professional team can fix it easily.

Problem #4: Air Smells Terrible

If you can’t stand the smell of your car’s A/C, it may be time for a cleaning. Mold and bacteria thrive in damp, dark places. You may need a strong cleaning solution on the inner drainage tubes to eradicate harmful spores so you aren’t breathing in dangerous microbes.

Problem #5: It’s Noisy

A lack of lubricant, contaminated refrigerant and overly high air pressure can all make your car’s cooling system louder than it should be. It could also be a sign that your compressor is in its final days. We can pinpoint the source of the noise by testing all the system’s components.

Come in to State Automotive today for an affordable, quick fix when you have car A/C problems you can’t seem to solve on your own — we’re here for you!