Some of the common car air conditioner maintenance include:
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- Clean the condenser
- Replace the filters
- Clean the exterior grills
- Inspect for leaks
- Keep an eye on symptoms of a bad air conditioner
While it's important to take care of major components in your vehicles like the engine or the transmission, having troubles with minor components like the air conditioner can be very challenging and leads to stress, especially if you're driving in areas with very hot summers.
It's critical to familiarize yourself with the common car air conditioner maintenance tips from expert mechanics. This way, you don't have to deal with major breakdowns, and your air conditioner works well and is ready for your coming summer.
Experts recommend maintaining the air conditioning system all the time and not just waiting for summer to hit and you start dealing with these issues. Therefore, read on for some details and recommendations from older ones’ experts about car air conditioner maintenance that you need to implement!
Why is it important to keep up with your car's air conditioner?
Before we dive into the details about car air conditioner maintenance, it's critical to understand the importance of taking good care of your vehicle's air conditioner system.
- Prevent sudden breakdowns
When you perform regular maintenance to your vehicle's air conditioner, you don't have to worry about sudden breakdowns, which can be a headache, especially if you need the air conditioning during the summer.
- Reduce major repair costs
By keeping up with your vehicle's air conditioner, you'll be able to detect problems early and resolve them without needing to install major components every time. Thus, do not worry about high repair costs for a system like the air conditioner.
- Enhance your driving experience
If you're driving and in environments where summer is extremely hot, driving without a working air conditioner can be very challenging. Therefore, when you keep up with your air conditioner, you eliminate any major breakdowns and ensure that the air conditioning system works all the time. Thus, you'll enhance your driving experience.
- Extend the lifetime of your car air conditioner
Finally, when you continuously take care of small repairs and never get your vehicle to deal with major problems because you ignored it, you'll extend the lifetime of the air conditioner and the overall vehicle.
Car air conditioner maintenance
Now you have a good understanding of the importance of maintaining your air conditioner in your vehicle, let's take a closer look at what automotive experts recommend in terms of common routine air conditioner maintenance that you need to keep up with:
- Clean the condenser
The air conditioner condenser is one of the most critical components that perform a critical job. The condenser is responsible for cooling down the refrigerant, which got heated up by the compressor and converted into a liquid by allowing air to pass through it and drop its temperature.
Over time of use, there's a very high chance that this condenser gets clogged with debris or contaminants, which might impact its efficiency. Therefore, it's recommended that you consult your vehicle owner’s manual and know how often you should clean up the condenser.
Some automotive experts recommend spraying your condenser with high-pressure water once or twice every month. However, it's still recommended that you inspect the condenser frequently and determine when you need to clean it up if needed more than twice a month.
For example, if you are driving in environments with a lot of dirt or contaminants and there's a very high chance that the condenser is getting dirtier, you might need to clean it up more frequently than someone else who's driving in a cleaner environment.
- Replace the filters
The cabin filter is responsible for cleaning up and filtering any air getting into your vehicle. Therefore, you don't have to worry about dust or pollen getting inside your car and impacting your health. In addition, the cabin air filter plays a major role for those who have respiratory or breathing health problems.
The cabin air filter is expected to get clogged over time like any other filter in your vehicle. Therefore, it's recommended that you replace the air filter at least once every year. In addition, some experts recommend cleaning up the air filter by removing the dust and contaminants at least once every six months.
Replacing the cabin air filter is not a complicated job, and many drivers prefer to do the job themselves to save on labor costs. However, if you're not comfortable enough replacing your filter, you might need to consult a mechanic and pay extra so you don't cause any mistakes that could cost you a lot of money.
- Clean the exterior grills
Many people might not pay good attention to the exterior grills and think they're not a big deal. However, they might impact your air conditioner significantly if not taken care of well. Therefore, between now and then, look at the exterior grill underneath your windshield and remove any contaminants or larger debris that might get collected from the road as you're driving.
As you're cleaning up these exterior grilles, it's recommended that you take a closer look for any debris that got stuck inside the air conditioning system and try to get it out before it reaches the condenser and causes further damage is.
Cleaning these grills will not cost you any money unless there are major breakdowns or things that require some help from a professional mechanic.
