How to Fix Your Car's Air

Conditioner
Have you been sweltering in your car because of a broken air
conditioner? Here's a short guide to how air conditioning (AC)
works why it !ight not work and what you can do about it"
EditSteps
Understanding Car Air Conditioning
#" #
Realize that auto AC is basically a refrigerator in a weird
layout" $t's designed to !ove heat fro! one %lace (the inside of
your car) to so!e other %lace (the outdoors)" &hile a co!%lete
discussion of every s%ecific !odel and co!%onent is well outside
the sco%e of this article the following ex%lanations of auto air
conditioning should give you a start on figuring out what the
%roble! !ight be" 'his should also hel% you work with the right
%ieces if fixing it yourself or it will hel% you to talk intelligently to
so!eone you can %ay to fix it"
("
(
Become familiar with the major components to auto air
conditioning)
o Co!%ressor) 'his co!%resses and circulates the
refrigerant in the syste!
o *efrigerant) +n !odern cars this is usually a
substance called *,#-.a while older cars have r,#( freon
which is beco!ing increasingly !ore ex%ensive and hard to
find and also re/uires a license to handle" 'he refrigerant
carries the heat"
o Condenser) 'his changes the %hase of the refrigerant
fro! gas to li/uid and ex%els heat re!oved fro! the car"
o 0x%ansion valve (or orifice tube in so!e vehicles)) 'his
is so!ewhat of a no11le and functions to si!ultaneously dro%
the %ressure of the refrigerant li/uid !eter its flow and
ato!i1e it"
o 0va%orator) 'his transfers heat to the refrigerant fro!
the air blown across it cooling your car"
o *eceiver2dryer) 'his functions as a filter for the
refrigerant2oil re!oving !oisture and other conta!inants"
-" -
Understand the air conditioning process" $n a nutshell the
co!%ressor %uts the refrigerant under %ressure and sends it to the
condensing coils" $n your car these coils are generally in front of
the radiator"
o Co!%ressing a gas !akes it /uite hot" $n the
condenser this added heat and the heat the refrigerant
%icked u% in the eva%orator is ex%elled to the air flowing
across it fro! outside the car" &hen the refrigerant is cooled
to its saturation te!%erature it will change %hase fro! a gas
back into a li/uid (this gives off a bundle of heat known as the
3latent heat of va%ori1ation3)" 'he li/uid then %asses through
the ex%ansion valve to the eva%orator the coils inside of your
car where it loses %ressure that was added to it in the
co!%ressor" 'his causes so!e of the li/uid to change to a
low,%ressure gas as it cools the re!aining li/uid" 'his two,
%hase !ixture enters the eva%orator and the li/uid %ortion of
the refrigerant absorbs the heat fro! the air across the coil
and eva%orates"
o Your car's blower circulates air across the cold
eva%orator and into the interior" 'he refrigerant goes back
through the cycle again and again"
Fiing the AC
#" #
Chec! to see if all the R"#$%a lea!s out &meaning there's
nothing in the loop to carry away heat(" 4eaks are easy to s%ot
but not easy to fix without %ulling things a%art" 5ost auto,su%%ly
stores carry a fluorescent dye that can be added to the syste! to
check for leaks and it will have instructions for use on the can" $f
there's a bad enough leak the syste! will have no %ressure in it at
all" Find the low,side valve and with a gauge check the 67$ level"
o 8o not use anything else to %oke in the valve to see if it
will co!e out this is illegal" $t's called venting"
(" (
)a!e sure the compressor is turning"
o 7tart the car turn on the AC and look under the hood"
'he AC co!%ressor is generally a %u!%,like thing off to one
side with large rubber and steel hoses going to it" $t will not
have a filler ca% on it but will often have one or two things
that look like the valve ste!s on a bike tire" 'he %ulley on the
front of the co!%ressor exists as an outer %ulley and an inner
hub which turns when an electric clutch is engaged"
o $f the AC is on and the blower is on but the center of
the %ulley is not turning then the co!%ressor's clutch is not
engaging" 'his could be a bad fuse a wiring %roble! a
broken AC switch in your dash or the syste! could be low on
refrigerant (!ost syste!s have a low,%ressure safety cutout
that will disable the co!%ressor if there isn't enough
refrigerant in the syste!)"
