7 reasons why your car heater isn’t working properly in Fairfax

When your car heater isn’t working properly in the middle of winter, it could make your daily commute cold and miserable. It also prevents your defroster from blowing warm air to your windshield to eliminate condensation, fog, and ice, which can cause some unforeseen hazards while driving. Hence, having no fully-functional heater can be a potential safety hazard, and you don’t want to end up being stranded in freezing temperatures. So, why your car heater is not working properly? Airport Auto Sales Used Car Dealership in Fairfax, Virginia provides some underlying reasons to look at to make your car heater work properly.

  1. Cooling system: Bear in mind that the cooling system in your vehicle works as a small radiator. Once your car’s engine reached the right temperature, with the aid of the thermostat, it heats the coolant and water mix. That mixture passes to the heating core using valves and hoses in your car. The fan blows the heat away from the core and then distributes it into the car’s cabin.

However, if the level of the coolant is low, the core can’t work properly. The coolant can be a potential issue here. If there are rust particles or other contaminants built in the coolant, it could be the reason why the heating core stops distributing heated air from the cabin. Airport Auto Sales Used Car Dealership in Fairfax, Virginia suggests you check if the level of the heater’s coolant is where it’s supposed to be and that the coolant itself is not contaminated. If you see a low coolant level, make sure you don’t have any leaks in the system. Coolant doesn’t evaporate on its own.

  1. Fan: The car heater may be functioning properly. Unfortunately, the fan stops working, which may be the reason why heated air does not reach the car’s cabin. Hear if the fan is running. If not, maybe that’s the problem.

Be sure to check the fuse and make sure it is not blown. If you think it is not a fuse issue, you may need to replace the fan itself, which is commonly found inside your car’s dashboard.

  1. Blower Motor Resistor: Check if the blower motor resistor is broken, you might have some issues setting the fan speed or getting air at all.
  1. HVAC Control: Maybe your car’s knobs, buttons, or haptic feedback touchscreens may not be triggering your car’s heating system. Malfunctions in your car heater may be due to shorts, broken dials, and bad touchscreens that prevent your heater from working properly.
  1. Wiring or Blown Fuses: Similar to that of the broken HVAC controls, your car’s broken wiring could be the culprit. Having a broken wring doesn’t trigger the heater when you command it to function. Airport Auto Sales Used Car Dealership in Fairfax, Virginia suggests you check for the wiring and fuses if they are faulty.
  1. Leaky radiator: A leaky radiator could potentially prevent coolant from reaching your car’s heater core and could damage your engine.
  1. Thermostat: Check your thermostat if it is faulty. It can be the reason why the car heater is not working properly. If the thermostat is not opening up to let the coolant flow through it, the core can’t produce heat in your car.

Moreover, it can be stuck open, causing the temperature of the engine to stay relatively low. If the thermostat is the problem, you may begin to encounter a bigger issue because your car is now starting to overheat. Fix it immediately before it gets worse.

Need some help?

If your car heater is not functioning properly, many problems can arise. Your car has different components that work together harmoniously to provide heat. When something goes wrong with the heating system in your car, elicit help from Airport Auto Sales Used Car Dealership in Fairfax, Virginia to figure out where the problem is.

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