Air conditioning in the car does not cool: that can be the reasons
If the air conditioning system in the car does not cool properly in hot weather, there can be several reasons. Before you sit sweating in the car and the open windows do not bring the desired cooling, we will explain the most common reasons in this practical tip.
Air conditioning does not cool: Check the refrigerant
The air conditioner normally loses very little refrigerant. However, it can happen that something is lost over time. It is therefore advisable to have the amount of refrigerant checked and refilled every two years at the latest.
- Maintenance every two to three years prevents problems with the refrigerant.
Remove any remaining leaves in front of the cooler
If the air conditioning no longer works on hot days, a possible cause may be leaves, which may have collected in front of the radiator in autumn and thus now prevent the cooling effect. You can easily remove the leaves and quickly find out if there is any improvement.
- Tip: Dirt of any kind can impair the cooling effect. You should therefore clean the cooler regularly.
Have your capacitor checked
The condenser is one of the most common causes of air conditioning failure.
- The refrigerant in the air conditioning system arrives at the condenser at a temperature of up to 80 degrees Celsius and then cools down again. When it cools down, the refrigerant changes from gaseous to liquid, thus cooling the interior of the vehicle.
- The capacitor is located in the front of the engine compartment and can be damaged quickly, for example by small stones. If the thin fins are damaged, the condenser will leak and the air conditioner will stop working.
- You can have the capacitor checked in a specialist workshop.
Check the electronics for the air conditioner
It's very easy: just press the switch that activates the air conditioning. You should normally already be able to hear the compressor and the condenser. If the noise is generally absent, this could of course indicate a defective compressor or capacitor, but also defective electronics.
The compressor could be defective
If the reasons given so far do not apply, the compressor could be broken. In it, the refrigerant is processed at high pressure and passed on to the condenser. The many moving particles in the compressor can get stuck over time, for example if the air conditioning system has not been used frequently.
- You should then have the compressor checked and repaired in a workshop.