A/C quit yesterday. Parked, it was working fine, get back in car, hot air only. Noticed compressor does not engage. Checked all the fuses/relay, all good. Bought a can of the freon to throw some in, hoping it'd work. Put the connector on, and the pressure shows good/to the high side.

Anyone have any ideas? It's an '05 R53


Thanks!

 

Not sure if this will help, but here is a thread on NAM with some discussion about the compressor. If you need to replace it there is a good DIY at post #20. Another thread of discussion here. All testing fuses/compressor checks out, but they all seem to go ahead and replace it. Maybe someone will have more input for you as well.

 

Could be the ac clutch or coil. Seems to be a pretty common problem.

Easier and cheaper than doing the whole compressor since you dont have to mess with the lines and trying to refill it correctly

 

I always suggest you start with a proper set of gauges to measure high and low side. $40 at Harbor Freight with their common 20% off coupon. What hi&lo side pressure readings did you get at what outside temperature? It tells a lot. Much better of course with the compressor engaged...

MINI (and BMW) doesn't specify a fill pressure. They give a total fill weight. To fill it properly, You would need to recover what's in there, pull vacuum (vacuum pump $80 at HF) and then fill. Pumping vacuum for an extended time (like overnight) also does a decent job at drying and reactivating the drier material Never a bad thing... If it won't hold vacuum, then you know you have a leak to chase. Same steps if you need to replace the compressor. Recover, new compressor, vacuum, fill...

 

My dad has a set...Will have to get out to his place and check it out. Being that it just went out and worked great when parked, and not when I went out a couple hours later, I'd guess its the coil/clutch.

 

Do some searching. You can buy the a.c. compressor clutch solenoid on eBay. You can replace it without opening the system. $100 in parts and 1 to 2 hours you are back in business.

 

Will do...Watched the video posted a couple posts up. Looks super easy for my skill-set.

 

Is anything else acting up? I ask because ours suddenly quit working, but along with other random electronics like radio, wipers, turn signals and a few others. I checked fuses, A/C pressure, switches ...etc, ended up being a wet body control module (BC1) behind the passenger kick panel. Dried it up and everything was back to normal. So before you toss parts/money at it, check there.