How to Troubleshoot Car Air Conditioners

In the summer months, everyone wants their car air condtioner to work. Nobody wants to drive around in the heat and sun with just the windows down, however many people do not have the choice. Often times though the air condtioner in the car may be low on freon or the radiator may be low on antifreeze.

• Open the lid on the radiator and check to make sure the antifreeze level is correct, if it is low this could be the reason the air conditioning in the car is not working.


• Locate the fuse box on the car, and find the fuse that is labeled for the air conditioning unit. Replace the fuse with the proper fuse strength and try the air conditioning now. If this does not work, go on to the next step.


• Buy a can of air conditioning recharge from the local auto parts store. This is simply a can of freon, that will shoot back into the car's cooling system and will recharge the air if it is low on freon. If neither the antifreeze nor the freon was the problem, the next steps are a lot more time consuming and expensive.


• Locate the air conditioning compressor next, as this is the next most likely item to fail on the cooling system of the car. Once it is located, turn the air flow on with the switch on the car. If the compressor is functioning properly there should be some sort of movement felt or sound heard. If not, the compressor could be the problem and will need to be replaced or fixed which is somewhat expensive and this should require the work of a professional mechanic.