How to Make Air Conditioner Colder in Car (13 Best Ways)

Why is my car AC not cold enough and how to make air conditioner colder in car are two of the most common questions that every car owner asks, specifically during the summer season. And if you are one of those people who like going on a road trip with your family or friends in the summer, there’s a high chance you might have faced a situation where your air conditioner is running but not cooling enough. Isn’t it?

The summer season is when you’re betting on your vehicle AC to keep you cool and comfortable as you weave your direction through traffic under the unforgiving and harsh sunlight.

At the point when your AC is working admirably, you anticipate taking a ride in the vehicle. But when it begins to malfunction, or your car air conditioner is not blowing cold air, it could be a horrendous experience in the sunlight because the temperature of a hot air conditioner can immediately hit 140 degrees or even more.

Thus, at that time, the first thought always came to mind: Why is my car air conditioner blowing hot air instead of cold air, and how to make air conditioner colder in car?

how to make air conditioner colder in car
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When you turn on the car AC, the first sign that lets you know something is off-base; however, all you feel is warm air smothering the air vents. What could be worse than experiencing this problem at such a time?

There are a few offenders that could be answerable for your AC issues. And today, this guide will clarify some of the crucial questions; Why car AC not blowing cold air sometimes and how to fix it so you can investigate the unit without anyone else and get it going or think about the issue before taking it in.

7 Reasons Why Your Car AC Not Blowing Cold Air

It’s not at all fun being stuck in your car without air conditioning on a hot summer day, particularly in a vehicle where temperatures can rapidly reach 150 degrees.

In any case, A/C is far more than just a sign of luxury and comfortability; it’s a security issue as well. One of the riskiest spots for somebody to be during a hotness wave is within their vehicle without A/C since temperatures can spike to hazardous levels pretty quick.

So in such a case, if your car’s air conditioner is blowing hot air, here are some common reasons you must check immediately to sort the issue out:

Refrigerant Leak

Why is your car’s air conditioner not blowing cold air? Blowing hot air is frequently the aftereffect of a leakage in the refrigerant gas. Refrigerant is a fluid that flows through your air conditioner’s A/C framework, extending and contracting as it eliminates hot air and dampness from the lodge.

None of the other air conditioner’s parts will work effectively without appropriate refrigerant levels. However, any leak due to an old hose is just like a rusted or penetrated evaporator.

Be that as it may, don’t hope to recognize a refrigerant hole effortlessly. You presumably will not see a puddle of fluid in or under your air conditioner. That is because dissimilar to the engine oil and other indispensable air conditioner liquids, radiator fluid vanishes when presented to the environment. Once in a while, you’ll luck out and notice a greasy buildup at the specific area of the hole.

It is crucial to detect a refrigerant leak, and you can do so by visiting any car garage of mechanic professionals to infuse dye into the system to detect it. When they recognize the wellspring of the hole, they fix and re-energize your car’s air conditioner so it can blow new, chilly air.

Clogged or Broken Condenser

The condenser is the piece of the AC unit that is answerable for transmitting or dispersing the heat from the air and the fluid refrigerant coming from the compressor.

It permits the liquid refrigerant to chill off a little to get back to its original state again and flows back through the unit. However, when this process fails, that is the point where your car’s air conditioner start blowing hot air.

Or, if some flotsam hinders your cooling condenser and jetsam driving out and about, it will not have the option to cool the refrigerant appropriately, and your Car will keep on working with overheated coolant. It will prompt the A/C unit to blow hot air.

When the ventilation openings on the condenser are hindered by the gathering of dirt or road debris, air will not stream uninhibitedly over the copper coil, in this manner driving the part to hold a portion of the warmth, and the outcome is powerless cooling or hot air.

On the off chance that the condenser doesn’t look impeded or obstructed on the investigation, you must check the condition of copper pipes. Assuming there’s any hole on the line that seems compacted, it very well may be obstructing the free-progression of refrigerant through the unit. This may result from a street shot crashing into the line or a mishap that caused a knock on your bumper or guard.

