Quick tips to keep the summer heat away!

Summers have arrived and in the tropical Indian climate, summers could steel away the joy of motoring. If certain points are taken care of, your summer driving could be a breeze! In the 90's, air conditioning in automobiles was considered as a luxury feature but nowadays air conditioning comes as standard in almost all the cars except few (like the base variants of Alto 800, Datsun Go and Tata Nano).
 
Here are few points you should check to keep you and your car cool this summer!
 
1) Maintain your air conditioning system annually, most of the manufacturer offers free summer AC service camp. One should avail these camps as they offer discounts on parts and labour. Topping up the refrigerant gas, unclogging and cleaning the ducts will help immensely in the ACs performance.
 
2) The AC cabin filter should be changed regularly as scheduled by the manufacturer. The HVAC (Heating-Ventilation-Air-Conditioning) apart from the recirculation of cabin air the system sucks around 5-10% fresh air; so the coagulated cabin filter will hamper the performance of your AC.

3) The coolant radiator and the AC radiator should be jet-splashed regularly to clear the dust particles. This will assist more air to pass through it and ultimately raise the performance of the AC. The clogged-up AC radiator can degrade the efficiency of the entire system.
 
4) The compressor belt and respective bearing should be changed at regular intervals as prescribed by the manufacturer for smooth running.
 
5) Park the car in shade as far as possible; parked in a direct sunlight the in-cabin temperature could reach in excess of 60 degrees (on a hot sunny day). The air conditioning system then struggles to keep the car cool.
 
6) If your car is parked in direct sunlight for a while, open all the windows for at-least 30 seconds let it cool itself with the surrounding air. While your doing it, keep your blower on so that the hot air can escape the car.