SERVICES - AC Repairs and Replacements

Our mechanics will inspect, evacuate and re-charge your car's air conditioner system with R134 Freon. They will also add leak detection dye, and perform pressure and temperature tests to ensure proper operation.

Your auto or truck's AC system works on the same basic principle as your home refrigerator; remove heat and humidity from inside an enclosed cabin and replace it with cold air.

Your ac unit consists of the following components:

• A Compressor, which compresses and circulates refrigerant in the system.
• Refrigerant, (on newer cars, usually a substance named R-134, and on older cars R-12 Freon) that carries heat. R-12 Freon is becoming increasingly more expensive and difficult to find (it requires a license to handle).
• A Condenser that changes the phase of the refrigerant and removes heat and expels it from the car.
• An Expansion Valve (sometimes called an orifice tube), a nozzle that simultaneously drops the pressure of the refrigerant liquid, meters its flow, and atomizes it.
• An Evaporator to transfer heat to the refrigerant from the air blown across it, cooling the car.
• A Receiver/Dryer, that acts as a filter for the refrigerant/oil, removing moisture and contaminants.

How the air conditioning process works:

Initially the compressor puts the refrigerant under pressure and sends it to the condensing coils (generally located in front of the engine bay). Compression heats the gas. The condenser combines that added heat with the heat the refrigerant picked up in the evaporator and pushes it out to the air passing over it from outside your vehicle. When the refrigerant cools down to its "saturation" point, it will revert from a gas back into a liquid (this gives off a blast of heat known as the "latent heat of vaporization"). The liquid refrigerant then goes through the expansion valve to the evaporator coils inside of the car, where it loses the pressure that it gained in the compressor. Some of the liquid will change to a low-pressure gas that cools the remaining refrigerant. This two-phase mix enters the evaporator, and the liquid part of the refrigerant will absorb the heat from the air moving across the coil and then evaporate. Finally, a fan pushes air across the cold evaporator to cool your car's interior.

Auto air conditioning repair in Rancho Cordova: If your AC needs repair, that is, if the air isn't really cold or doesn't blow at all, call us today at 916.266.4644 and schedule an inspection.