Broken or Faulty Cooling Fans

A common question always arises in everyone’s mind; how to make AC colder in car?. Therefore, your car’s air condition condenser accompanies a couple of cooling fans that assist in disseminating heat from the refrigerant.

Consequently, if your cooling fans are broken, they cannot eliminate heat adequately from the refrigerant. While the air you get from a messed-up fan won’t be just about as hot as a faulty condenser, it is sufficient to make you sweat inside the car.

Additionally, your cooling fan’s sharp edges are not intended to be solid, and they can break whenever hit with garbage driving not too far off. If the cooling is broken, the replacement is the only option that could work well.

Clogged or Dirty Cabin Air Filter

Not every car’s cabin needs to be furnished with an air conditioner. However, the main aim of the air filters is to stop the dust particles or any other dirt from entering the cabin via air. Those that do have them need a perfect, unhampered surface to permit air to travel through openly.

Lodge air filters can catch dust, bugs, leaves, and other different kinds of flotsam and jetsam. And here you must have noticed that the car AC is suddenly blowing hot air. A messy air channel can surely hinder your climate control system’s capacity to cool and, after time, could cause pointless strain on the whole framework.

Bad or Broken Compressor

The compressor is the core of the air conditioning system, and its responsibility is to keep the refrigerant traveling through the unit consistently. On the off chance that this part isn’t working accurately, the radiator fluid will not have the option to arrive at the condenser for cooling.

Compressor issues usually come occasionally when ac is not being used, for example, long winters when A/C isn’t required. Be that as it may, to keep this from occurring, numerous more up-to-date vehicles keep the condenser dynamic all year by enacting it under the thaw-out setting.

So, it is also recommended to keep running AC on the max throttle for 10-15 minutes each half a month, independent of the external temperature.

Car’s Electrical System Problems

If all the parts of an air conditioning unit are working fine, your car might be blowing hot air due to an electrical issue. A broken wire or a blown breaker can forestall a generally solid A/C from working. Diagnosing and amending an electrical issue starts with carrying out a total visual review of your car’s wire box and wiring.

While this arrangement and defensive provisions assist with keeping perilous fires from filling in the electrical framework, it likewise implies that something as straightforward as possible reasons your car AC to quit working.

You’ll have to investigate every one of the wires entering and leaving the AC to check whether any wires are broken or frayed. Likewise, you ought to follow them right to the circuit box to check whether there’s a messed-up intertwine.

Assuming notifying any wire that looks broken or melted, you’ll need to supplant them and potentially change a circuit. It is recommended to use the appropriate test instruments and the vital experience to analyze such issues.

Bad AC Compressor Clutch

There is a good possibility that the AC compressor clutch will remain stable for a long time to come without wearing out on you when you initially get your car. However, on the off chance that it at any point gives out on you and flop totally, it won’t be tough for you to tell.

It would help if you spotted no less than a couple of signs showing inconvenience in a little while. And this could be another reason your car air conditioner is not blowing cold air.

Commonly, the check engine light in your car will fly on when you begin to see these issues with your AC compressor clutch. Moreover, your car’s AC button may begin blazing when you attempt to turn your cooling framework on when you have an awful AC compressor clutch.

There is even a possibility that your car’s compressor may turn on and not turn off at all when your air conditioning compressor clutch is acting up.

Investigate a couple of different things, like checking if the pulley connected to your air conditioning compressor might freeze and make a screeching sound when you turn your AC framework on. Or it could be possible your AC compressor clutch might battle to connect with your AC systems compressor when your car AC is on.

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How to Make Air Conditioner Colder in Car (13 Best Ways)

In such cases when the air conditioner takes long time to cool car or car air conditioner is running but not cooling enough, a thought always comes to everyone’s mind; how to make AC colder in car?

And if you are also one of those car owners who are searching for the most effective and best ways to make the car air conditioner feel colder and use it effectively to get the most out of it then here you will find some of the very helpful and practical ways that could level up the performance of your Car’s air conditioner.