-" -
*oo! for other things that can go wrong" 'he other sorts of
%roble!s that the AC !ight be ex%eriencing include) bad switches
bad fuses broken wires broken fan belt (%reventing the %u!% fro!
turning) or seal failure inside the co!%ressor"
." .
Feel for any cooling at all" $f the syste! cools but not !uch it
could 9ust be low %ressure and you can to% u% the refrigerant" 5ost
auto,su%%ly stores will have a kit to refill a syste! co!%lete with
instructions"
o 8o not overfill: Adding !ore than the reco!!ended
a!ount of refrigerant will not i!%rove %erfor!ance but
actually will decrease %erfor!ance" $n fact the !ore
ex%ensive auto!ated e/ui%!ent found at nicer sho%s
actually !onitors cooling %erfor!ance in real,ti!e as it adds
refrigerant" &hen the %erfor!ance begins to decrease it
re!oves refrigerant until the %erfor!ance %eaks again"
Edit+ips
$f you sus%ect bad wiring !ost co!%ressors have a wire
leading to the electric clutch" Find the connector in the !iddle
of that wire and un%lug it" 'ake a length of wire and run it
fro! the co!%ressor's wire to the %lus (;) side of your
battery" $f you hear a loud C4AC< the electric clutch is fine
and you should check the car's wiring and fuses" $f you get
nothing the electric clutch is bad and the co!%ressor will
have to be re%laced" $deally if you can do this test while the
car is running you can see if the hub s%ins" 'ake care to
kee% fingers and loose clothes away fro! !oving %ulleys and
belts" 'hat would rule out a clutch that actuates %ro%erly but
then sli%s so badly it won't generate %ressure"
Your syste! will have a light oil in it"
$f your car has an air conditioner leak even though the drain
%i%e is clean so!e water !ay have entered the AC syste!
during a drive through rain"
Another %ossible re%lace!ent refrigerant is HC#(a which is
used /uite a bit !ore in 0uro%e" $t %erfor!s better than *,
#-.a or *#(" $t is !ore fla!!able" HC#(a is illegal in !any
="7" states including Arkansas Ari1ona Connecticut
Florida $daho $owa $ndiana <ansas 4ouisiana 5aryland
5ontana >ebraska >orth 8akota +klaho!a 'exas =tah
?irginia &ashington &isconsin and the 8istrict of
Colu!bia" HC#(a has a lesser environ!ental i!%act than
*#( or *#-.a but since HC#(a contains hydrocarbons it
could contribute to volatile organic co!%ound (?+C)
e!issions" 'his substance !ust be ordered on the $nternet
as local sho%s do not see! to stock it" 'he issue is that
sho%s will not work on a car that has other refrigerants in it"
7%ecial e/ui%!ent is needed for each ty%e of refrigerant's
recovery" 7tandard *#( or *#-.a is a safer choice"
7o!eti!es the %roble! is not always about the refrigerant"
'here !ay be a %roble! with heat radiation fro! nearby
engine which is very hot and decrease the AC efficiency and
%erfor!ance" You can try to wra% 2 isolate the cold AC %i%e
near the engine to sto% engine heat radiation fro! affecting
the %i%e and increase ac %erfor!ance overall"
@#A
Edit,arnings
4ook out for !oving fan blades and fan belts:
You !ay not find a re%air facility that will si!%ly to% you off if
they sus%ect that you need to re%air a leak first" $f you
re%aired the leaks and failed co!%onents yourself it is legal
to recharge the syste! with #-. without a license but not *,
#(" However getting a license to handle *,#( is easy online
and runs about B(C")
$f you have any reason to sus%ect that your refrigerant has
leaked out co!%letely (the 8$Y %ressure gauge you bought at
the %arts store reads C %siD the co!%ressor won't engage
because it !ay be sensing no %ressure in the syste!D you
checked the gauge and have no 67$ level ) then you are
best off taking it to a %rofessional unless you are fa!iliar with
what you are doing" As a general rule of thu!b you are
%robably not fa!iliar enough if you are reading this article"
'he reason for this is that a co!%letely de%leted refrigerant
syste! has no %ressure to kee% air and !oisture fro!
