3 Air Conditioner Symptoms That Merit Professional Attention

As spring marches toward summer and temperatures rise, many Georgia drivers understandably rely on their car air conditioners for safe, comfortable commutes and road trips. Unfortunately, these complex systems don't always work as they should, in some cases impairing overall automotive performance or even human health.

Once you understand what can go wrong with your car's air conditioner and how those malfunctions manifest themselves, you'll know what kind of problem you may face and how your mechanic can address it to restore normal air conditioner operation. Take a look at three common trouble signs and their potential causes.

1. Your Air Conditioner Doesn't Blow Cold Air

Perhaps the most obvious air conditioner failure involves the simple inability of the system to provide cool air to the vehicle's cabin. If the air blowing through the vents feels hot even with the controls set to maximum cooling, you've probably lost some (or possibly even all) of your refrigerant.

Refrigerant flows through a pressure-sealed loop that contains hoses, seals, and other parts that can fail over time. Older cars in particular may develop tiny leaks at these failure points, allowing the refrigerant to escape as gas. Your auto technician will need to find and fix the leak before recharging the system with fresh refrigerant.

Although you may see do-it-yourself refrigerant recharge kits on the market, you shouldn't attempt this kind of maintenance yourself. For one thing, you may break the law by releasing refrigerant in the air. Refrigerant can also prove both highly flammable and extremely damaging to your eyes and skin.

Other system failures can also leave you sweltering on a hot day. For instance, if the AC fan fails, it can't push chilled air into your cabin. Other potential problems include a faulty compressor and a stuck blend air door (the little hatch that opens when you switch the system from heating to cooling or vice versa).

2. Your Air Conditioner Short Cycles

Just as your home HVAC system cycles on and off to maintain a desired temperature, your car's air conditioning compressor engages long enough to cool your car before shutting itself off again. In both types of systems, a problem called short cycling occurs when the compressor cycles on and off too frequently.

Because repeated short cycling can eventually destroy your compressor (forcing an expensive replacement), avoid running your air conditioner until your auto technician has addressed the reason for it. The system may suffer from low refrigerant, a faulty thermostat, clogged air filter, or some other glitch.

3. Your Air Conditioner Makes You Feel Ill

You may feel perfectly fine until you've driven a few miles in your car, at which point you start getting noticeably sick. A variety of triggers can cause this problem, from bacteria on the interior surfaces to toxic fumes entering the cabin. Your symptoms could also stem from mold growing in your air conditioner.

Car air conditioners naturally produce water in the form of condensation as the evaporator chills the air. This condensation can sit in the evaporator, harboring mold and mildew. When you engage the air conditioner, the fan then blows this mold and mildew through the vents.

If you experience eye or throat irritation, sneezing, and other reactions while noticing the telltale odor of mildew in your car, ask your auto technician to examine the evaporator core for accumulated water and mold. Your AC vents can most likely benefit from a good cleaning as well.

Kell Radiator Service can evaluate and repair almost any component on your car that might cause your air conditioner to misbehave. If you experience any of the issues noted above, bring your vehicle to our automotive repair shop so we can get your air conditioning system running correctly again.