So without further ado, let’s learn how to make your air conditioner colder in car or truck. Here we go:

Turn On the AC After a Few Minutes of Driving the Car

Did you ever notice that turning on the car engine and air conditioner simultaneously produces excess vibration and the situation of car ac not blowing cold air?

Your car’s air conditioner and the car engine are distinctive car parts, yet they work in a cozy connection with one another since they are linked with a belt that assists the engine in providing enough power to the compressor of AC.

The compressor of AC is the part that devours the most energy consumption in the air conditioning system. Hence, turning on the air conditioner following the engine adds a specific measure of overload, and this causes the car to vibrate somewhat more complicated.

This is the reason why it is advised to turn the air conditioner after a few minutes of driving the car. Whereas turning on the air conditioner and the car instantly puts more pressure on the engine yet won’t harm.

But, if you do so, you may experience some vibrations in the cabin, and it also affects the mileage of the car somewhere. And reduce the AC performance and your car air conditioner blowing hot air for some time.

Don’t Switch to Max A/C Right Away

It could be tempting to turn on the A/C and set it to “max cool” right away when you get in the vehicle. However, you don’t know that impacts the car AC right out of the door, and it isn’t the ideal approach to make it cool.

When your car air conditioner is set to max, the vehicle takes air from inside the car, cooling it, and blowing it back into the lodge. The issue with this process is that you initially get in the car, the air inside is scorching than the air outside, and you’re compelling your A/C to work more enthusiastically.

Start by pulling air from outside the vehicle to cause things to feel cooler quickly. So, the best approach is not to switch to max A/C right away. Turn the fan to its most extreme speed and ensure the wind stream is set to “outside” mode.

Then, at that point, whenever you’ve constrained out a portion of the moist, hot air that is collected in the vehicle, turn on the A/C and change to “recycle” wind stream mode. Presently you can set the A/C to “max cool.”

Use the Car’s Air Recirculation Mode

Do you ever think about improving your car’s AC performance or learning how to make car AC colder? Well, reticular is the best method to increase AC proficiency. Your vehicle has a recirculation mode which could prove to be effective when used.

Recirculation is most likely the ideal approach to boost the A/C. The advantage of recirculation is that the A/C system pulls air just from inside the car’s cabin. So, in case it’s simmering outside yet you have the cabin down to a pleasant and cool temperature, the A/C has to make cooler air inside the car.

Moreover, it will save you fuel as well. Once the inside arrives at the set temperature, the A/C compressor will wind down, decline the engine’s load and improve the car’s ac performance.

Turn Off Start-Stop System

On the off chance that you have a brand-new car that has an auto-start or stop system, make sure to turn it off. This element saves fuel, yet it can keep the car cooling blower from running when it stops the motor for some vehicles.

In a hot climate, you can start to rapidly see the absence of cool air, mainly if you’re stuck at an extended stoplight or in an unpredictable rush hour that is scarcely moving.

Change the Cabin Air Filter

Why is my car air conditioner blowing hot air instead of cold air, and how to fix it? Your answer to this question might be lie in the cabin filters issues. The primary function of your car’s cabin air filter is to stop soil, dust, and other natural toxins from saturating your vehicle through the A/C.

From one viewpoint, a cabin air filter collecting dirt and different particles means it’s taking care of its work. Yet, these filters need replacement after a certain period. Thus, a dirty air filter weakens the wind current from the air conditioner, which implies no help for you while traveling or stuck in traffic jams, especially this summer.

Just make sure to assess your cabin air filter and replace it with a new one if it is stopped up, and it will increase car’s ac performance to the manifold. In case you’re not happy supplanting the channel all alone, don’t sweat it! Carry the car to your closest technician’s area and let the profoundly prepared professionals do it for you.

Recharge Your Car’s AC System

Is your car AC not cold enough, and do you wish to know how to make air conditioner colder in car? Recharging it will just get you up until now. Here’s the way by which to make car A/C colder quickly: reboot your refrigerant.