- Inspect for leaks
Like any other component in your vehicle, leaks might cause severe damages and prevent systems from working properly. Therefore, automotive experts recommend that you have your mechanic inspect the air conditioner thoroughly to determine any signs of internal or external leaks.
Whenever you notice any of these leaks, you must take care of them immediately before the refrigerant, or any other fluids get inside your vehicle. Keep in mind that the refrigerant can be a toxic fluid, and it might cause some health problems if not taken care of immediately.
- Keep an eye on symptoms of a bad air conditioner
Finally, it's recommended that you take it seriously whenever you notice any symptoms indicating an issue with your air conditioning. In other words, if you realize any weird noises or strange behaviors from your air conditioning, you must consult your mechanic and get it resolved as soon as possible.
Automotive experts indicated that if you detect problems early, you will most likely solve the problem without installing major components that might be costly. Therefore, the sooner you detect the issue, the easier it is for you to resolve the problem, and the more you can enjoy your air conditioner system.
What are the common symptoms of a bad air conditioner in a car?
As we indicated earlier, keeping an eye for problems with the air conditioner helps you resolve the problems early and prevents high repair costs.
Therefore, let's take a closer look at these common symptoms indicating that your air conditioner is going bad sometime soon:
- Weird noises
As a rule of thumb, whenever you hear any weird noise coming from your vehicle, it might be linked to an internal problem. So goes, do not underestimate the sound, and you are recommended to consult your mechanic immediately to inspect and determine what's causing this weird sound.
In general, when the air conditioner goes bad and there is a problem with the compressor, you might hear loud noises from the air conditioner vents. It could be a problem with a compressor or some of the internal bearings that got broken or anything related.
- AC blowing hot air
Obviously, another common sign of a bad air conditioning system in your vehicle is when the car blows hot air instead of cold air. This indicates a problem internally related to either a low refrigerant or an issue with the compressor or probably the condenser.
- Refrigerant leaks
When there is a severe problem with your vehicle's AC system, you might notice some refrigerant leaks inside or outside your vehicle here. This happens when there is a problem with the compressor, or probably there is a broken veering. Refrigerant starts leaking at low or weak locations, and it's a hazardous situation because refrigerant is a toxic fluid, as we indicated before.
- Problems with the clutch
If you're driving a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, you might know how the clutch works. Like that transition clutch, the AC system is equipped with a clutch connected to the compressor. This clutch is connected somehow to the engine to bring the power. When there is a problem with the AC system, this clutch might not work properly, which means that no energy is coming from the engine to the AC system, and thus, your system will have problems.
Whenever you notice any of the mentioned symptoms, it is important that you immediately consult your mechanic to resolve the issue. Problems with the AC system don't mean that you can't drive your vehicle because it doesn't have to do with how your vehicle functions. However, driving a car without an easy system can be very frustrating, especially if you're driving in the summer season, where the temperature is very high.
In certain situations where the temperature is extremely high, the AC system becomes a must, which means that you won't be comfortable driving your car without a working AC. Therefore, deciding on the urgency of fixing your AC system depends on your own goals and needs.
How much does it cost to fix the AC in the car?
Typically, auto AC repair costs range from $170 to $730. However, in some scenarios, you might need to pay up to $4000 if the problem is a major component like the compressor.
Air conditioner repair costs depend heavily on the root of the problem, which means it can be as easy as topping off the refrigerant. Still, it also can be as complicated as problems with the condenser or the compressor.
Therefore, before deciding to fix the AC system, you must evaluate the situation and compare repair costs to your vehicle value. For example, if repair costs approached 75% or more from your car's value, you recommended selling this vehicle and using its value to purchase a better car that probably doesn't have any AC problems.
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Conclusion
Maintaining a good air conditioning system helps save you a lot of headaches and stress during the summer season. Therefore, it's important to keep up with the common car air conditioner maintenance tips that automotive experts recommend.
Typically, some of the car air conditioner maintenance that you need to keep up with include cleaning the condenser, inspecting or replacing the filters, and checking the system for any leaks. Whatever you notice, any issue with these components, it's critical that you take care of it immediately to prevent dealing with further breakdowns that could cost you a lot of money.
If your vehicle already has significant problems like issues with the engine or the transmission, it might make the most sense for you to sell this car and use its money towards purchasing a better vehicle that doesn't have issues and is worth the investment in maintaining the air conditioner.
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