Just a note when I put the AC on with defrost only, the vent on the dash acts the same, the passenger side is cold and the drivers side is warm. I really need a picture of the whole unit that shows whats going on.

 

Just out of curiosity, what happens if you blow the A/C thought the foot wells?

 

Hi Frenchie,

I have the same problem as lordgrinz. Will check out your question tonight on the ride home.

E-

 

Bumping this in the hope someone has a definitive answer as to what is going on here, I may have to find a good AC Tech here in MA, but at this point I dont know anyone I can trust.

 

I've had to bring in the MINI for other service, so I'll get their opinion today.

---

 

Blue, were they able to diagnose it?

 

Hey Lordgrinz,

Well, the boys at MINI of Peabody took a look at the AC mechanicals and found no problems. They attributed the imbalance to a low coolant charge (which someone here at NAM had also suggested). They recharged the system and now it's working fine.

Oddly, that's not the end of the story. Recently, I also starting having some issues with overheating while stuck in Rt 128 (aka Route 95) rush hour traffic on warm days. The temp gauge would suddenly spike up, and either by moving forward, or by turning on the heater, I was able to get it back under control. Told the service manager about this, and he said that the AC problem and the overheating might be related, with the cooling fan being the culprit. This is where it gets interesting. About 2 years ago, I had a slow speed accident with a pile of dirt (don't ask, pride still bruised ). Anyway, the impact damaged mostly a lot of the plastic bits belowthe bumper, but it also affected mounting of the cooling fan. It was all under insurance repair, so I didn't give it much thought when they replaced the fan.

Spring forward to yesterday, and the service manager tells me I've got the wrong cooling fan, and this definitely caused the overheating problem, and might have also contributed to the AC problem (though he wasn't real definitive about that). To his credit, he accepted responsibility for installing the wrong fan, and they installed the correct one at no charge. Just for reference, my MINI is an '04, and it has a 2 stage fan, but the one they installed 2 years ago was a single stage fan.

Sorry for the long post, but thought you or others would find this interesting. I'd start with checking the coolant charge and then go from there.

Blue-

 

Hmmm, interesting...I had mine charged at Firestone last year and it helped, but still seemed not right. I am wondering if they are just undercharging it or something. I dont seem to be having any overheating issues, though I am unsure if the temp gauge is relative or exact, I would assume relative. I was going to do a coolant flush anyway, so I will get that done and try a recharge of the AC again. Thanks Blue!

Let us know how your AC works out over the next few weeks...Thx Again!

 

This is precisely what I am experiencing. Although I have a little extra piece of information: I can smell a slight hint of antifreeze. The smell of anitfreeze is more pronounced when the heater is on, but it is present with the air conditioning. If it is the expansion valve, is this something that I can fix myself or would a certified technician need to perform the maintenance since it is part of the air conditioning, i.e., are there environmental concerns? The only 'solution' I have found so far is to close the driver's side vents. Has anyone else been able to fix this problem?

Just for information, mine is an '02 S.

 

Ok guys, any new updates here? I was having the AC blowing warm air and never getting cold. I took it in for warranty service (only 1500 miles left or 2 months) and got it back today. They said they were trying to track down a leak, and then replaced an expansion valve. Well, on the drive home I realized that now it's a split...the passenger side is COLD, the driver's side is WARM....if you turn it on recirculate it eventually gets a little cooler on the driver's side, but not much. Also, the drives side seems to be blowing out less air altogether than the passenger side.

SO, I guess I'll probably be taking it BACK in for service again......sheesh! Anyone have any other thoughts on the issue though? Kind of stinks cause it's 100 miles to the closest dealer and I have to take off work to get it up there. Argh....

 

My $.02 is that if you haven't had your AC recharged since buying your MINI, then it sounds like you may be low. I also experienced a funny sound coming from the AC, like a swirling whoosing sound.

I'd have the system recharged and then see if the symptoms go away.

I had mine done last week, and I can happily report that my AC is balanced and well behaved (unlike the driver).

Erick

 

I just had my MINI recharged again at Firestone and its blowing cold again now. Thats two years in a row, so there must be a leak but we couldnt find it even with the dye put in it. At least I know none of the major components is failing, I assume cold air means they are all working. I see how things go over the next few weeks before I say its fixed though.

 

Hey LordGrinz,

Let us know if this hold up. So far so good for me.

I have to say that it's odd that low charge causes an imbalanced output. You'd think (though I admit I know nothing about the specifics of the MINI AC systedm) that low coolant charge would result in an overall diminished cold air output.

Will provide an update as the summer wears on.

E-

 

I wouldnt say its the coldest AC I ever had, but it is still working. One thing I noticed is that from the car sitting in the heat all night, then starting for the first time, the left side stays warm for the first minute. Before the left side would stay warm for quite awhile, so not sure if its leaking again or not. Have to see how it goes...