co!ing in through wherever the refrigerant leaked out" Air
and !oisture are %ossibly the two biggest ene!ies of an air
conditioning syste!" 'he ways in which they can do har! are
outside the sco%e of this article but suffice it to say that it is
not okay to have a significant a!ount of either in the lines"
'he receiver2dryer unit must be re%laced in a case like this as
you can al!ost guarantee that it has absorbed enough
!oisture to be co!%letely useless and before refilling the
syste! it must be evacuated (%ulling a vacuu! on the
syste! effectively re!oving nearly all air and !oisture fro!
inside) with the %ro%er e/ui%!ent which few 8$Yers are likely
to have access or knowledge to use" 4et a %rofessional
handle it and you !ay get away with %aying for a fixed leak
and an evacuate2recharge" 'ry to fix it yourself and a few
!onths down the road you !ight wind u% having to %ay for
the sa!e evacuate2recharge service %lus re%lace!ent of a
sei1ed co!%ressor as well as a new condenser eva%orator
and ex%ansion valve2orifice tube because the co!%ressor
sent shards of !etal throughout the entire syste! when it
died"
Ee extre!ely cautious about converting your old *,#( syste!
to *,#-.a" 'he *,#-.a conversion kits sold at Auto 6arts
stores and even &al5art are called 3Elack 8eath <its3 by
so!e AC re%air!en" Fre/uently the new *,#-.a refrigerant
will not circulate the *,#( oil and you will burn u% your
co!%ressor" 'he *,#( !ineral oil has chlorine conta!inants
that will destroy the *,#-.a 6AF or 6+0 s%ecial oil" 'he only
way to reliably convert fro! *,#( to *,#-.a is to re!ove the
co!%ressor and flush out all the old oil with the new ty%e of
oilD then re%lace the old *eceiver,8ryer or Accu!ulator with a
new oneD then flush out all the lines the eva%orator and the
condensor with s%ecial cleaner then vacuu! to a steady
vacuu!D and finally charge with GC,HCI (by weight) of the
original *,#( weight with *,#-.aD and ex%ect %oorer cooling
ability" $t is !uch easier to kee% the old *,#( syste! running
with *,#( that is readily available via eEay" You !ust have a
license to buy and sell *,#("
>ote that the above warning is controversial" 7o!e
re%air!en clai! to have converted hundreds of vehicles
fro! *,#( to *#-.a without any %roble!s or issues or
failures after conversion"
HC#( and *,#-.A are non,fla!!able at a!bient
te!%eratures and at!os%heric %ressure but both !ay
co!bust at high %ressure and te!%erature under certain
conditions (in contact with certain reactive !etals)" Eoth also
dis%lace oxygen so do not release a lot of the gas in a s!all
non,vented area under %enalty of as%hyxiation"
>ever connect refrigerant cans oil or leak,detector cans to
the 3high %ressure side3 of the syste!" 'his is often !arked
with H or H$FH or a red connector ca%" Cans can ex%lode
and that would hurt"
7tay away fro! !a9or leaks of refrigerant" As it vents it will
get cold enough to free1e your skin resulting in frostbite"
Checking for refrigerant by %oking so!ething in the fitting and
looking for venting !ay be illegal if it releases refrigerant into
the at!os%here" (6lease don't do this with *,#( es%ecially:)
&hile it is not illegal to to% off a leaking syste! you !ust
check your local regulations as in so!e cases there is a
state or local law against it due to the %ossible e!issions"
@(A

?enting refrigerant even *,#-.a is illegal in the =nited
7tates so act accordingly"
EditRelated wi!i-ows
How to Change a 'ire
How to Create a Eattery 'ester
How to Cool Yourself in a Car &ithout Air Conditioning
How to *etrofit Air Conditioning in Cars to >ew *efrigerant
How to =nderstand the Easics of Car 5aintenance
How to 7et the 8ate and 'i!e on an 0lectronic ?ehicle
$nfor!ation Center (0?$C) in a #JJ- #JJH Kee% Frand
Cherokee