Dear Adam,
My A/C blows!! But it’s not cold. What gives?
Summer is almost upon us, and its getting hot in here. Is the air conditioner in your car up to the task
this year? Automobile air conditioning systems work hard in a very harsh environment. It doesn’t take
much for something to fail when it gets hot out.
Lets talk about some common issues with your a/c system. Its ice cold or its not . It either blows or it doesn’t. You can either control it or you cannot. Which problem do you have and what can we do to repair it? Do you feel it too, or am I having hot flashes?
So you notice the air conditioning has gone from freezing to cold to warm. This is a symptom of the compressor not having enough refrigerant gas (Freon). You may have had a leak and eventually the compressor burned out or the low pressure sensor is not allowing it to come on. The leak may be as simple as a hose connection or as expensive as an evaporator. The way we diagnose this is to suck the system completely empty with an a/c system vacuum .
We then recharge the system with Freon that is colored with dye that is only visible with a
UV light. If the air conditioning system starts to get warm again, we then look at all of the hoses and
components with the UV light. The leak will be easily spotted as the dye will glow bright yellow under
the special light. At this point we replace the broken parts and recharge the system. If a compressor
is needed we can choose from a brand new original equipment type which we have resources to get
below dealer prices or we can get a more inexpensive remanufactured part. Both will carry our twelve
month warranty.
The old girl just doesn’t blow as hard as she used to. Are you having a problem with the amount of
cold air coming out of the vents? Maybe its not blowing at all. You could have a problem with the blower or “squirrel cage” as we call it. It is simply put a fan powered by an electric motor that pushes the cold air out of the evaporator case and through the vents in the dashboard. There is also a blower resistor that can go bad and restrict your ability to control the fan speed . It can get stuck on high or low, you never know when its going to wear out. These types of repairs are usually not difficult ,and are pretty economical to get fixed.
A flick of the switch. So you push the a/c button a few times and nothing happens. The air
conditioning system could be fine, but you have an electrical problem. It could be as simple as a blown
fuse to an entire control panel. Many European makes have separate ECUs (electronic control units)
within the body that can go bad as well. When this happens we can sometimes just reprogram the units,
this requires special programming tools (which we of course have). in your car this summer.
The important thing to remember is to have the air conditioning system checked at the first signs of
a problem. A system that is just a little low on gas can quickly overwork itself and wear out expensive
parts. This all goes back to my philosophy of making sure the people looking at your car are familiar with the specific procedures necessary to your vehicle.
We are auto air conditioner experts and will be happy to give your car a check out anytime. A complete diagnosis including vacuuming down the system and recharging it with Freon (the type with dye) will run just under $100. This amount is always credited back when we find a problem and repair it later.
As always your comments are invited,
Adam Yunis
Car & Truck Air Conditioner (A/C) Expert
Shop Owner, Specialty Car Services
12930 SW 85th Ave Rd.Miami, FL 33156
305-443-3305
