Replacing your vehicle’s cabin air filter regularly ensures you and your passengers are breathing clean air inside the car AND ensures your air conditioning works properly all summer long. Want to ensure your vehicle’s air conditioning blasts cold air all summer long? Here’s a simple and affordable maintenance tip: Replace the cabin air filter regularly. Under the hood, the engine air filter keeps dirt and debris from getting into your engine. It ensures the engine is “breathing” clean air. Similarly, the cabin air filter cleans the air being circulated in the passenger compartment. This is the air you’re breathing. It also plays an important role in your vehicle’s air conditioning (A/C) system. The air passing through the filter must also flow over the A/C evaporator, which operates at freezing temperatures, to prevent ice build u ... read more

Imagine you have someplace to be and it’s a hot, steamy summer day. You don’t want to arrive a sweaty, wind-blown mess, so you turn on one of the marvels of modern automotive design: the air conditioner. It’s estimated that more than 99 percent of all new cars in the United States have A/C. So how does your car or truck produce that wonderful cool air at the push of a button? First of all, air conditioning works on two principles: 1. Heat goes to cold (a cold substance attracts and absorbs heat); and 2. Vapors get hot when compressed and get cold when expanded. In the air conditioning world, pressure and temperature are virtually the same thing–30 PSI (pounds per square inch) is roughly equal to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Now you’re ready for a step-by-step explanation of how it all comes together! Step 1: The compressor is the power unit of the A/C system. It is powered by a drive belt connected to the engine’s crankshaft. When the A/C sys ... read more