Hi

Not sure where I need to put this thread at. I've searched around but I can't find anything related to this.

For a while now, my 02 MCS will sometimes blow 'white smoke' out when the a/c is on (it's usually when the temp is between 60 - 70).

I saw a thread about the defrosting windows and Greatbear mentioned that there might be a pinhole leak in the heater core or a pulgged up or slow condensation at the a/c evaporator coil and I didn't know if this 'smoke' could be related to one of those.

Can you all give a girl some advice? Please?

Thanks,
Kat

 

This is most likely the leak you describe. As your freon level gets lower you might only notice the "smoke" when you make turns or accelerate or decelerate quickly. There are recharging kits you can use that contain a gummy substance that can plug up the hole(s) but those can cause other problems as well like gumming up other parts. They usually have a dye in them to help pinpoint the leaks as well. If you like the car and plan on keeping it for another summer or more then I would look into getting the leaking part(s) replaced with new. This won't be cheap though. If you are ready to upgrade to a newer model I would recharge it with a freon designed to help stop leaks or sell it on a very cold day in the winter! ;-)

PS. The stuff you put in there might not be called freon anymore. I still call it that because I don't know what else to call it!

Mike

 

flannery

Thanks for the tip.

Do you know where I can buy a recharging kit? Is that the name of it? I only plan on keeping the car until it's paid off. (Ha -only $10k left! ) So who knows how many more summers this can be - 2, maybe 4.

What exactly am I replacing if I decide to replace with new entirely? Is this something only a shop that specifies in Mini's would do? Or can I take it to any place (obviously one that I trust with my car and not some regular old joe-schmoe shop.) that could fix this kind of problem (i.e. Goodyear, etc.)?

 

Bring it to someone you trust for just a few bucks more than the kit costs.

 

It may also just be condensation. I've had other cars that blew clouds out the vents for awhile until the interior humidity went down.

 

Ditto - if the A/C continues to work for more than a few weeks of doing this, you don't have a refrigerant leak.

If there's a leak in the heater core, the "smoke" will smell like antifreeze. If you have condensation on the evaporator coils, it will usually freeze up and form ice on the evaporator, which will keep the A/C from working effectively, but I don't think that would cause the vapor by itself.

It's probably just water vapor in the air condensing into fog when the A/C cools the air. Are you getting any condensation on the outside of your windshield when you run the A/C? If you are, that's a sign that the outside air temperature and the "dew point" are very close to one another, and fog is likely (both in the local weather and from your A/C vents).

 

The other posters bring up some good points. Since you intend on keeping your cooper for a while you will want to replace parts if you indeed have bad parts. Scott is correct in that you should be able to smell antifreeze in the "smoke" if you have a leak. If the smoke has no smell then you probably don't have a car problem. If it does smell funny, take it to a trusted mechanic and have them check it out. The possible parts don't look too expensive, labor will cost you the most but will be well worth it as you want to keep the car.

I will say, I live in the Raleigh Durham area in North Carolina and we get LOTS of humidity but I have never seen anything coming out of my vents. Doesn't mean it can't happen but just that I find it strange that this would suddenly happen to your car after 5 years of usage. With winter coming you might be able to wait until next spring except, if this is a refrigerant leak you will lose part of the effectiveness of the defroster without being able to have the AC running to remove humidity from the air blowing across the windshield. There are many cars without AC for which this is not a problem but with cars that have AC, the AC usually turns on with the front defroster so you can get that nice dry air and not fog up your windows on the inside.

Personally, I've only ever seen this once and it was with a Toyota Celica I had when I was younger. It blew the white smoke and had a slight smell to the smoke. I thought it was pretty neat until I figured out what it was. I put the leak stop stuff in and sold the car a year later. I'm sure the problem came back eventially as the leak stop refrigerant will eventually fail but for a poor collage student it was all I could do at the time.

A qualified and trusted mechanic should be able to test the pressure in the AC system to see if you are down any refrigerant (freon or whatever they are calling it these days). If you are not down any then just watch it and check the humidity on the days it happens. If it happens on a dry day then you have a different problem than just humidity and the dew point!

Cheers!
Mike

 

I need to learn how to spell! College, not collage! :-)

 

Wow, these are all great tips and helpful advice! I really appreciate it all.

I noticed last night when I tried wiping the "fog" away from the inside of the car, that it left a streak. Almost oily-like. I'm thinking that this is the cause of the coolant (right??)

And as a little FYI - it's usually the right side of the windshield more so than the driver's side. Not sure if that means anything or not.

However, this morning, I noticed it starting to fog up and I turned on the AC to low and put the defroster on and it worked fine. But the right side of the windshield was still fogging just a tad.

Scott - Before I hadn't really paid attention too much to the type of smell. I just noticed that there was a "funny" smell coming from the vents and I usually blamed it on the car in front of me. (ha ha ha) However, last night I paid more attention and yes, it DOES smell like anti-freeze more so than that "musty smell." The AC works fine (blows cold air and what not) it just also blows out the smoke and there's no condensation on the outside of the windshield.

Mike - Thanks!

Let's say I plan on selling teh Mini sometime soon - can I go to a AutoZone-like store and buy the "leak-stop" stuff?