 

Just to update everyone on this thread...my MINI is back in for service for this problem yesterday. They're baffled. They've replaced everything but the condenser and it STILL blows warm from the driver's side. I'm driving a loaner (09 clubman) while they try to find the reason for the problem. I only have 1K/1 month left on my warranty, so I hope they find it!!! (on a positive note, at least I'm getting a new AC system from the dea.). I'll update again once I find out what they figure out.

 

SOLUTION:

Ok, so my Mini service rep called me today and they had fixed my car, at first I didn't believe them as they told me that before, but THEY HAVE FIXED IT!

The problem? The Condenser!! Here's some of the notes they posted on my warranty invoice:

While evacuating system heard a click sound from the pass side of engine. Figured compressor was not running at full pressure. Replaced compressor, refilled system, and found driver's side to still be warmer and D refrigerant pressure to be low. Evacuated system and had one hand on compressor and one on compressor/dryer. Felt click from the dryer. Removed just the dryer and found internals to be DETERIORATING and 2/3 full. Checked another dryer on other R53 Cooper S and found no noise and dryer to be full. Replaced condenser due to possible clogging of condenser veins.

I then drove the car 150 miles home and it worked perfectly ALL THE WAY HOME. It's finally fixed!

So guys, there ya go! If you all run into this problem, feel free to reference this post to your tech! Or they can call Cincinnati Mini and their tech department can probably help. (Not sure of the tech's name who fixed it but his "number" on the invoice is 348).

 

Guys
My neighbor is in the AC compressor remanufacturing business. Check out Yellow Rose Destributors, Fort Worth, Tx. Just Google it. He has always helped me with my auto ac problems. During the recharge of the Mini,(04 JCW MCS) This problem appeared during the first part of the charging process. All it is, is that the evaporator core is mounted on the passenger side. The whole car (dash components and all) is-- HOTTTT -- and when your charge is low and you, the driver, want relief, the vents closest to the evaporator are in the area that has a little bit of cool air to cool them. On the drivers side there is not enough cool air to transfer, to even cool the duct work. The guy in the back of the bus gets little H&AC
Joe

 

Hi All,

Although the summer here in the great Northeast wasn't as hot and humid as past summers, I used the A/C whenever possible just to make sure it continued to work well. I can report that all is well ever since they recharged the coolant.

Joe's description above seems logical, so if you're having low or no cold air out of your A/C, start by having a leak check and then having it recharged.

Good Luck !

Erick

 

It seems everyone in the thread got their problems solved, yay! But for future reference I'll add that I had the same problem (cold passenger vents, lukewarm driver vents) and an A/C recharge fixed it for me. That was about 1 1/2 years ago and it's still working great!

 

this exact thing is happening to my MCS since i got it new last 2004, noticeably colder air from the passenger vents and some wheezing sound. recharged the freon in 2007 (a/c noticeably warm. a/c became cold after recharging) and just recently is happening again. also read about the low speed fan problem. but i noticed my low fan is working all the time with the high speed not working (no high speed noisy on off on off fan, only the silent speed is working) since i got my mini.

 

I just ran this diagnostic...FF 00 is what the climate control read. Is this is ok?

This is through mode 1. The display read CA then CC when the diag was cycling but the above came up before.

 

Hopefully this thread is still alive...

I only have air blowing out the front window vents. I ran the diagnostics and got error code "FF" "09" and I didn't hear the actuator motor running. I ran the diagnostics again and this time I heard the actuator motor running. Now when I turn the ignition to position 2 (I'm not pressing any buttons) or turn the engine on all the LEDs on the climate control buttons turn on and it always runs the calibration diagnostics "CA" then reports "FF" "01". I tried disconnecting the car battery to see if I could get out of the diagnostic mode but every time I turn the ignition to position 2 or turn the engine on all I get is "CA" then "FF" "01" and none of the climate buttons seem to do anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Tim

 

One of the servo arms is stuck, check them to see if something is lodged in the servos travel arm or if the servo has pooped out. I had the exact same issue and got the fix from someone answering my question on here.

.

 

Has anyone found the algorithm that drives the behavior of the internal air dampers? When outside temperature fell below 20F recently for about a week, I noticed only a small amount of air at the driver's feet, and basically no warm air at the passenger's feet...but a whole lot of air on the windshield and the side window ports. When the temperature rose above that (this morning was 40F outside), there was normal air to the feet (both driver and passenger side) and a small amount of air to the windshield. I am running the system in full Auto Climate Control. (This is an '02 Mini, R50). I had run the suggested diagnostics a few days ago to see if that made any difference, and nothing had changed until this morning. So, now I am wondering if there actually is some logic in what the system is doing, and even that there is some amount of left/right dampering going on (reducing air to the passenger feet to provide more air to the windshield when temperatures are extremely cold). IMHO...the Mini is good, the Mini is wise...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I been trying to open the link at its unavailable. I just want to know after you remove the 2 10mm bolts, what kind of screw are the other 2?