If you have an upmarket car, then you may have a sophisticated climate control system within the cabin and one that is designed to make life as comfortable as possible for the rear seat occupants as much as those who get to sit the front. This can be particularly advantageous during the hot summer season and can be considered more than a simple luxury for those extra passengers. Yet as with anything else mechanical, issues can arise and if the air conditioning in the rear of your vehicle is not performing as well as it should. How can you get to the bottom of this?
A/C in Action
What should you expect from a properly working A/C system? A vehicle that is equipped with air conditioning will have a condenser, an evaporator, a fan and various additional components. The fluid will need to be processed so that it can be cooled to the right temperature before it is blown into the passenger compartment.
However, your vehicle has some additional parts that are not found on a standard car and that could be causing issues in this situation. Indeed, don't be surprised if you have a separate evaporator towards the rear of the vehicle, together with an independent expansion valve.
For the rearward system to operate correctly, it will need to be linked to the main system through a series of additional pipes and these will typically run underneath the vehicle and all the way to the rear. You may also find a separate blower motor and an independent set of controls so that the rear seat occupants can tailor the conditions to their liking.
Damage Potential
As you can imagine, there is a fair degree of complexity here and it can be difficult enough to diagnose issues with a standard air conditioning system as it is. For example, you may find that damage has been caused to the pipes underneath the car for some reason, even though they are fairly well protected. Alternatively, you may find that the evaporator has developed an issue with the internal coil, and this may be at the root of the problem.
Asking the Expert
As it's even more difficult to determine the cause of a problem with this additional configuration, it's no surprise that it may be a lot more difficult to fix. It's best, in this situation, to take the vehicle in to a mechanic who knows these multisystem solutions, so they can fix the problem and let normal service resume. For more information, contact Mercedes car repair services.
