Driving in harsh weather can become a fight for survival on the highway if the air conditioner in your car is having trouble cooling. Fortunately, one of the most common problems that an air conditioning system can present is that it only cools when you accelerate your vehicle. Although it does not mean that it is still something quite annoying, you do not have to worry, because here we will explain Why does the air conditioning in your car only cool when you accelerate?.
How does the air conditioning system work?
Before we address the possible culprit that may be causing your car’s air conditioning to not cool when idling, we’ll walk you through some basics of how your vehicle’s air conditioning unit works.
Your car’s air conditioning system requires refrigerant to function and consists of a compressor, condenser, evaporator, orifice tube, and accumulator. The compressor is responsible for compressing the refrigerant into a liquid. As the gas is compressed, it heats up, and the high pressure forces the refrigerant to travel through the system to the condenser.
The condenser has a section of coils through which the cold air from the outside passes, thus transferring the heat from the compressed gas to the air. The refrigerant then goes through the dryer to remove contaminants. After being purified, the compressed refrigerant passes through the expansion valve, where the pressure is released. And it is after passing through the evaporator that the refrigerant is clean, dry and cold.
To send the blasts of cold air coming out of your vehicle’s air conditioner, air is drawn through the freshly cooled refrigerant in the compressor tank and exhausted through the fans.
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Why does my car’s air conditioning only cool when I accelerate?
If a higher vehicle speed improves the performance of your car’s air conditioning, open the hood at idle and check that the radiator fan is running. In order for any air conditioning system to deliver cool air through the vents, it must be able to reject heat into the condenser at the front of the vehicle. And in order for the condenser to reject heat, a lot of airflow is needed through it.
Driving down the highway at 50mph provides said good airflow. But at idle and in city traffic, the air movement is provided by the radiator fan. Some vehicles will employ a separate radiator and condenser fan. Some others may have a belt driven fan that relies on a properly functioning fan clutch to get the job done. Regardless of the system, air conditioning performance will degrade if airflow through the condenser is inadequate.
For one thing, if the fans don’t turn on, there could be poor cooling. Although other possibilities are that the compressor clutch is not cycling as intended or that the condenser is blocked or dirty. Or sure, you could have a combination of these issues.
To solve the problem of air conditioning, We recommend that you go to a mechanical workshopso that a professional can inspect your vehicle, diagnose the specific problem and find a suitable solution.
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