My Air conditioning light flashes and the AC cuts out at stoplights and in heavy traffic , is this normal? [2002 mini cooper] newbie owner.

 

This usually indicates that the radiator fan is not functioning. Most times this is due to a blown fuse (F05 in the unterhood fuse box, 5 amps). The blown fuse is almost always due to a siezed power steering cooling fan located under the car. Check the fuse. If blown, try a replacement. If it blows immediately, you have an electrical problem. If it does not blow and the radiator fan works normally (run the a/c, the fan should run), the problem is most likely due to the PS fan. The PS fan does not run all the time, rather, it runs when the radiator fan engages it's high speed when the engine is hot and the a/c is running.

If F05 is good, check other fuse for the radiator fan. If the fan still does not run, the motor or circuits feeding it could be bad.