5 signs of auto air conditioning failure you may be missing

Before your car’s air conditioning system completely fails, it will likely send you a few signs. Unfortunately, many people do not know what these signs are and either treat the symptom and not the cause, dismiss it or, even worse, do not notice the issue at all. While you may wonder how someone can leave their air conditioning system’s issues unnoticed, especially during the summer months, the reality is that some signs don’t always directly affect the driver of the car. In this article, we’ll identify 5 signs of air conditioning failure that you may be missing.

Leaking refrigerant

Leaking refrigerant can occur at any time throughout the running of the air conditioning, making it quite difficult to notice. The easiest way to figure out if you have a leak is whether your refrigerant constantly needs replacing. Refrigerants shouldn’t need to be replenished often – unless there is a leak. Don’t ignore pools of liquid inside your car by the air conditioning or ice on your coils, it’s likely a sign that your car is leaking refrigerant and that your air conditioning system is close to malfunctioning.

Noisy compressor

It can be easy to miss a noisy compressor, believe it or not. You usually hear the noise from a compressor when you start your air conditioning system. It signals that the compressor’s internal components are either broken, failing or seized. The type of noise you hear is an indication of the problem.  A leaking bearing or one that experiences wear and tear is likely to produce a high-pitched squealing or grinding sound, while a seized bearing will make a grinding noise.

Bear in mind that issues with compressors usually mean that they need to be replaced as they are quite difficult to repair.

Hot cabin temperature

While this should be a noticeable sign, the reality is that not everyone uses their air conditioning system and thus, will not notice if the vents are blowing warm air. Additionally, if it is extremely hot where you live, it may take you a while to notice that your car is not just taking a long time to cool down, your air conditioning vents are blowing warm air.

If your air conditioning is blowing hot air, it usually means that there is an issue with your compressor as it is not able to regulate the refrigerant flow in the air conditioning system, leading to a failure in the cooling system.

Frozen coils

If you do not have enough refrigerant circulating through the evaporator coils, then they will eventually not absorb enough heat. This will result in frozen condensation on the coil which will begin to melt and drip on the floor (a potential sign that you should look out for).

While this may not seem like a major issue to you, the reality is that it can lead to a system breakdown and eventually, cause an expensive replacement for the compressor.

Hissing sounds

Similar to the sounds that a noisy compressor may make, a failing air conditioning system may be indicated by a hissing sound. A hissing noise points to holes or cracks in the coils which cause a refrigerant leak and stop the circulation of the refrigerant. Refrigerant is what absorbs hot air and provides cool air, making this extremely important to the function of your system.

Hissing can indicate a number of problems, however, cracks or holes in coils are one of the most common causes.

What happens if I miss these signs?

It’s important that you pay attention to your car and the signs that we have identified. If you ignore or miss these signs the following can occur:

• loss of cooling power
• your car can overheat which can result in issues with your compressor and your car breaking down
• you may have to replace rather than repair (more costly)
• leaking refrigerant can cause coughing, headaches and nausea

Call a mobile auto air conditioning specialist in Sydney!

If you notice any of these signs in your vehicle, contact Electroworx. Electroworx offers mobile services and is specialised in auto air conditioning services. They will come straight to your car to diagnose and repair your system.

At Electroworx, we offer car air conditioning systems maintenance service in addition to repairs to mobile cars, heavy equipment and mobile trucks. We consider ourselves the best in Western Sydney and work tirelessly to provide you with what you deserve.

Whatever you need, our team is ready to help you.

Contact us today on 1300 824 692