Maintaining Your Porsche’s Air Conditioning System
Regular AC maintenance ensures your AC always delivers cold air on demand. Even Porsche components will wear out due to age or damage, and this can lead to an air conditioning problem you don’t need at the height of summer.
As your Porsche Center, we’d like you to know some signs you need to visit us for Porsche AC maintenance.
Signs You Need To Visit Your Porsche Center for Porsche AC Maintenance
Refrigerant Leak
Your Porsche AC uses an advanced refrigerant gas called R-1234yf that’s safe for the environment. During the air cooling process, R-1234yf changes from gas to liquid and back to gas as it removes water from the air and cools it before it’s blown into your cabin. Over time, worn seals or damage to the AC can cause a leak, and the highly pressurized gas will escape.
As the AC system loses gas, it will blow increasingly warmer air. Our technicians will add a UV dye to the AC and follow the dye’s progress using a UV viewer. Once we find the leak site, we’ll repair it and refill the refrigerant.
Rustling Noises
The only sound you should hear from the air vents is the whooshing noise when you switch the AC to full speed. If you’re suddenly hearing rustling or rattling noises, you have an AC problem. These noises are usually caused by leaf particles or dirt carried into the AC system with the outside air. These items become trapped in the AC ducts and move around as air passes over them.
Loose particles in the AC are not just noisy, they can increase wear and tear on AC components as they pass through the system. We’ll remove the debris from the ducts and check the AC for any damage.
Cooler Air at High Speed
The compressor is the heart of the AC system, as it pumps air and refrigerant through the AC to provide the cold air you need in the cabin on a hot day. As time passes, the compressor will slow down due to age or damage, and the air won’t be as cold as it used to be. If the air blowing into the cabin is colder when you’re driving at high speed, the problem is usually a worn compressor.
The compressor is connected to a pulley. When you drive, the serpentine belt moves at speed across several pulleys, causing them to spin and power the components connected to them. As you accelerate, the pulleys spin faster, and the faster spinning AC pulley can force a worn compressor to work harder, delivering cold air in the process. We’ll test the compressor and install a new one if necessary to fix this problem.
Don’t let an AC on the fritz spoil your driving experience. Contact us today at Porsche Warwick in Warwick, RI.