MINI2

rogerswt · May 10th, 2003, 01:13 PM

Now that its hot out in St. Louis, I finally ran my air conditioning. I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise - the thing howls/growls from under the hood when its switched on! Its actually louder that the supercharger. Anyone else experience this yet?

oldnell · May 10th, 2003, 11:34 PM

Mine does this too. My dealer admitted that it shouldn't do it and are awaiting advice from MINI UK. Will be jogging their memory on this one shortly.

They tried replacing the compressor and some other components.

With yours, does it sometimes not growl when turned on, but when you rev the engine it hits a certain point that induces the growl, which then continues when the engine speed returns to idle?

rogerswt · May 11th, 2003, 07:41 AM

Yes, that's it almost exactly. I didn't hear it until yesterday when I ran it for 30 minutes. The higher the revs, the louder the growl. It seems to spool down a little slower than the engine revs down, which puzzled me. I guess the compressor is the culprit. I'm about due for my first service, so I'll see what my dealer says.

Arizona Cooper S · May 23rd, 2003, 01:19 AM

Mine just started the same noise last week. I'm due for my first scheduled service, so I'll talk to them about it then. Good to know it's not an isolated problem with one car, that can help at the dealer.. Let's keep each other informed if there's a fix for it.

BrentD · May 23rd, 2003, 10:35 AM

Its not just the auto air-con that howls. I have manual and as soon as the temperature gets up (around 35oC+) its noisy. It seems to start at around 3000+ RPM.

I'd be very happy to know of a fix, in Australia there are quite a few hot days!!

IML337 · Jun 24th, 2003, 11:06 AM

ah ha! I knew this would happen...

As BrentD would know, we've already been right through Summer with our cars in Australia, and on days over about 25 degrees Celsius the a/c compressor howls like crazy. I had my car back at the dealer three times through summer and to no success. MINI Aus tried a few fixes advised by MINI UK but nothing worked. And the howl gets louder as the weather gets hotter. I was driving on a 40+ celsius day and expected my compressor to just pack it in and stop working - it sounds HORRIBLE!

I was waiting for those in the northern hemisphere to start complaining as the weather warms up

Hopefully a fix will be developed this season as I'm sure the many thousands of MINI owners in America complaining about this may have more of an impact than the comparatively few owners down under who complained for months with no results...

Cheers

Coca-Cooper · Jun 24th, 2003, 11:43 AM

The Auto AC in my November '02 Cooper hasn't started growling (yet

) but I've noticed that when idling at temperatures over 30 degrees C I feel a vibration coming through the pedals (accelerator, brake and clutch) . . . . I guess this must be coming from the AC Compressor.

Damo · Jun 24th, 2003, 03:09 PM

Ahhh the joys of living in a cold country where the highest temp I've seen is 27 degrees C

No doubt all the British ones have this problem but will never get anywhere hot enough to find out

Silvercooper · Jun 24th, 2003, 07:34 PM

I have the same growling sound coming from my A/C, anybody got their A/C light flashing? see my thread:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=34277

pxlmxr · Jun 30th, 2003, 04:55 PM

I got the flashing a/c light and whine this weekend with an added bonus- my engine temp shot through the roof and the car overheated within a few minutes of turning on the a/c- anyone have any ideas on this one?

-S

Arizona Cooper S · Jun 30th, 2003, 10:56 PM

OK, my MCS went in for scheduled service on Thursday, I got it back on Friday. The A/C noise was one of the things for them to look at. Naturally, the service tech reported that he could not reproduce the noise. He also wrote that I may be hearing 'the high speed fan'. When I asked the service advisor about this he explained to me that MINIs have a second fan. The primary cooling fan sits forward of the radiator, and he says there's another one behind the radiator - the 'high speed fan' - that only kicks one during extremely high temps with the A/C on. I haven't been able to crawl around the engine bay yet to look for this other fan. I'll let you know if I find this other fan.

Silvercooper · Jul 1st, 2003, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Arizona Cooper S
OK, my MCS went in for scheduled service on Thursday, I got it back on Friday. The A/C noise was one of the things for them to look at. Naturally, the service tech reported that he could not reproduce the noise. He also wrote that I may be hearing 'the high speed fan'. When I asked the service advisor about this he explained to me that MINIs have a second fan. The primary cooling fan sits forward of the radiator, and he says there's another one behind the radiator - the 'high speed fan' - that only kicks one during extremely high temps with the A/C on. I haven't been able to crawl around the engine bay yet to look for this other fan. I'll let you know if I find this other fan.

