During a hot summer day, the last thing you want is to drive without air conditioning. Unfortunately, however, very often a car's air conditioning always seems to fail during the hottest time of the year. While it's often good to have a professional diagnose and then repair the air conditioning of your car, it's also good to know a little bit about what type of repair you might be facing. This can tell you how much you might spend and if you can make any fixes on your own. If your car's air conditioning has failed, note a few troubleshooting tips.

1. Weak airflow

If your car is producing cool air but it doesn't seem to be blowing that air through the cab of the car, the problem may be the fan that blows the air, but it may also be a hose. If a hose has come loose then the air that is being blown by the fan won't reach the cab of the car and will simply leak out through that loose connection. You may be able to see a loose or disconnected hose when you look under the hood of your car but if not, have a repairperson from a company like J & D Auto Electrical check for one.

2. No cold air

If the car is pushing air into the cab but it's not cold, a refrigerant leak or being low on refrigerant is the most obvious cause. However, this too can be caused by a disconnected or leaking hose, which in turn allows in warm air to flow into the cab of the car with the cold air. There could also be loose seals around the hoses or the compressor of the air conditioner and these too are allowing in warm air.

3. The air suddenly stops

If your air conditioner suddenly stops, this could be a blown fuse. If you were running the air conditioner and then turned on another electrical device that would drain your car of power, such as your GPS or MP3 player, and suddenly these things stop, chances are it's the fuses. The compressor may have also failed; this is what circulates cold air through the air conditioner. If the compressor stops working, the entire system may then shut down because the fan doesn't have cool air to push through the cab.

Remember that it's good to have your air conditioner maintained on a regular basis so that you avoid these types of problems; have the refrigerant levels and hoses checked every year so you know the system will be in good working order each summer.

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