Back to all

Busted! Air Conditioning (Air Conditioning Maintenance)

February 16, 2025

Your vehicle's air conditioning is something you count on when the weather heats up.  But there's bound to be a day when you turn it on and one of these things happens:

  • Only warm air blows out
  • Cold air starts blowing out but then it turns warm on its own
  • It's not blowing air at all
  • It blows smelly air out

Some people are tempted to try to make the diagnosis—and the repair—on their own.  They think it's just run out of refrigerant and they can pick up a can at a local auto parts store and re-charge it.   If only it was that easy.

A vehicle's air conditioning system is complex and made up of many parts.  A compressor, evaporator, condenser, tubing, hoses, sensors, valves… the list goes on and on.

Each of these components could be the reason for the problem.  It could be a leak that's letting the refrigerant escape, but simply re-charging the system hasn't fixed the problem. You have to find the source of the leak and fix it. Service facilities have a device called a "sniffer" which can sniff out refrigerant chemicals. And they can use black light to locate refrigerant that has an ultraviolet dye in it. 

But often other components wear out; blower motors go bad, resistors blow, tubes clog, compressors fail. And diagnosing that takes training and special equipment you'll find at your service facility.

One other thing to keep in mind.  It's always better to catch any problems in the air conditioning system before it fails. Ask your service advisor about having

the A/C checked as part of the vehicle's maintenance.  That's the cool way to go. 

O' Gorman Auto Service
675 Douglas Avenue
Holland, MI 49424
6162988839

Need Service?

Request a Quote

More articles from O' Gorman Auto Service

A Bright Idea

October 12, 2025

You've probably noticed how much easier it is to see when you're driving in the daytime as opposed to at night. It's one of the main reasons about half of all fatal vehicle accidents happen when it's dark. That's why it's important that your vehicle's headlights are in top condition and working t... More

The O' Gorman Auto Service Basic Guide To Synthetic Oil

October 5, 2025

Synthetic motor oil has been around for a long time, and more and more new vehicles are leaving factories with synthetic in their engines. But a lot of drivers don't really know much about it.Let's start with conventional oil the kind folks are used to. Conventional oil is made up of naturally o... More

What Is an EGR Valve? (EGR Valve Service)

September 28, 2025

If you've ever felt your vehicle hesitate, go, then hesitate again, you might think there's something wrong with the transmission. After all, it's not moving smoothly down the road. But there are plenty of malfunctions that can cause those symptoms, one of them being something you may have nev... More