Heating and Cooling
A properly maintained cooling system is so essential to prevent your engine from overheating or, even worse, seizing up.
Driving produces an enormous amount of heat – enough to cause serious damage to your engine. Don't be the motorist on the side of the road, hood up, with steam spewing out!
At Hogans Auto Service we'll inspect your cooling system to spot any potential problems before they start.
Heating & Cooling Warning Signs:
Dashboard temperature gauge rises when idling or moving slowly
Dashboard light indicates low coolant
Frequent need to add more coolant
Scent of antifreeze inside vehicle
Coloured liquid under the front of the vehicle
Steam rising from under the hood
Coolant in exhaust
Discoloured coolant
Keep your cool in the heat. Grab a cooling system inspection at Hogans Auto Service today.
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Car Engine Cooling System
Your car’s cooling system consists of four major parts, which are the radiator, water pump, thermostat and your coolant.
Radiator
Your vehicle’s radiator is a series of channels where coolant is cooled. Since hot fluids enter, and cold fluids leave a radiator, it is important you never open a hot radiator cap. Your radiator cap holds in a high level of pressure and opening it could cause serious injuries such as burns to your hands and face. Your radiator should be checked occasionally, and depending on the make of your car and the number of kilometers, we can inform you if a radiator flush is necessary. Furthermore, hoses leading in and out of the radiator get brittle with time and these should be replaced or monitored for leaks.
Water Pump
The water pump moves the coolant from the radiator and through the engine, where the coolant is returned back to the radiator. Early signs of a water pump failure are spots of coolant in your parking spot, or a strong coolant odor when you drive.
Thermostat
The thermostat decides when coolant should be run through your engine. When you first warm up your car on a cold January morning, coolant obviously does not need to run through your engine as your car is not running at its ideal temperature. A faulty thermostat may cause your engine to meltdown if it decides to not send coolant to your engine, which is why we suggest checking it on occasion.
Coolant
Your car’s coolant is a mix of water and ethylene glycol. Ethylene Glycol is what makes your coolant an antifreeze as it stops the water in your car from freezing in cold temperatures. Ethylene Glycol also lubricates the moving parts it may come in contact with, such as the water pump. Coolant gets extremely hot in your car’s engine, and as such, coolant typically has a high boiling point, such as 135 degrees Celsius.
Car air conditioning troubleshooting
In the hot and humid summers of Canada, a car’s air conditioning is essential. Nobody wants sweat stains on their work clothes, as well, driving without an air conditioner can bring on nausea and migraines. If you are planning a long drive, such as a family vacation, you’ll want to come into Hogans Auto Repair Services to ensure you can travel in comfort and style.
Several warning signs your car’s air conditioner may be faulty are that your air conditioning is blowing hot air, or the smell of antifreeze coming from your car’s vents. In order to fix these problems, Hogans Auto Repair Services will examine your compressor, condenser and evaporator which are three components of your air conditioner that work in unison to circulate your vehicle’s refrigerant.
Air Conditioning Compressor
The compressor is the heart of your vehicle’s air conditioning system. What the compressor does is pressurize your car’s refrigerant so it will cool the air.
AC Condenser
Your vehicle’s AC condenser operates like a tiny radiator. It takes hot air, and cools it so it becomes a liquid.
Your Car’s Evaporator
Your car’s evaporator takes the cold air that passes through the condenser and vaporizes it by way of absorbed heat. Here it loops back to the start of the cycle where it is cooled once again in the condenser.
Air Conditioning Repair Shop
Let us check your air conditioning system for you.