When ever I turn on the A/C in my mini, I can always hear the A/C compressor howling and making noise when ever I get the rpm's up over 3000 or so. Is there any fix for this? Are they normally that loud?

It's kind of a howling noise.....it's been that way ever since I've had the car, it's not getting any louder.....it's just annoying.

Any ideas?

 

If you're talking about the blower getting louder in the cabin while reving then i think that's normal. If it's a noise in the engine bay then there may be a problem.

 

I'm talking about the actual compressor under the hood....it's ran by the serpentine belt.

 

Belt slipping? Never heard of a compressor howling...
Does the AC blow cold?

 

Yes, the A/C blows very cold. I don't think it's the belt....it's new, and it just doesn't sound like a belt slipping. It almost sounds like the bearings in the compressor are going bad. Kind of a growling noise that corresponds to engine RPM. As soon as I turn the A/C off, the noise goes away.

 

I have the same noise, I think. It is a higher pitch whiny howl, rpm dependent, noticeable over 3k, goes away when the compressor shuts off. No change in it's condition in years, but I did notice it's onset long ago.

My thoughts on it are, that the internals of the compressor are getting worn and that a new compressor is the only way to 'fix' the noise. Perhaps it is a bearing as you say, that explains the lack of performance degradation.

 

Yep....that sounds identical to the noise I hear. I'm glad I'm not the only one that's got a noisy compressor. I guess I'll just leave it until it locks up one day

 

I, like so many of you, have the same problem with the A/C compressor.

I took the car in this week for routine warranty service and told them to look at the compressor. Lo and behold, I picked up the car and the noise is completely gone. They installed, according to my work order, an isolator on the compressor. The noise is absolutely gone.

Only problem is that the A/C isn't s frigid as it used to be. Seems they either caused a leak somewhere, or didn't charge the system properly after servicing it. Going back in Monday for a recheck.

 

Anyone know anything about the "isolator" that was installed? Where can I get one? How do you install it? What is it?

 

I'll have a look at the work order receipt and post exactly what it says.

Back soon....

 

My AC has the same problem: blows cold but the pump makes noise. It's worse when I first turn it on and gets a little better after it's been on for a while. It hauls down the engine performance a bit as well. I've gotten so I turn it off just as a stoplight turns green and then turn it back on when I get it up to speed again.

 

My compressor has always howled like a banshee. It has been that way since day one of owning my 2003 Cooper. It seems louder when it's extremely humid. Which is about everyday this Summer I have had it looked at by my dealer several times and they have never found anything wrong with it. I assumed it was a "MINI" thing.

 

HI all,

I have recharged the A/C system(2008 mini cooper s) using a r134a refrigerant. I think there was leak in the cans tube valve that holds to the low side port valve. The pressure gauge kept fluctuating. It kept going to high when compressor kicks in even when I stopped pumping freon.
Now I have the same grinding noise that is coming on occasionally. The car has close to 50,000 mils. It never had this problem.

Can any of you let me know if I overfill it or removed the oil?

Thanks in advance for your response..

 

My 2005 R50 has made that howling noise almost since new, whenever the A/C is on. In the last couple of years I also noticed that when the compressor engages, the whole engine has a slight shudder. I mentioned this to the dealership (a big one) and without further details, they said that the compressor's bearings may be starting to seize. I never took it in as the A/C is still working very well, but their comment hints at a possible common problem with these compressors... I just put up with the howling sound and the occasional shudder. Plus, I rev the engine higher in each gear and shift down earlier to get good acceleration while the A/C is on.

 

Sounds like the howl is pretty common...

Add that to the list. Let's see. We have whiney power steering pumps, howling AC compressors, rattley dash boards. Anything else I'm missing?

Most of these problems can be solved with a good stereo.

 

Every new noise just adds character to this car... :-) like wrinkles to the face, hehe

 

Is there a way we can post recordings to share? I think I have the same sound described here, but the vocabulary is too subjective.

 

MY howling is gone now. I was told in attempting to top off, I overfilled it and hence the noise. I suggest taking it to a shop. The right way is to purge/vacuum and refill to the correct amount. I was reading that overfilling or loss of refrigerant/oil will make the compressor noisy. You only service an A/C of the car once or twice in its lifetime its wroth the money to get it fixed the right way.

 

Thanks for the info, I may call a local AC shop and see if they can at least test the pressures.

 

Mine started howling today as well. I'm going to have the AC system evac and recharged to make sure it hasn't run dry on oil. I'll let y'all know the results sometime next week!

 

I'm interested to hear if that fixes the problem or not. If it does...sounds like I need to head straight to the A/C shop to have them do the same to mine

 

I'm just waiting until next week when I start my Auto Tech class again and see if we have the equipment to do it so I can save some money If not I'll just have to cough up 70 bucks or so to have someone do it.

 

My A/C has "always" howled, but yesterday it really cranked it up a notch, to where it sounded like it was going to come apart. It still cranks out the cold, though. It was so bad yesterday that I turned it off on my way home, even though it was about 92 and must have been 80% humidity. I knew from quite a while ago that this howl is a common gripe on the R53, but not this bad. I hope that ClassicR53 finds out that a general A/C service helps! I'm subscribing to this thread, too. If I find out anything else, I'll post it.

 

Well, bad news is I found out that my Auto Tech class used to have the machine to totally vacuum out the system and recharge it with the correct amount of oil, but a few winters back the roof of the shed it was stored in caved in due to ice and destroyed it. So I'll have to scrounge up the money to get it done somewhere. I bag groceries for money so be patient with me, haha. I'll let you guys know when I can get it done!

 

anyone have any update on this? Mine is starting to get pretty loud. I was going to bring it to the dealer for the 90K service and have them take a look, just wondering how much money they are going to try to get from me for it!