What Causes Air Conditioning to Stop Working?

An air conditioning unit that stops working altogether can be extremely frustrating to deal with. There are many components of an AC system, and any one of them could cause the system to fail, such as a failing compressor or low refrigerant levels. Below we outline some common causes for an AC’s failure and how to address each issue:

AC Not Working – Convertible or Fixed?

You should first determine if your car uses a convertible top (separate from the windows) or a fixed top (windows and roof in one piece). If it has a convertible top, then there may be plastic end caps that cover screws at either end of your dashboard near where your windshield meets the dashboard. Remove these end caps, and you will see a series of screws that can be rotated to raise and lower your convertible top. Once the top has been submitted and put in place, you may have a faulty relay or wiring issue if your AC still does not work. If the car uses a fixed top (windows and roof as one piece), then you should follow this guide to determine if it is an electrical issue or something else:

HVAC Blowing Warm Air – Is Low Refrigerant Your Problem?

Suppose your AC is blowing warm air after you refill it with refrigerant, whether using professional equipment or R134a cans only. In that case, it indicates that the system might leak, allowing the refrigerant to escape. This leakage could be anywhere within the air conditioning system, which means canned refrigerant can only do so much until used up. At this point, you must locate the leak and patch it to restore your AC’s cooling performance. A professional could pinpoint the leak by detecting a small amount of oil residue using an electronic leak detector [ source ].
In some cases, you may have canned refrigerant, but for whatever reason, there is not enough in the system to work correctly, leading to warm air being blown out. There are two reasons why this might be: One issue would be low refrigerant levels which can usually be checked visually on the gauge attached to your car’s AC compressor (located somewhere near or on top of your engine). If your level is low, then set out to get more R134a and top it up.

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