Most vehicles today are equipped with air conditioning, and in some parts of the country it’s hard to imagine trying to drive without it for most of the year. A/C can make the difference between a comfortable trip and a stressful one, and keeping the refrigerant levels maintained is a key part of keeping your car’s A/C working in even the hottest weather.
Ensuring Optimal Performance
Car air conditioning works by manipulating a refrigerant material between two states of matter, liquid and gas. This is accomplished with a condenser and evaporator setup in most cases, with the same refrigerant cycled through the system continuously. When everything is working, the entire process happens in a sealed environment that keeps the amount of refrigerant at just the right levels for optimum cooling without drawing too much power and straining the mechanical parts of the device.
No system is truly totally sealed over the long term when you are talking about mechanical devices, and your car A/C is no exception. While you may get great performance for years on a single batch of refrigerant, eventually the seals in the system get old or the small inefficiencies in the reactions that keep your vehicle cool add up, and your refrigerant level gets low. This can lead to a number of issues.
- Decreased cooling ability, leading to warmer car interiors during hot weather
- Lower mechanical efficiency, leading to hotter running temperatures in the AC unit’s components
- Additional wear on the components
- Long-term malfunction if the unit runs without coolant
The best way to handle this is by checking your coolant levels every few months and using an AC recharge kit when they first get below threshold. That way, you never let the coolant get low enough to cause the issues that commonly pop up as an A/C unit ages.
Saving You from Costly Repairs or Replacements
The reason components malfunction if the refrigerant levels get too low is because the system is meant to run with that substance, not without it. That means the pressure inside the system is a key part of the engineering assumptions behind how it works and what keeps it working. If it’s left to run without enough refrigerant, eventually it breaks, and air conditioning repairs are often very costly.
In many cases, the only way to repair key malfunctions is through a total A/C replacement, which can cost thousands of dollars in some vehicles. The best way to avoid that is by following up on the regular maintenance needed to keep your A/C charged, as well as other regular maintenance tasks to keep your vehicle in great condition overall.
Make a Preventive Maintenance Plan
Remembering to check your coolant levels can save you a lot on air conditioning repair, but that logic doesn’t stop at A/C. Setting up regular review dates to look over your tires, brakes, fluid levels, lights, and other basic vehicle system functions can help you spot an upcoming issue before it becomes a costly repair. The best part is that you can find what you need for simple DIY maintenance from the same place you trust when searching for car accessories near me. Start planning today.
