Last week, this blog focused on keeping your vehicle’s engine running cool this coming McHenry summer. That’s important. Ensuring that your vehicle’s cooling system is up to snuff, and the coolant will do its job, are essential to protecting your vehicle from the effects of summer heat. It will also help you avoid the expense and inconvenience that comes with getting stuck on the side of the road. But what about keeping you cool?

Keeping yourself cool as you drive about McHenry, or from McHenry to other destinations, is a matter of comfort. But it’s also a matter of safety for those who are elderly or otherwise infirm. Your vehicle’s air conditioning takes a hot box interior and creates in its place an environment that puts the passengers at ease regardless of the temperature outside.

Whether your vehicle’s AC will actually do the job, regardless of the temperature outside, depends on the condition of that air conditioning system in the vehicle. Are all the parts in good working order? Is the AC system fully charged? These are essential questions. 

A car with air conditioning that is not fully charged may work well enough on a day when it’s 72-degrees outside. But what happens when the outside air hits 95 degrees. A system that works fine at 72 may fail to keep up at 82 degrees. At 99 degrees, that system may blow nothing but hot air out of the vents.

Fully charged, if all the components work properly, your vehicle’s AC system should keep you cool inside the car even if it’s 102 outside. To the extent that it’s not fully charged, is the extent to which you can count on your vehicle’s air conditioning to fall short – the degree to which you’ll be hot while driving your car.

The other aspect of the issue is the operation of the components of your vehicle’s air conditioning. If a part is broken, if a compressor doesn’t do its job or the belt that turns the pulley on the compressor is liable to break, you could be as hot inside the car as though your system had no charge at all.

The AC in your vehicle needs to have a dryer that dries properly. The expansion valve needs to work as designed. The coils need to be clear. The evaporator and blower need to work in unison with the rest of the system to keep that cool air flowing into the cabin of your vehicle. If the coolant lines leak, you’ll soon find yourself short of coolant.

Fortunately, air conditioning systems in vehicles are fairly reliable. Usually, all you need is to have them checked and have the system recharged. We will have hot days in McHenry this summer. Having your air conditioning checked will ensure that you can take all that summer has to offer without breaking into a sweat.