Ac not working on mini one 2001 garage says they dont know whats wrong with it

[steveolondon]

Ok so my Ac stopped working th other day, so i presumer it needed refilling, booked it into they filled it up and said it still don't work, so they looked over the car and done a full diagnosis Test for free and said they found nothing wrong with the AC no leaks no nothing and that they didn't know what was wrong with it. suggestions and thoughts are more than welcome please help.

[The Nun]

Well what an excellent garage, hope youre not going to use them for anything else then?
If the system is filled, no leaks and it still doesnt work, might be the compressor not engaging when you press the air con button, but if they did a FULL? diagnosis this is fairly obvious.
Mind you they did a free test didnt they, so perhaps they do a better job if you pay, who knows?

[79clubby]

Hi,
I to had a similar problem with lack of decent AC, as you may know AC deteriorates with age and should be topped up; I made the obvious mistake of going to a Kwik Fit although as they were unsuccessful they did not charge and put me in touch with an auto AC specialist, he was quoting over £500 for major works. For some reason I thought I’d give someone else a go and found a MINI/BMW independent specialist, he explained that most don’t refill the system properly and this will show as a failure, I left it with him and hey presto the car is cold again!

[steveolondon]

many thanks for the reply i think I'm gonna take in to BMW and see what they say, i ooh it to Halfords as i presumed it needed refiling and thats what i paid for, however Halfords offer a diagnosis for any car for free i believe, but i guess sum times u get what u pay for, and in Halfords defence they did seem pretty legit about the fact they could find anything wrong with and suggested i take it somewhere else, which is obviously kinda weird hearing that from a garage. they did mention before if i needed a new pump it would be £500 however he said thats working fine. how much did it cost to sort the problem with BMW (as a ball park figure) I'm aware prices fluctuate depending where u live.

[bd8134]

I presume it is your a/c compressor not turning, have you checked?
If the refrigerant pressure is ok, check with your garage what the reading was, it could be electrical / relay / fuse, check those.
A common problem with the ac compressor is the electrical clutch that is mounted on the end fails. On many cars you can get a replacement clutch, not from Mini from the factory. There is an aftermarket one in the US that works great. It is a much cheaper alternative to replacing the compressor, drier, etc.
Have a look here..

northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r50-r53-hatch-talk-2002-2006/228481-r53-a-c-problem-detailed.html]R53 A/C Problem (detailed) - North American Motoring

In the line above add in the w w w .

[shorn]

If the clutch is not engaged, check the electricals to it. You should see 12V to the clutch winding/coil. If the volts are there but the clutch is not engaged suspect either a open clutch winding or... there are 2 diodes in the clutch (has to be removed to see them); one in series with the winding; one in parallel. The diodes, especially the series one, go bad - opens so that no current will flow. Replace the diodes or replace the entire clutch.

[designer_label]

You need a proper garage to diagnose the problem.
If its a leak they will put something in to find the leak and stop it or it could be the condensor that needs replacing.

Bmw charge £66 to diagnose an air conditioning problem!

I know that the air con drain should be checked very year or so but I cant find it?