Now that the weather's gotten a tad cooler here in the deep south, I've taken to turning my air conditioning off and motoring with the windows down. In my old cars, this never happened, but I just can't get enough of that supercharger without the pull of the AC. However, I've noticed something a little strange...
When the AC is off, the vents blow hot air through, that I would assume is air blowing off the engine. Even with the windows down, it gets rather warm inside the cockpit. I tried closing all the vents, but the hot air still forced it's way through. I don't recall my old cars ever doing this type of thing, but then again I've never owned a car this small before. It may just be my imagination, but I think it's getting worse too. As in, the air is getting hotter, sooner. But I can't be certain, because I worry way too much about this stuff!

Is this normal? Or am I just being silly? We have the (34,000 mile) service appointment next tuesday, so I can ask them about it then. I figured I'd get everyone else's thoughts beforehand though. Thanks in advance!

 

If you have auto a/c you need to have the temperature set below the outside temp, otherwise it will heat the air coming into the passenger compartment.

 

Dave's right. Mine does it, and it gets hot pretty quick. Can be kinda nice when the weather's a bit chilly though.

 

It does have the auto AC, but this is when it's all turned off. So I should still have the temp set for lower than the outside temp... even when the system is off?

 

I don't think so. I have auto AC, and haven't had this issue when motoring with it off.

 

The auto a/c on my '02 MCS still required that the temp on the Auto A/C be set lower than the outside temp (Even when the auto a/c was "off") in order for it not to heat the air coming into the passenger compartment.

One of the reasons I'm very happy with the manual A/C

 

I'll check tomorrow. I'm not sure what temp I'm set at with the auto AC. I'll set it on high heat and turn it off and see what happens. You're probably right, but maybe they fixed it for the '06? I'll keep ya'll posted.

 

Hey, do you live in the area?

 

Yeah, in Santa Monica (South of Montana )

 

I'm out there a lot for work. Maybe I've seen you. I'll honk next time.

 

that's the way my autoAC is.....ieven f it is off so the display is black, the air that blows out through the vents will be at the temp the display last showed.....so if you had the heat on in the car at night set to 82 degrees and then shut it off, the next afternoon as the outside temp goes to say 75 degrees, the vents will be putting out 82 degrees...this just happened over the weekend and the wife yelled: do you have the heat on!!?.......so try clicking your display dial to lower the temp display and then press the 'off' and see if it stil puts out warm air through the vents

 

Here's the deal. These cars don't have the heater valve that our older cars used to have. the heater core is "on" all the time. When you turn on the A/C, the heater doors close off so no air is passing through the heater core. If you want cool air vents you need to set your A/C to coldest setting BEFORE you turn the car off. When you start the car next, the heater doors are still in the closed position and you should have outside temp air coming into the car. This works on my 02 Cooper S MOST of the time. I have no idea why it doesn't work all of the time.

Minzila

 

I distinctly remember my 03 MCS doing this, it actually turned me off (no pun intended) to the auto ac. When the time came to pick up an 06 I had the choice of two different cars one without auto ac, just a few a la carte options, or a sport, premium, cold equipped car. I went for the later because of the xenons and fogs. I really wanted the regular manual ac.

LUCKILY, the auto ac in the 06 does not have the heating effect when the system is turned off. Either I am not noticing it or they changed the design slightly (more likely). The way I got around it in my 03 was to set the temperature all the way to low, then hit the fan speed down all the way to shut the system off. It is a little annoying but seemed to work. Give it a try.

 

Thank you guys for all your help! I'm going to try these suggestions today and see what happens. I usually have my AC set to 72 degrees, which is usually still lower than the outside temp. If it's nice out I just hit the off button. I'll try putting it to a lower setting before I turn it off.

 

I agree. Definitely set the a/c to a lower temp, like 64, then turn it off. The next time you drive your MINI that will make all the difference.

 

I don't have the auto AC/climate control and I find that even when my fan is set to off, it still blows air based on the temperature it's set to.

If I have it all the way to the blue then I get colddd air that feels like the A/C is on. The same if it's all the way to the red... it's like having the heat on. I've only turned on the actual fan a couple times and only on setting 1 or 2 in the middle of summer when I needed a bit of A/C.

Sometimes I don't want to be wasting gas and having hot or cold air blowing at me and the heater and what not working full time... Is my Stella special? Is there a reason why it's on when its... well, off?

 

Lilcoopr,
I have the auto system but I'm sure this will work for you as well. If you don't want any outside air coming in, turn on your recirculation switch. This will shut off outside airflow.

Minzila

 

This needed to be highlighted as it takes care of both the auto and manual systems blowing outside air when off.

 

I tried that before, and it would just turn the whole system back on again. I couldn't get just the recirculator to come on.

I did just get back from some errands (I can be lazy, it's my day off today, lol). I tried setting the temp as low as it would go, and then shut the system off. It worked! No more ghastly hot air blowing through the vents. Thank you guys SO MUCH! Now I can enjoy my motoring without AC.

 

You're right hitting just the recirc will bring the system back on. We should have clairified it a little bit more; Turn on the recirc, then turn the system off.

 

Smokey is right. It seems weird, but I've learned to preset my auto system when I get home from work to be where I want it the next morning. Once you get used to it, it becomes habit. Gone are the days of a slider to open the footwell vents.

Minzila