All things considered but low Freon or refrigerant levels will quite often prompt car A/C that doesn’t feel adequately cold. You can look at your refrigerant level at home on the off chance that you approach A/C check and thermometer, two instruments accessible at most automobile parts stores.

After that, if you find low refrigerant levels in your car air conditioning system, you can recharge it by filling more refrigerant while ensuring the tremendous pressure of the refrigerant system. You can quickly get the freon for your air conditioner from any professional technician nearby.

Keep the Car’s AC Condenser Clean

If your car AC not blowing cold air, it could be due to the dirty condition of the condenser. An air conditioner condenser is commonly found squarely toward the front of the car, simply behind the car’s front grill.

It is a part answerable for re-cooling the AC’s refrigerant by ousting the overabundance heat into the passing wind stream. Be that as it may, soil and garbage can stack up and stop up the way of the wind stream, prompting much-diminished cooling proficiency.

So, make sure to have it occasionally cleaned and serviced so it can work ideally. It could increase the cooling capacity of your car’s AC.

Don’t Turn on the AC When the Car Engine is Off

It might very well be more agreeable to cool your car even before you start to drive it, yet running the A/C when the car’s not moving is exceptionally wasteful of time and fuel both.

And usually, you have seen that car AC is blowing hot air in the car. The reason is that the air conditioner will only start cooling ideally when there’s wind flow, similar to when you’re driving on the road. So, it is wise to wait until you are cruising before you turn your air conditioner on.

In an electric and hybrid, pre-cooling decreases the battery life, so either keep away from the training or stay connected to the charger when you do it.

Use Sunshade for Car Windows

Usually, in the summer, most of us think about how to make air conditioner colder in car or pickup truck?

And if you are also one of those car users who are struggling with the car air conditioner not cooling enough situation, in that case, you should know that using sunshades on car windows is an acknowledged method to improve car’s ac performance and lower your fuel and power consumption.

That is because using car window shades prevents excessive heat from coming inside the cabin, so when you turn on AC, it doesn’t need to function much more challenging to cool than hot air. Although, it is always ideal to use sunshade for car windows, especially when parking a car directly under the sunlight.

Use the AC Vents Wisely

There are different AC air vents in a car. However, the question is, do you need all of them when you are driving alone? It could be a wise step to simply utilizing the driver-side and center AC vents.

Ordinarily, there is a control wheel on each air vent that permits you to position and point the wind current. This control wheel or slider will likewise enable you to close the vent.

Turning off the passenger side and back AC vents will significantly build the wind current in the driver’s region. Additionally, assuming you have dual-zone environment controls in your car’s ac, likewise can be acclimated to enhance the cooling.

Park Your Car in the Shade (Whenever Possible)

When you park a car directly under sunlight, you might have noticed that your car’s air conditioner is blowing hot air even after the engine is on. Hence, parking under shade could be an advantage for your air conditioning system by preventing excessive heat in your car.

Usually, people leave cars in direct sunlight that could impact the inner temperature to reach up to 131-172°F when outside temperatures are 80-100°F. So, it is highly recommended to keep the car’s security and safety and not leave your windows aired out or half–park in a shadow region.

If parking in the shade isn’t a choice, perform a wise step by setting up a sunshade to keep direct daylight from transforming your car into an oven. Although, car windshield sun shade and side window sun shades can likewise assist with shielding your car’s inside from harming UV beams that cause dashboard staining and breaking.

Turn Off the AC Before Turning Off the Car

The fundamental part of an AC system is the compressor, and it is the compressor that interfaces the AC to the motor through a tape wire. The association goes live just when the engine turns on; that is why an AC possibly works when the engine is running.

In such a case, people usually believe that the machine would take on the additional heap if the AC is in the “ON” stage when the car is in the start mode. This conviction depends on the way that AC utilizes a lot of power and fuel when working.

