How it works

If refrigerant doesn’t “go bad” or “get used up,” why does a car’s air conditioning system eventually stop blowing cold air and need a recharge?

Slowly over time, a vehicle loses refrigerant, usually due to a leak. The refrigerant itself is stable, but something, somewhere within the closed-loop A/C system is causing the loss of refrigerant.

Once this refrigerant is lost, you will start to notice the effects inside your cabin. The main symptom is  warm air coming out of your vents instead of the cold air you were expecting when you turned on the air conditioning.

The problem can originate from one of many components.

All of the components within an A/C system are subjected to significant pressures. This plus regular, constant cycling means the items wear over time. Metal components can fall to metal fatigue which results in cracks, and rubber components like O-rings, hoses, and gaskets can break down over time due to heat cycles and basic wear-and-tear. All of these components can also take impacts from debris or suffer some other failure.

The result is that the system ultimately loses refrigerant, causing it to be well below the level of pressure and fill needed to maintain the blowing of cold air. When the air stops blowing cold, there’s a good chance that your vehicle has a leak. A/C Pro^® provides an inexpensive, convenient, and easy-to-use DIY solution for repairing basic leaks and refilling the refrigerant system to the level and pressure required to maintain the ability to blow cold air.