The heat is rising and your car isn't working right?

I see this every year around this time and when it gets a bit hotter than usual, cars tend to suffer. When it gets cold out, the same things tend to happen.
An easy way to ensure that things don't go sour for your ride all year 'round is to,
1) Change fluids, like the green coolant your car may come with; If you haven't been religious in replacing your green coolant every 2 years, you can actually do more harm than good. just because it's up to level doesn't mean that the coolant is doing what it was meant to do. Green coolant degrades beyond 2 years and becomes acidic/caustic, which causes it to eat away at the aluminum, gaskets and hoses over time. If you have long life stuff, every 4 years is good. Don't be fooled into going to the claimed 100k miles advertised on the bottles. Man made things are not made to last. Before I forget, That $5.00 to $15.00 thermostat should be changed every 2 years as well, working or not. All it takes is for one to stay stuck open or closed for it to complicate things. Dealer units are what I recommend if you plan on changing your t-stat.
2) Power steering fluid, believe it or not, degrades as well. Flushing it once every 2 years is a good rule of thumb.
3) Brake fluid also needs to be changed every 2 years as it is hygroscopic in nature. That means that it absorbs moisture right out of the air. Even though the brake system in your vehicle is supposed to be a closed system and seal out the air, it is not a perfect seal by any means. The fluid is very good at absorbing from where ever it will be able to. Heat makes things expand and contract when they cool. Use your technical know how to invision how that may happen.
4) Transmission fluid also suffers a bit when it gets hot and if you haven't been  doing a flush service every 2 years or 30k miles, maybe it's time. B&G has a good machine that transfuses new fluid into the transmission while extracting the old stuff out. Some may argue that the B&G chemicals don't work as well as one might think. That's debateable, but the machines work really well in replacing the old stuff with the new.
5) A.C. function is that last thing on this small list of things as I see small problems with functionality at this time of year due to all the other stuff not being kept to specification. Low coolant will cause a small over heat condition when using the A.C. Just keep all your fluid levels maintained and you won't have small issues like over heating biting you in the toosh.
Any way, to get back to your A.C., just remember that refridgerant doesn't keep like you might think. It will discharge over time even if you don't have a visible leak. The system isn't 100% sealed and pressure will drop over a 2 to 3 year period. Seals, pressure fittings and the compressor eventually degrade and cause very small and unnoticeable leaks over time. Unless there is a real problem with electrical or a physcal problem with the condensor or the seals, I would just have some one look it over, perform a vacuum leak test and recharge the system with new refridgerant. A real noticeable problem is when the A.C. stops working from one day to the next. If you have an issue where the cool air gradually seems to not feel cool enough, the system was most likely low on charge and a recharge is in order. 9 times out of ten that is usually the problem.
Well, I hope I've enlightened you a bit on some important stuff for your driving enjoyment. I only write this stuff for those that would other wise not ever know it unless some one like me shared it with them. It's for the love of the trade, people. That's all.
 
How you drive is your buisness. Remember that you're not the only one on the road!
Educate, don't hate.

Sick.

I would take his advice he knows his Sh1t.  
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*wirling noise* PSSHH.