My heater is acting weird. Heres whats going on, when I press the button to send the air flow to the floor, all I get is a very small amout of air. The air flow is mostly directed to the defrost. Both the defrost and the "a/c" vents get air flow, but nothing to the floors, just seems to seep out. I was thinking it is the actuator that has gone bad, but I am not sure. I was going to check to see if the vent was clogged but have no idea where to look. Any help would be great. Thanks mates.

 

Most of these actuators work off of vacuum, check for loose or split hoses....

 

I had the same problem, no flow to the floor vents. I assume you have climate control (i.e. you dial up the desired temperature and system adjusts fan speed automatically).There is a way to run the diagnostics using only your fingers by holding two buttons at a time on the A/C control panel. I dont have the instructions in front of me now but if you like I could email them to you when I get home.Long story short - the diagnostics will report any faults in the servo motors used to drive the flaps located inside the air box under the dash.The diagnostics will also cycle the three servo motors and report success of failure. The limit switches are located inside the motors so the diag ccan only report that the motor is good but cannot verify if the flaps actually moved.On my car, the hinge on the flap that directs air flow to the footwell was broken. I purchased the kit from MINI for about $40 bucks. The kit contains all the flaps and links inside the airbox. The entire dash has to be removed to access the airbox, and replace the broken part.But run the diagnostics first befor making this commitment. If the diag passes the flap is broken. The dealer charges $1000 plus to do the work. Hope this helps and good luck.

 

None of these actuators work off of vacuum....

 

I posted this problem that started today for me in my '02. Same issue as Mokmokmini outlined.

Frenchie, can you email me the diagnostic instructions?

 

Here is the link; see post #15 and 17 where the instructions and codes are posted.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-problem.html

 

Thanks Frenchie! I was able to run Mode1 and got a FF 09, air distribution fault. I also ran Mode2 calibration and it returned a CC, calibration complete. Mode3 seemed useless, so I turned off the key, waited a minute and then started the MINI. Interestingly enough, the initial cold air was directed to the footwell areas. After a minute of warming up, the climate control took over and closed off the footwell (I heard the flap close). Then, I was back to the problem. I ran the diagnostics again and got the same fault.

Unless you or someone else has other thoughts, I think I'm up for replacing the air distribution control servo motor as shown in the Bentley Manual. Seems easy enough to get to and replace (its behind the IHKA and toggle sections). Can't cost that much. If that doesn't correct the issue then I'll let a dealer mess with it. I figure if the flap is indeed moving, it isn't the problem which leads me to the servo motor misbehaving (faulting).

Thanks again.

 

Does anyone's floor vents blow nice and hard, or used to blow nice and hard. Mine never has since day one.

YD

 

I'd say no, but now that it doesn't at all, I miss it a lot.

Ordered an Actuator, Air Distribution, a.k.a. Air Distribution Servo Motor. $61 + tax. Now to plan a day to disassemble the center console.

 

FF09 means that a concern with the servo motor has been identified!

This means that the servo was commanded to move and the feedback received by the controller was not as expected.

There is either a problem internal to the servo or the door that the servo is coupled to may be too hard to move.

I would suggest to decouple the servo with the electrical connector still connected, then try to move the door by hand to see if the motion is smooth without any binding, if it feels good then try the diag again with the servo still in your hand; observe that the motion is smooth without any grinding (although the reaction may be different since the controller is expecting a mechanical end stop; this is how it knows when the door is fully open or closed)

The servo was around $50 from the dealer and can be swapped by removing the down tubes and side cover; if memory serves there is a large gear on the shaft, maybe there is a tooth missing causing it to jam and misinterpret as an end stop.

Good luck and please advise how you make out.

 

Hard to quantify what is considered hard; I noticed that if I dial up heat and then turn off the fan, I get an air flow equivalent to a fan speed setting of about 3 when driving at highway speed; also you will experience diminished airflow if the cabin filter is blocked.

 

Thanks!

That is the plan. I prefer to have the likely part in-hand when I tear the MINI apart. After inspecting and fiddling around, I'll decide what I'll do and button it up. It's my daily driver so Sunday night means reassembled and in running condition. If the part isn't needed and returnable, I will.