That doesn`t seem right to me, I can`t wait to see what my dealer will say about it. I am sure that this noise is not normal, how come only a few people on this forum noticed it? I think it comes from the compressor, I also noticed since this noise started that my car loses even more power when the A/C is on. I really need to slip the clutch to prevent the car from stalling, did you guys notice the same?

Coca-Cooper · Jul 2nd, 2003, 04:36 AM

Yes, both me and a mate who both own '03 Coopers have this problem of a BIG TIME performance drop with the Auto AC switched on.

His is a Feb '03 build and mine's a Nov '02. More worrying though was that my AC performance problems stared after I had the 33.x software upgrade performed (about 3 weeks ago)

Grinder · Jul 15th, 2003, 02:22 PM

I just became aware of this AC Howl being a somewhat common problem, so I hadn't searched for threads on it before. My car has just recenlty started making this noise. It did NOT make it last summer during the incredible heat, so I don't think this can be "normal" as Max implies. The first time it went in they said that my A/C coolant was low and they flushed the system and that seemed to mostly fix the problem (only the slightest hint of the howl remained). Then i went out driving in stop-and-go traffic in 95+ degree weather, and it came back louder than ever.

Silvercooper · Jul 15th, 2003, 03:45 PM

My dealer says the noise is coming from the compressor pressure hose

I don't understand how a hose can produce this noise???

The part is back order and they will replace it when it arrives, I will let you guys know if it solves the problem. Personnaly, I think it's the compressor itself making that noise.

Hat · Jul 15th, 2003, 06:50 PM

mine just started on the way home tonight. not really 'howling' but a definate extra whirring noise that i've not heard before & which stops as soon as i turn off the (manual) air con. sounds like an extra fan kicking in as mentioned above. Its been around 28-30 degrees c the last few days here so the air con's been on quite a bit. i've never been convinved that the air con is actually cold enough.

i wonder if its mileage related? i'm due my first service in the next few weeks & mileage is around 8500 currently.

politcat · Jul 15th, 2003, 07:49 PM

i've had my cooper for 3 weeks now in florida summer heat and humidity. the a/c is always on and has always sounded like a small airplane. the sound is not constant. my service manager told me it was the compressor. compressors do kick in and out. i have tried leaving the a/c off to see if i still hear the sound while idling, i don't hear it.

i was in a parking lot (car park) the other day and i noticed that a late model car of a completely different make made the same whirring noise.

i don't worry about it anymore.

uua · Jul 16th, 2003, 04:15 AM

I had the aor compressor whirring growling. When in for service for a coolant tank replacement,the car was returned, but overheated within 5 minutes. At first they thought it was an air lock in the cooling system, but couldn't resolve the probem. The fault finally found to be the power steering cooling fan, which had stuck, causing the known fault of blowing the fuse which it shares with the cooling system (radiator) fan, ... causing the car to overheat. With the PS fan replaced, my air con groaning noise has been resolved.

-uu

Silvercooper · Jul 16th, 2003, 12:27 PM

They just replaced my PS fan for the same overheating problem and it didn't solve my A/C noise.

Grinder · Jul 16th, 2003, 02:24 PM

Does any warning light come on with the fuse being blown? Any way for me to tell if my PS fan is working/if the fuse is alright?

May 10th, 2003, 01:13 PM	#1
rogerswt MINI2 Regular Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: St. Louis Local Time: 02:01 PM Posts: 102 Offline	Air Conditioning Noise Now that its hot out in St. Louis, I finally ran my air conditioning. I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise - the thing howls/growls from under the hood when its switched on! Its actually louder that the supercharger. Anyone else experience this yet?

May 23rd, 2003, 01:19 AM	#4 (permalink)
Arizona Cooper S MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Local Time: 07:01 PM Posts: 44 Offline	Mine just started the same noise last week. I'm due for my first scheduled service, so I'll talk to them about it then. Good to know it's not an isolated problem with one car, that can help at the dealer.. Let's keep each other informed if there's a fix for it. 1960 Austin Healey Sprite 2002 PS Cooper S 1999 Expedition

May 23rd, 2003, 10:35 AM	#5 (permalink)
BrentD MINI2 Newbie Join Date: May 2003 Location: Stanmore NSW Local Time: 06:01 AM Posts: 24 Offline	Its not just the auto air-con that howls. I have manual and as soon as the temperature gets up (around 35oC+) its noisy. It seems to start at around 3000+ RPM. I'd be very happy to know of a fix, in Australia there are quite a few hot days!! BRG/W Cooper, 17" S-spoke, Rear Spoiler ++ with more to come...

