Care for your Car’s Air Conditioner this Summer!

If your car’s air conditioning system breaks this summer, it will be something you truly miss. There’s nothing like that gust of cooling relief when you start up your car on a hot day. Take care of your A/C to ensure a cool and comfortable summer.

Automotive Air Conditioning Maintenance Tips

Heed these pointers on how to maintain your car’s air conditioner.

Run Your A/C

Run it at least 10 minutes every week whether you need it or not, using the coolest setting. This maintains pressure to keep the compressor working. When the air conditioner runs, the refrigerant circulates the lubricating oil and keeps seals from drying out.

Also, run the A/C on defrost mode for another 5-10 minutes. This cleans out mildew and moisture and prevents odors.

Run It Cold

As much as possible, run your air conditioning on its coolest setting because it is most efficient that way. At a higher temperature, your car is actually reheating the cooled air and the system works harder.

Keep a Clean Cabin Filter

Follow your vehicle’s recommendation for changing the cabin filter. Your airflow won’t be what it should if the filter is dirty.

Maintain Your Radiator

Follow the recommended schedule for periodic flushing and keep the coolant topped off.

Make Sure Your Fan Belt Is Working Properly

That’s important not only for the air conditioner but also for parts such as the alternator, the water pump and the power steering pump.

Not sure if everything is right for your air conditioner to work at its best? Gloucester Toyota offers a complimentary multi-point inspection.

What If My Air Conditioner Isn’t Working?

If your fan is blowing air through your vents, but it’s warm, it doesn’t do much to keep you comfortable on a hot day. It’s likely that your refrigerant is low. Low refrigerant level is a sign that something is wrong.

Adding refrigerant or recharging is something you should seldom have to do. That’s because your A/C unit is a “closed system.” Refrigerants are recycled and don’t get used up like brake fluid or steering fluid. If your refrigerant has dropped to an inadequate level, the most likely cause is a leak.

In some cases you can use a recharging kit and recharge the refrigerant yourself. However, if you have a leak, it’s just going to get low again. If it’s a small or slow leak, you might be able to keep ahead of it with periodic recharging. However, a better choice is to do some diagnosis and find out what’s really going on.

Diagnosing an Air Conditioning Problem

A professional mechanic will begin troubleshooting by testing the system with a set of manifold gauges. These gauges will yield pressure readings that tell whether the refrigerant is low. If it is, the mechanic may recommend an evacuation and recharge.

They’ll figure out how much refrigerant is actually left. They’ll evacuate all the air and moisture from the system and fill it up with new refrigerants. At the same time they’ll add a color dye to help find leaks.

If it turns out you don’t have a leak, your mechanic now has enough information to continue the diagnosis. The recharge isn’t wasted. For the typical car air conditioner repair, you’ll need that in addition to any other work.

Keep your air conditioner working this summer along with everything else in your Toyota or other vehicle. Check in with the experienced mechanics at the Gloucester Toyota service center. We have over 25 years of family ownership and commitment to customer satisfaction. Call us at (804) 693-2100 or use our online form to schedule an appointment.