How often does the AC system need to be recharged?

The air conditioning system in your car is very similar to the central heating and ventilation system in your home, and even more like the system that keeps your refrigerator cool. Requires refrigerant to operate – when refrigerant…

The air conditioning system in your car is very similar to the central heating and ventilation system in your home, and even more like the system that keeps your refrigerator cool. It requires refrigerant to operate - when the refrigerant becomes low, the system will not cool properly and may not work at all.

How often does the AC system need to be recharged?

First, understand that your system may never need to be recharged. While some loss of refrigerant is possible, even normal for some systems, this is a minor amount and should not affect system performance. That being said, most of us aren't so lucky, and you'll find your system starts to work less and less as the years go by.

Returning to the question of how often the AC system needs to be recharged, the answer is: "it depends". There is no service or maintenance schedule here - you don't have to recharge your air conditioning system every year or even every two years. The best indicator that you need to top up the coolant is when the system starts to cool less than before, but before it stops cooling completely.

When your system isn't blowing as cold as it used to, you need to have it checked. The mechanic will check the system for refrigerant leaks and then perform a "pump and fill" service (if no leaks are found - if they find a leak, the damaged components will need to be replaced). The service "evacuation and refueling" is to connect your car's air conditioning system to a special machine that sucks all the old refrigerant and oil from the system, and then fills it up to the desired level. After the service is completed, the mechanic will check the operation of the system and make sure that the air conditioner is cooling to the original specifications of the automaker (by measuring the temperature of the air produced in the instrument panel vents).