Jun 24th, 2003, 11:43 AM	#7 (permalink)
Coca-Cooper MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Limassol Local Time: 09:01 PM Posts: 32 Offline	The Auto AC in my November '02 Cooper hasn't started growling (yet ) but I've noticed that when idling at temperatures over 30 degrees C I feel a vibration coming through the pedals (accelerator, brake and clutch) . . . . I guess this must be coming from the AC Compressor. There's no problem, only solutions. http://mysite.freeserve.com/faircrof.../8-picture.jpg

Jun 30th, 2003, 10:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
Arizona Cooper S MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Phoenix, AZ Local Time: 07:01 PM Posts: 44 Offline	OK, my MCS went in for scheduled service on Thursday, I got it back on Friday. The A/C noise was one of the things for them to look at. Naturally, the service tech reported that he could not reproduce the noise. He also wrote that I may be hearing 'the high speed fan'. When I asked the service advisor about this he explained to me that MINIs have a second fan. The primary cooling fan sits forward of the radiator, and he says there's another one behind the radiator - the 'high speed fan' - that only kicks one during extremely high temps with the A/C on. I haven't been able to crawl around the engine bay yet to look for this other fan. I'll let you know if I find this other fan. 1960 Austin Healey Sprite 2002 PS Cooper S 1999 Expedition

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May 10th, 2003, 11:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
oldnell MINI2 Master My Classifieds Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Gloucester Local Time: 08:01 PM Posts: 992 Offline	Mine does this too. My dealer admitted that it shouldn't do it and are awaiting advice from MINI UK. Will be jogging their memory on this one shortly. They tried replacing the compressor and some other components. With yours, does it sometimes not growl when turned on, but when you rev the engine it hits a certain point that induces the growl, which then continues when the engine speed returns to idle?

May 11th, 2003, 07:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
rogerswt MINI2 Regular Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: St. Louis Local Time: 02:01 PM Posts: 102 Offline	Yes, that's it almost exactly. I didn't hear it until yesterday when I ran it for 30 minutes. The higher the revs, the louder the growl. It seems to spool down a little slower than the engine revs down, which puzzled me. I guess the compressor is the culprit. I'm about due for my first service, so I'll see what my dealer says.

Jun 24th, 2003, 11:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
IML337 saving the world Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Singapore Local Time: 05:01 AM Posts: 3,068 Offline	ah ha! I knew this would happen... As BrentD would know, we've already been right through Summer with our cars in Australia, and on days over about 25 degrees Celsius the a/c compressor howls like crazy. I had my car back at the dealer three times through summer and to no success. MINI Aus tried a few fixes advised by MINI UK but nothing worked. And the howl gets louder as the weather gets hotter. I was driving on a 40+ celsius day and expected my compressor to just pack it in and stop working - it sounds HORRIBLE! I was waiting for those in the northern hemisphere to start complaining as the weather warms up Hopefully a fix will be developed this season as I'm sure the many thousands of MINI owners in America complaining about this may have more of an impact than the comparatively few owners down under who complained for months with no results... Cheers

Jun 24th, 2003, 03:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
Damo MINI2fosi My Classifieds Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: MINItorque.com Local Time: 08:01 PM Posts: 10,689 Offline	Ahhh the joys of living in a cold country where the highest temp I've seen is 27 degrees C No doubt all the British ones have this problem but will never get anywhere hot enough to find out

Jun 24th, 2003, 07:34 PM	#9 (permalink)
Silvercooper MINI2 Regular Join Date: May 2002 Location: Montreal Local Time: 03:01 PM Posts: 252 Offline	I have the same growling sound coming from my A/C, anybody got their A/C light flashing? see my thread: http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=34277

Jun 30th, 2003, 04:55 PM	#10 (permalink)
pxlmxr MINI Mechanic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Southern California Local Time: 12:01 PM Posts: 36 Offline	I got the flashing a/c light and whine this weekend with an added bonus- my engine temp shot through the roof and the car overheated within a few minutes of turning on the a/c- anyone have any ideas on this one? -S

Jul 1st, 2003, 01:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
Silvercooper MINI2 Regular Join Date: May 2002 Location: Montreal Local Time: 03:01 PM Posts: 252 Offline	Quote: Originally posted by Arizona Cooper S OK, my MCS went in for scheduled service on Thursday, I got it back on Friday. The A/C noise was one of the things for them to look at. Naturally, the service tech reported that he could not reproduce the noise. He also wrote that I may be hearing 'the high speed fan'. When I asked the service advisor about this he explained to me that MINIs have a second fan. The primary cooling fan sits forward of the radiator, and he says there's another one behind the radiator - the 'high speed fan' - that only kicks one during extremely high temps with the A/C on. I haven't been able to crawl around the engine bay yet to look for this other fan. I'll let you know if I find this other fan. That doesn`t seem right to me, I can`t wait to see what my dealer will say about it. I am sure that this noise is not normal, how come only a few people on this forum noticed it? I think it comes from the compressor, I also noticed since this noise started that my car loses even more power when the A/C is on. I really need to slip the clutch to prevent the car from stalling, did you guys notice the same?

