Full of Hot Air (Air Conditioning)
November 17, 2024
In warm weather, you want to be in a cool vehicle. When we're talking cool, we don't mean stylish or trendy, but cool as in not sweltering inside. And if your vehicle's air conditioner stops working correctly, it seems to always break at the worst time—during a heat wave.
Automotive air conditioning problems fail for a number of reasons:
- Blower motor not working. No air comes through the vents, even though the rest of the system could be working fine.
- Refrigerant leak. When the gas that cools the air off escapes from the air conditioning system, your air conditioner can no longer cool off the outside air
- Condenser and compressor. These are parts of your AC system that compress and expand a refrigerant gas to cool off the outside air. They are fairly complex.
When you bring your vehicle into our service center, we'll run a series of diagnostic tests to figure out what isn't working correctly. The air conditioning system has a lot of parts. There are electrical and mechanical components plus a series of hoses and tubes that all can wear out over time. Any one of these can fail.
A lot of drivers think they have a "Freon leak" and believe that if they get their AC system recharged with the refrigerant, everything will be fine. But AC systems are so complex, it usually takes a trained technician to accurately figure out where the problems are.
Sometimes the solution is simple. If your blower motor wears out or there's a fuse that has blown, the technician can replace the bad parts and you'll quickly be back to enjoying your rolling refrigerator. But when compressors or condensers go bad, those are much more involved and expensive to fix.
For instance, electrical problems can sometimes lead to acid to build up and corrode other parts of your AC system. Sometimes that causes so much damage, your whole air conditioning system has to be replaced. That's why it's always a good idea to have your AC regularly maintained. Our technicians can find a problem early and prevent more expensive repairs down the road. That's really the cool way to go.
Tire Warehouse Depot
250 N. Lapeer Rd.
Lake Orion, Michigan 48362
248-929-0699
Need Service?
More articles from Tire Warehouse Depot

Why is Air Not Coming Out of My Vents?
May 25, 2025
You climb inside your vehicle, start the ignition, and reach for the fan control for the heating or air conditioning. But when you try to crank it up, no air comes out of the vents. It can make for a very uncomfortable trip, whether its hot or cold outside. Its important for the comfort of you a... More

Timing is Everything (Timing Belt)
May 18, 2025
Talk about exquisite choreography; it happens under the hood of your vehicle every time you take a drive. Your engines many complex parts must work exactly together. One key is a part called a timing belt, which enables the synchronizing of two of your engines components, the camshaft, and the ... More

Easy on the Wheel (Power Steering)
May 11, 2025
Steering a vehicle these days doesn't take much effort, but if you got behind the wheel back before power steering was invented, you'd need to practically have the strength of Hercules to turn the wheel. The first power steering systems widely available changed everything. Chrysler introduced... More