Hey guys, my name is Simon. My best friend Mike just bought a new to him 2005 Mini Cooper with 56k miles this past Wednesday, and was totally stoked. Looks pretty clean, and drives well. Or so we thought. Unfortunately, come Friday morning he called me to let me know the A/C had taken a ****. Took it to a local shop, and was told the A/C compressor was toast, and that the radiator was bad. He then took it back to the dealership he bough it from. They said "so sorry, not our problem, it's your car now. We can replace the radiator and A/C compressor for $1789".

He brought the car over to my house today because we had already planned to clean up the headlights and detail the car. It was 95+ degrees here today. In playing with the car, I find the following conditions--

• The car warms to 50% on the gauge, and the fan will kick on in what I assume to be high for 10-15 seconds every few minutes. I swapped the high and low speed relays, thinking perhaps the relay was bad. With the relays swapped, the same conditions occur.

• When the A/C is turned on the interior light illuminates. The radiator fan does not kick on, but "A/C type" noises are present... sorry, I never work on A/C. I was looking for a Freon sight glass but cannot find one. I was hoping to see lots of bubbles for low Freon or no bubbles meaning full or empty. I attempted to check the A/C compressor in the method listed here . When I tested it, I got a reading of about 10 ohms. Also, will the A/C work without the radiator fan?

• The coolant overflow tank is filled with clear fluid. Mike said he thinks the dealership topped it off when he took it in Friday.... but even so, it should be colored, right? Is there something about Mini anti-freeze that I don't know about? Clear coolant has me a bit worried. I see no leaks in the system, but I went ahead and masking taped a cold and hot mark for where the coolant was today. If it changes by next weekend there's more problems.....

I'm generally comfortable with bolt on tuning and basic maintenance on my own older cars past and present (1985 VW Jetta, 1991 Escort GT, 1999 Ford ZX2, and a 1990 Mazda Miata) I see general tips here on how to do it. How hard of a job is it really? I'm a little leary as I have another friend that is telling me to run far far away from the project as **** is bound to go wrong with das German engineering.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any help.



Oh, and a bit about me. I currently daily a 2013 Performance Blue Focus ST that I LOVE. The car is really perfect for me, puts a grin on my face every time I drive it. I also have a Miata that has been my weekend toy for the last 5 years. You'll normally find me on garagejournal.com, dfwmiata.com, clubroadster.net, focusst.org, and I used to spend lots of time on teamzx2.com ... I've probably run into at least 1 person on here before.....

 

Find the A/C compressor and watch to see if the compressor clutch engages (with a/c commanded on) or stays stationary. If it stays stationary, u can check do an available voltage check at the power wire on the compressor. You will need to remove the under shield and some of the shielding around the compressor clutch power wire. If you have voltage present, then you know all the switches and control side are good but your compressor magnetic clutch has failed. These are available on ebay for about $100. There is a Youtube video on how to replace them. If your compressor clutch is working, then take it to an A/C shop for pressure check/diagnosis.

 

Thanks! As I said, I don't normally dabble in A/C work... what am I looking for on exactly? How will I tell if the compressor clutch engages? I understand its kinda down low on the passenger side from this DIY, can I ee it from the top, or do we need to jack her up and remove the belly pan. Also, is there a Freon sight gauge somewhere?

Thanks again!!!

 

BMW/Mini coolant is blue. The dealer probably just topped it off with plain water which is no big sin; it will just dilute what's in the engine and radiator a negligible amount after a few heat/cool cycles. Assuming this hasn't been done repeatedly and what's in there is already diluted.

And you said the car needs a new radiator? I could assume whatever problem that is could account for the need to top up the coolant in the first place.

(or were you referring to the radiator for the AC system?)

 

I would be surprised if the a/c is shot. Check the 5 amp fuse in the fuse box under the hood. If I recall the third one from the front with an engine icon controls a lot. Mine would blow due to faulty power steering pump fan, and it would cause the radiator fan to cease, thereby creating high temp thereby overloading the a/c compressor causing it to blow warn. I would get a blinking green led on my a/c switch.

Check the cheap things first. Also Pelican Parts and Rock Auto are good sources for parts. Pelican is trusted quality. Rock is cheap prices.

Good luck