Jul 2nd, 2003, 04:36 AM	#13 (permalink)
Coca-Cooper MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Limassol Local Time: 09:01 PM Posts: 32 Offline	Yes, both me and a mate who both own '03 Coopers have this problem of a BIG TIME performance drop with the Auto AC switched on. His is a Feb '03 build and mine's a Nov '02. More worrying though was that my AC performance problems stared after I had the 33.x software upgrade performed (about 3 weeks ago) There's no problem, only solutions. http://mysite.freeserve.com/faircrof.../8-picture.jpg

Jul 15th, 2003, 02:22 PM	#14 (permalink)
Grinder Addict Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Northern VA. Local Time: 02:01 PM Posts: 1,118 Offline	I just became aware of this AC Howl being a somewhat common problem, so I hadn't searched for threads on it before. My car has just recenlty started making this noise. It did NOT make it last summer during the incredible heat, so I don't think this can be "normal" as Max implies. The first time it went in they said that my A/C coolant was low and they flushed the system and that seemed to mostly fix the problem (only the slightest hint of the howl remained). Then i went out driving in stop-and-go traffic in 95+ degree weather, and it came back louder than ever. Whatever.

Jul 15th, 2003, 03:45 PM	#15 (permalink)
Silvercooper MINI2 Regular Join Date: May 2002 Location: Montreal Local Time: 03:01 PM Posts: 252 Offline	My dealer says the noise is coming from the compressor pressure hose I don't understand how a hose can produce this noise??? The part is back order and they will replace it when it arrives, I will let you guys know if it solves the problem. Personnaly, I think it's the compressor itself making that noise.

Jul 15th, 2003, 06:50 PM	#16 (permalink)
Hat Wolves Did It! My Classifieds Join Date: Oct 2002 Local Time: 08:01 PM Posts: 15,954 Offline	mine just started on the way home tonight. not really 'howling' but a definate extra whirring noise that i've not heard before & which stops as soon as i turn off the (manual) air con. sounds like an extra fan kicking in as mentioned above. Its been around 28-30 degrees c the last few days here so the air con's been on quite a bit. i've never been convinved that the air con is actually cold enough. i wonder if its mileage related? i'm due my first service in the next few weeks & mileage is around 8500 currently.

Jul 15th, 2003, 07:49 PM	#17 (permalink)
politcat MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: FLORIDA Local Time: 03:01 PM Posts: 43 Offline	i've had my cooper for 3 weeks now in florida summer heat and humidity. the a/c is always on and has always sounded like a small airplane. the sound is not constant. my service manager told me it was the compressor. compressors do kick in and out. i have tried leaving the a/c off to see if i still hear the sound while idling, i don't hear it. i was in a parking lot (car park) the other day and i noticed that a late model car of a completely different make made the same whirring noise. i don't worry about it anymore.

Jul 16th, 2003, 04:15 AM	#18 (permalink)
uua MINI2 Regular Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Vancouver Island, B. Local Time: 12:01 PM Posts: 305 Offline	I had the aor compressor whirring growling. When in for service for a coolant tank replacement,the car was returned, but overheated within 5 minutes. At first they thought it was an air lock in the cooling system, but couldn't resolve the probem. The fault finally found to be the power steering cooling fan, which had stuck, causing the known fault of blowing the fuse which it shares with the cooling system (radiator) fan, ... causing the car to overheat. With the PS fan replaced, my air con groaning noise has been resolved. -uu sad goodbye to 2002 Chili MCS Happy hello to BRG JCW MCSC

Jul 16th, 2003, 12:27 PM	#19 (permalink)
Silvercooper MINI2 Regular Join Date: May 2002 Location: Montreal Local Time: 03:01 PM Posts: 252 Offline	They just replaced my PS fan for the same overheating problem and it didn't solve my A/C noise.

Jul 16th, 2003, 02:24 PM	#20 (permalink)
Grinder Addict Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Northern VA. Local Time: 02:01 PM Posts: 1,118 Offline	Does any warning light come on with the fuse being blown? Any way for me to tell if my PS fan is working/if the fuse is alright? Whatever.

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