A/C problems: FYI

[photon]

i've posted to a few threads regarding A/C problems. well, my A/C is now fixed, so, i thought i'd post what happened, so if anyone else encounters this they know what to talk to their dealer about.

symptoms:
when the car is stopped, the A/C light blinks and hot, humid air comes out.

when the car is in motion, sortof chilled air comes out. if you go fast enough, you get almost A/C air. around town it barely works well enough to be more comfortable than just having the windows open.

dealership fix attempt 1:
"the auxiliary fan is not coming on. it sits in front of the compressor and needs to keep it cool for the A/C to work."

they replaced entire auxiliary fan.

i had the same lack of A/C and it started blowing fuses. A/C still sortof-cool at highway speeds but worthless at city speeds.

dealership fix attempt 2:
"there is a 5amp fuse in the spot for the aux fan. it should be a 15amp fuse. we are calling MINI to double check."

they replaced the 5amp fuse with a 15amp fuse. now the fan comes on, and stays on, when the A/C is in operation.

the A/C is very, very, very cold now. no complaints at all.

and finally, don't use that A/C too much, the sunroof is fantastic =)

happy motoring,
john

[Garfield]

This 5-15amp switch, will this cure the fact that my A/C, when compared to other cars, is incredibly week and not as cold? It doesn't seem broken, just weak.

[photon]

allow me to clarify:

my MINI came from the factory with the incorrect fuse installed. the aux. fan was running on a 5 amp fuse, instead of a 15 amp fuse like it should have been. so, while the dealership thought they had fixed my problems my giving me an entirely new fan, it only worked until the fuse (randomly?) blew again.

without the fan, my a/c worked semi-okay when i was on the highway (lots of air passing over the a/c compressor to help it out), and was useless at city speeds. with the fan working properly, the a/c is frigid.

if your a/c seems wimpy, verify that your aux fan is even running. can you hear it running after you take your MINI for a spin on a hot day? there's a very audible "fan" noise while it idles - i noticed it the first time the dealership fixed my car for good.

[Garfield]

Oh, there's definitely fans running, all the time on hot days. I just think the A/C in this car is down right poor, worse than any car I've ever owned. I thought maybe the fuse may have prevented enough power from going where it needed to go, I guess from a complete lack of understanding on how it works.
Thanks anyway.

[photon]

sounds like you should take it to the dealer. now that my auxiliary fan works, i'm having no trouble quickly cooling the interior of my MINI. temps around here have been 90F+ and insane humidity.

good luck
-john

[Garfield]

You're pretty much the same weather as me, so yeah, I'll take it to the dealer. Thanks.

[HarryHBMCC]

With weather in the 30's (Celcius) my MINI's AC has been freezing my wrists so I've been closing the vents (the big dash vent still cools down the whole car fine). It seems to work well so yes, Garfield, you should get yours checked.

Harry

[noahe]

A/C works just fine. 37 degrees Celcius and near-100% humidity. The car seemed to protest, and man where there fan noises a plenty, but it blows cold.

I do find that compared to the GM air-conditioning, it's a little slow to start, blows only cool for the first 5 minutes. But GM A/C is notoriously over-powered, and I'm pretty sure I could have made snow with our last car.

The A/C is as good as the Toyota's at work, better than the Integra, and WAY better than the Ford.

[dash]

Photon, I thought that was just the way the AC was. Mine's got the exact same symptoms that you said, cool at best around town, cold on the highway, virtually useless on a day like today in Philly (98 and humid as...heck) until you hit 85mph. Looks like I have to take my baby in to the dealer for a check up after all.

Andrew

[photon]

yeah, get an appointment. neil should already know what to fix since he played guinea pig on my car.

check the fuse first, though. i don't know which one it is, but, make sure it's a 15amp...

good luck
-john

[Zaphod]

Hi, I seem to be having the same trouble, but in addition to the A/C not working correctly, my tach is dead, as well as the temperature indicator in the cockpit. It sounds to me like several fuses all went at once, or a major ciruit it out.
The problem is, I can't make head or tails of the fuse diagrams - the one in the engine bay or the one in the foot well.
Anybody out there have a more detailed diagram or know how I can better check this?

[Mini Tech]

I don't know about that. I haven't seen anything about replacing the 5A fuse w/ a 15A fuse, that could be bad for the circuit. There is a reason that fuse is blowing, the little fan under the car that cools the power steering pump may be faulty. If that thing goes and there is a larger fuse installed where it should not be, it may cook wires. That fix does not sound right to me...

[MinMax]

Just wondering whether or not the 15 for 5 amp fuse was ever verified with the dealer. I'm thankful for this post, as I have the same problem, but fortunately checked the fuse block under the hood before making the long drive to the dealer (6hr round trip). Anyway, just like the one described, my 5 amp fuse was shot. Replaced it with another 5 amp fuse. We'll see how long it lasts.

Thanks for the info.
MinMax

[chiph]

Quote:

Originally posted by MinMax
Just wondering whether or not the 15 for 5 amp fuse was ever verified with the dealer. I'm thankful for this post, as I have the same problem, but fortunately checked the fuse block under the hood before making the long drive to the dealer (6hr round trip). Anyway, just like the one described, my 5 amp fuse was shot. Replaced it with another 5 amp fuse. We'll see how long it lasts.

Thanks for the info.
MinMax

The size of fuse for your fan ought to be labeled on the inside of the fusebox cover. What does it say?

Chip H.

[MinMax]

It says 5 amp, could they have mislabeled the fuse?

Per an earlier posting by Photon, the dealer replaced the fan, then found that the fuse was the culprit, and replaced it with another 5 amp fuse which shortly thereafter blew. They mentioned that the dealer replaced the 5 amp fuse with a 15 amp fuse and said that the fan was supposed to come with a 15, rather than a 5 amp fuse, and that they were "checking into it".

I was wondering if anyone had heard that indeed the 5 amp fan fuse was mislabeled, and should have been 15 amp from the factory, again, per what the dealer told Photon.