Many of us love the idea of taking a road trip in the summer, just hitting the open road and enjoying the ride. The one thing that can truly ruin such a trip though – and very quickly at that – is for your vehicle’s air conditioning system to fail.
Being stuck in a car that has no AC on an eighty-degree day is as close to hell as you can get, or at least that is what it feels like at the time and it can be even worse if you are stuck in traffic on the way to work!
‘Sudden’ air conditioner failure is something a lot of motorists complain they have just experienced when they drop their car of at the mechanic in frustration. Sometimes that may be the case – cars can be funny things, even brand new ones – but often a car’s air conditioning system will give you signs it’s on its way out, you just have to know what these are so that they can be dealt with before you find yourself stuck on the highway someplace melting into the driver’s seat!
Tiny Leaks
It’s not unusual for a car’s AC system, however new and sophisticated it is, to develop tiny leaks that can easily go unnoticed for months. It’s therefore important that you get into the habit of checking for them yourself, before those tiny little leaks become a big problem. At the same time you should also check the refrigerant levels to make sure they don’t need a top up before you hit the road on a warm day, even if you are only headed out for a short trip.
Water in the Car
When a car’s air conditioning system is functioning properly it will drain the moisture it has extracted from the hot air in the car outside the vehicle once it has been parked – you should be able to see the little pool under the car for yourself if you crawl down and have a look underneath.
If the AC’s drain is clogged though, that water will begin slowly pooling into the car instead. If you happen to begin to notice strange damp patches in your vehicle check this drain out – before the problem becomes so bad you need to consult with a mechanic to get a whole new system and your car also develops a nasty case of mold!
Strange Noises
When you turn the AC in your car on all you should hear is the low, comforting whir of the fan. Rattling, vibrating or banging noises are usually a good sign that something is obstructing the blower fan which will impact the AC unit’s performance – and probably break it altogether in the end if the problem is ignored.
Nasty Smells
You turn the AC on for a bit of cool but along with it comes a rather unpleasant smell of faint mildew. And that is quite possibly what it is as if the fan is not operating correctly inside the system itself is where mold spores and mildew will start to form, long before their are visible damp patches in the car. To avoid this problem schedule an AC cleaning as a part of the maintenance the next time you take your car in for a check up.
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