Incredibly, it doesn’t make any difference whether you turn off the AC before turning down the car. Although, deciding to turn down AC before turning off the engine is eventually your decision. But you can also use this method to improve Car’s ac performance.

Get Your Car’s Air Conditioner Serviced Regularly

Your car air conditioner got a ton of utilization throughout the summer season; however, presently, you will be turning on the warming unit as the climate turns cooler. And you have noticed after a long run your car ac not cold enough next summer.

To ensure your vehicle is prepared to keep you warm during winter, right now is an ideal opportunity to plan a service of your car’s air conditioner by an affirmed auto AC trained professional.

Your car’s AC is continually faced with the hot weather and faces a lot of soil, engine dirt, street debris, vibrations, and quick stops. All these elements stress that the air conditioning unit can make little breaks structure or associations with work free, permitting refrigerant to spill out.

So. you wonder precisely how regularly your car air conditioner requires service? It is recommended to plan an AC service once a year.

Some auto professionals might suggest servicing your ac twice per year in the fall after summer’s blistering temperatures and before winter shows up. Afterwards, in the spring before summer’s heat starts, more than once per year, whichever you pick. On-time car’s ac service could also increase gas mileage, a comfortable ride as well.

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How to Make Car AC Colder [FAQs]:

After going through these best methods to make car air conditioner colder, you already know how to make air conditioner colder in car or truck and what you need to do to make your car AC cooler pass through the hot and humid summer.

But it’s not rare that eventually, we are still left with some questions that we need to get answered. Check out these most frequently asked questions and answers on how to make your car AC colder to clear all your doubts. Here we go:

What Temperature Should My Car AC Blow?


People often think about; what is the ideal temperature for car AC and what temperature should your car air conditioner blow?

There is no exact way to measure the temperature your car AC blows commonly. However, you can measure the outlet temperature with a thermometer, ignite, run the engine on average speed, and turn the AC with recirculation mode.

It could give you an overall measurement of the temperature of ac. Usually, for an average car size with a t5 to 40 degrees, temperature
.

What is the Best AC Refrigerant for Cars?


The market is filled with numerous brands and categories in the best AC refrigerant for cars. It usually makes it challenging to choose the best one for your car air conditioner.

So, what is the best additive to make car AC colder? Should we either buy the cheapest one or the most expensive one?

AC Pro Car Air Conditioner Synthetic R134A Refrigerant (an AC recharge kit with hose and gauge) is one of the best car AC recharge kit choices. It comes with the best r134a gas special for a
vehicle’s AC and has a 24-inch-long recharge hose for assistance.

Can I Recharge My Car AC Myself?


You might have wondered, “Is it safe to recharge car AC yourself?” And the answer is yes; there are various methods to recharge your car air conditioning yourself.

Many new cars come with inflatable tubes under the hood or on top of the vehicle to help cool off the car’s engine while it’s running. But they often don’t work as well as they should, and it can be challenging to replace them if you want to know how to recharge your car’s AC.


Fortunately, there is a way to recharge your own car AC without having these tubes installed. You just need a couple of tools and some knowledge on how they work.

How to Make AC Colder in Car – Author’s View

In a nutshell, the information mentioned above in detail must get you the overall idea about making the air conditioner colder in car and the vital steps you should follow to improve car air conditioning system. It is evident that you can use all the mentioned precautions and measures to improve your car’s ac performance.

However, there are a few points that you must follow to improve the car’s AC performance to the manifold; always use sunshade for car windows and park your car in the shade. Moreover, check cabin air filters frequently and always service your car’s AC on time. These simple and effective tips will help you get the maximum output from your car air conditioner and save your fuel and money.

We hope you found this comprehensive article “how to make air conditioner colder in car or pickup truck?” useful for you in order to solve the infuriating problem of your car AC not being cold enough.

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About Amy Cuban

I am an automotive enthusiast who loves to be around cars. I enjoy working on cars in my spare time and love anything related to automobiles. I like using different types of car accessories, car gadgets, and innovative car care products.

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