my mini ac is too cold

then again, i seem to be on ly one with a problem free mini :smile:

 

I don't remember if I have posted this before in this forum but ... take a look at the holes in the back of the trunk just below the hatch. They are the air exit holes and the A/C is very bad if they are blocked. The standard "boot box" blocks them and adding a strip of wood to keep it away from the holes made a big differece to my A/C.

 

the AC just plain sucks in hot climates especially if you have a sunroof.....I'm now guessing some of the designs flaws are left over from the Rover days....I rented a new Rover Discovery while on vacation and got a kick out of the fact it had the same crappy auto AC the mini's have. Also funny, both sun roofs, front and back in the Rover had no solid sun screen, but the exact same mesh screen of the minis....too funny, guess there are still some pathetic English flaws left over..lol

 

I ordered a white top, no sunroof and the non ACC A/C-heater to afford myself the best possible control over interior cooling. I think I made some good choices as the A/C has to work hard to keep the temps cool inside on truly hot days. When the outside temp goes much over a 100°F, the A/C must be at full cold output to maintain a pleasant inside temp whereas on my Chevy 2500HD truck once the inside is cooled down I must turn down the A/C as it will get too cold inside no matter what the outside temp. I think the A/C on the MC/MCS is adequate as is, but throw in a dark top and/or sunroof and it appears that you are reaching its cooling limits. The good news is the A/C continues to produce cold air, unlike the 1982 BMW 528e’s that would freeze up the evaporative coil which would cause the A/C to stop producing cold air until it thawed out and the factory was unable to totally resolve the problem. BMW had to redesign the A/C system to solve the problem.
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2003 Chili Red/White MCS, sport pack w/white wheels, cold weather pack, black leather w/anthracite dash, DVD-based Navigation w/OBC, HK sound, MFSW, PDC, rain sensing wipers & auto dim mirror.

 

>>the AC just plain sucks in hot climates especially if you have a sunroof.....I'm now guessing some of the designs flaws are left over from the Rover days....I rented a new Rover Discovery while on vacation and got a kick out of the fact it had the same crappy auto AC the mini's have. Also funny, both sun roofs, front and back in the Rover had no solid sun screen, but the exact same mesh screen of the minis....too funny, guess there are still some pathetic English flaws left over..lol


Hmm? Makes me wonder why such differences in the MINI's airconditioner being reported. I live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Temps here are now in the low 90's every single day with hummidity nearly 100 percent. My MINI's airconditioner ROCKS!! I have a white roof with the electric sunroof and I wouldn't change a thing.

My last vehicle was a Dodge Ram Quad Cab 4X4 and I can say without a doubt that the MINI has a better airconditioner in it than the Dodge Ram. My wife can attest to that too! She's always telling me to turn the air down in the MINI because I'm freezng her out of the car!

BTW, we have the auto air, not the standard, if that makes a difference.

Yfoiler

 

Our A/C is also working great. We have a Pepper White/Solid black top Cooper CVT with manual A/C controls and ZERO problems achieving a cold cockpit in South Florida's 95F+ 100% humidity days.

Temperature at the dash vents is between 39F and 43F.

Have the dealer check that dash temp to ensure the system is churning out the correct amount conditioned air.

 

Mine is working great! I find that it cools the car very fast, and we have definitely had some hot days down here-95 and over.

Erin

 

I have to agree, the AC sucks.

The coldest duct temperature I can get is 50°. To get that, I turn the AC on, press the recirculate button (Manual AC), turn the blower on high and wait until the temp drops to 60°. Then I drop it down one speed to get it to cool to the coldest temp. If you keep the blower on high speed all the time, the temp won't drop the extra 10°.

I took it in to have them (Moritz Mini in Arlington TX) look at my AC a couple of weeks back. The first time they had it, they checked the temperature first thing in the morning when the outside temp was 72°. Since they were getting 43° duct temp, they assumed it was alright and didn't do anything else to it. The second time I took it in, they kept it for 2 days and they said they took the AC apart and that it should be much better now. Bullcaca. I don't think they did anything to it at all. Earlier this week, MINIUSA called to see how happy I was with the service that was performed on my MINI. Hmmm. Payback time.

 

My A/C is mildly cold as well. I have a digital thermometer and took temp readings the whole way home from work yesterday. It was 88 degrees outside and I was going 70 MPH for 50 miles. The coldest temperature I could get out of the vents was about 54 degrees. This is with my Auto A/C in manual mode, A/C on, Recirculate on and at face level setting. If I put the thermometer in the top center dash vent I get 10 degrees less, but only after an hour of driving! Why such a huge difference? This A/C will not cool the car down fast enough and I don't know what to do. My MCS is is Dark Silver/ Black top and I have 20% tint all the way around. Arrrg.

For comparison, I usually drive my commuter car to work, which is a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer (don't laugh at me). =-) The A/C in this car rocks! With the A/C on and recirculate active, I'm getting 40-42 at the vents at all times! It cools the car super fast. In my MINI it takes over an hour just to get comfortable. By that time, I'm usually home. Is something wrong with my A/C on my MCS? I'm going to take it in next week, but don't want them "tearing" my car apart if this is the norm for this car.

 

Is something wrong with my A/C on my MCS? I'm going to take it in next week, but don't want them "tearing" my car apart if this is the norm for this car.

unfortunately, I don't think there is anything they can do to improve it as I have tried everything at the dealer...granted when it is 116 in Phoenix like this week, then any AC will have to work overtime, but at 95 degrees it still labors. And you are right, when I was shopping for a car for my son, we drove a 2003 Mitsu Lancer, not the Evo, but the OZ model and the temp here in Phoenix was 108 and the AC blew me away how terrific it was.....I was so amazed, I made the salesman open the hood and then it became apparent, the car had 2 blowers. Very well thought out. My son ended up buying a slightly used Jetta 1.8T and the AC in that car rocked as well. Now when test driving cars, the first thing I check out is the AC...salespeople think I'm slightly crazed when I start gushing about how great the AC is...lol !

Also...do you have a sunroof...because of no solid cover, it allows a temendous amount of heat in.....I finally relented and had my sunroof tinted, I know you aren't suppose to do it, but I couldn't stand it anymore...it definitely helped on the 110 plus days...lol!

 

To make a quick story short , my gas cap plate thingy. Fell off the dealer oredered replacement they had it today.
While there they told me there was a recall for 'Auxillary fan adapter cable'
When i picked it up the service told me it had something to do with the a/c
Dont know if it is any different then it was before but it could mean something to you people with problems.

 

Just an update:

I took my MCS in to have the A/C checked. Turns out there was only 13.5oz of R134 in the system which is about 384 grams. The sticker under the hood says the system should have 415 grams plus or minus 10 grams. That would make the minimum quantity 405 grams and the max at 425 grams. I was definately under.

My dealer recharged my system with exactly 15 oz of R134, which I figured out to be 426.14 grams. 1.14 grams over. Big whoop! You have to be careful though since over charging an A/C system can cause a lower cooling ability just like under chargine. At any rate, I can already tell there is a HUGE difference in cooling capacity. Much better now.

I also purchased one of the sunroof Cooper Flags from http://www.cooperflags.com. I highly recommend this to help keep the blazing heat of your sunroof equipped MC's or MCS's!! Plus it looks great!