How to prevent potential failure of vehicle air conditioner? What are major AC compressor operation failures? What kind of professional equipment auto workshop specialists use to diagnose vehicle air conditioner failure?  

Answers to frequently asked questions concerning vehicle AC failures are provided below.

AC compressor major failures 

Compressor is a key piece of any climatic system. Symptoms of a damage are: unwanted sounds, oil leaks and, naturally, a failure of air cooling in a car. Unpressurised case of AC compressor results in letting moisture and dirt filter into the system and causes a refrigerant leak. Wear-out or damage of AC compressor drive belt considered as well to be one of the most common faults.

Damage of AC compressor pipelines is another typical problem. Fragility, corrosion, non-professional repair, use of low-quality accessories can lead to pipelines damage. A faulty compressor ingests dirt which often results in a condenser failure. Dirt plugs up cells causing AC compressor performance degradation. 

Electronic system failure can also be added to the list of problems caused by contamination. Loss of contact leads to the high pressure sensor failure and, as the result of it, air conditioner goes off.  

Pressurization leakage happens when gaskets are damaged. Sealing elements should be elastic to keep operating pressure up. Splitting and deformation of sealing elements leads to refrigerant leak.

Diagnostics and prohibition of failures

Measures to prevent vehicle air conditioner potential failures:

• Check AC compressor connection when buying a used car
• Auxiliary gauze wire can be fixed on the face bar to protect AC radiator from dirt.
• AC is to be switched on for 10-15 minutes no less than once a week even if it is seldom used in the car. Important: don’t switch AC on if ambient air temperature is less than 5˚C.  
• It is better to switch AC off several minutes before the driving is over.
• Preventive car maintenance prohibiting equipment failure is the best way to service a car

AC system maintenance and repair is to be entrusted only to certified service centers and auto workshops.

Service centers and auto workshops providing professional quality maintenance and repair of vehicle AC use special tools by MSG Equipment. For example, test bench MS111 is required to test technical condition and performance in air conditioners and climate systems compressors on R134A refrigerant.  Flushing stand MS101P is used for cleansing pipelines of air conditioning systems from contamination. MSG Equipment offers a multifunctional MS121 tester for testing electromagnetic clutches and control valves of vehicle air conditioners.