A7 Heating and Air Conditioning Practice Tests

A7 Heating and Air Conditioning – What the Test Covers

The A7 test is 50 scored questions in 75 minutes. Only three content areas, but they are large ones, and the balance surprises people: the controls and operating systems area is nearly as big as HVAC service itself. A lot of what fails on a modern A/C system is electrical, not refrigeration.

Content areas and their weighting below come straight from the 2026 Official ASE Study Guide task list. Every question on this site was written against one of these tasks, and the four tests in this subject are weighted to match.

Content Areas on the A1 Test:

• Heating, Ventilation, A/C (HVAC), and Engine Cooling System Service, Diagnosis, and Repair42% OF TEST
  21 questions. Identifying system type and performance testing, diagnosing by system pressures and temperature readings including contact and thermal imaging, diagnosing by sight, sound, smell and touch, leak testing with dye or electronic equipment, identifying refrigerant type and existing charge amount and recovering it, evacuation, checking for contamination and flushing, charging with the correct refrigerant, identifying lubricant type and capacity, cabin air filters, disarming and enabling the airbag system during service, reading DTCs and scan data, interpreting service literature and wiring schematics, using a scan tool, DMM or oscilloscope on HVAC sensors, actuators, circuits and modules, verifying certified equipment operation, and recycling or disposing of refrigerant properly.
• Refrigeration System Component Diagnosis and Repair20% OF TEST
  10 questions. Diagnosing faults that trip pressure, thermal and electronic protection devices, testing and replacing those devices, compressor drive belts, pulleys and tensioners, identifying clutch and clutchless compressor drive types, compressor lubricant type and level, compressor service and mounting, displacement control components, mufflers, hoses, lines, filters and fittings, condenser airflow and condenser service, receiver/driers and accumulators, and mechanical and electronic expansion valves and orifice tubes.
• Operating Systems and Related Controls Diagnosis and Repair38% OF TEST
  19 questions — nearly as large as the service area, and the one that catches people out. Diagnosing electrical control system failures, blower motors, speed controls and resistors, compressor clutch coils, relays and modules, A/C-related vehicle control systems, load-sensitive compressor control, engine cooling and condenser fan motors, relays and modules, climate control electric actuators, user controls and interfaces, and vacuum and mechanical systems including diaphragms, hoses, control cables and linkages.