I've noticed that upon starting the MINI, the floor vent does blow cold air for a few seconds. Once the climate control starts to manage the vents, the fan slows down, the floor vents close, then as the car heats up the floor vents just don't open back up. Vent flaps seem to be free. I'll know better when I open it up. At least the Bentley manual covers this removal/installation and those components ahead of it.

Thanks again.

 

Hey frenchie - being inquizative, I ran the diagnostics again a few times over the last couple days. Now I only get a FF 00 code. That code isn't in the list, though I might guess it means no fault found. I still have the same issue with no change. The new servo motor will probably be picked up Tuesday at which time I'll tear down the center console to get in there. In the meantime I taped a plastic wrapper from the left dash vent to drop some hot air down to my feet. Wouldn't you know it would be quite cold and snowing here in Ohio during this problem.

 

FF00 means no fault found. This confirms that the servo is no longer mechanically coupled to the air distribution flap.

The linkage on the flap is most likely broken and the entire flap has to be replaced.

 

Here's an update: The other day I got anxious, so I went out and used a flashlight and mirror trying to see something up in the vents. Of course, I couldn't see anything. But it hit me to try gently proding up the vents to see if I could at least prop the footwell damper open a little. I mean, it's getting cold around here. So I made a short coat hanger tool, curved as closely to the footwell vents as I could and gently pushed around up in there from both driver and passenger vents. With a little resistance, I was able to move the damper to an open posistion and decided to just leave the coat hanger there for now. With this in place I left the control in manual floor mode just to make sure nothing tries to move the damper. Yesterday, it is now loose and slips out, but the floor vents stay open. Hey, I have heat to the feet now!

Today I stopped and picked up a new air distribution servor unit. I also ran the system through all positions throughout the day and let the auto A/C run it for some time and all appears to be working correctly. I don't know why and really don't care for now while the temperatures dip into the single digits. Perhaps having a replacement part in the MINI just scared it into operating correctly or something loose was dislodged.

I'll just monitor the situation and wait for warm weather before trying anything else.

btw, the air distribution servo unit has a projecting toothed gear on the backside, maybe an inch or so in diameter. There are dogs on the inside of the gear shaft restricting the rotation of the gear to maybe 270 +/-. Seems if one part of the air distribution isn't working correctly but another is it would have to be in the linkage or dampers as frenchie suggests since this servo just turns a gear. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to get in there and just look around. I've also had no luck finding any sources for more details or photos of an air box or it's working parts.

 

Thats great news! and thanks for the feedback.

 

Well at least I know whats wrong with mine now. I get the FF00 code, but no air to the feet. I did the coat hanger in the floor outlet trick and got air, but the flapper slams shut when I pull the wire. It looks like a flapper replacement may be in order. Is this a part I can buy separate or is it part of a kit? Am I really gonna have to pull the entire dash for this? I have the BMW/MINI Cooper shop manual on DVD, and this is gonna be a job!

Looks like the part can only be ordered as a kit? 64116910916 is the number.

 

The unit containing the hardware is located behind the down tubes and up against the firewall; to gain access the dash assembly has to be removed. the kit contains all the flaps and gears found inside the unit. I would strongly suggest to replace every part in the kit as the parts snap together. They are intended to snap together once, disassembly will require un-snapping and re-snapping (that three snaps) so just install the new parts as you re- assemble the unit and everything will last longer.

MINI only sells the kit so as not to promote reusing parts for the reason mentioned above.

To remove the dash all the cables connected in the lower left and right foot well have to be disconnected, I think the Bentley manual covers the procedure; its not difficult if one is comfortable working with all the small electrical connectors, otherwise when reassembled there may be other errors if connectors get damaged in the process. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

Update: That damper slipped shut again. I stopped to say hello to another MINI owner and upon opening the window I heard the damper slip and "thunk" shut. Seems the air pressure in the box works against this particular damper being open. Back to the coat hanger.

Some nice summer weekend I'll take that dash apart and install the kit o'parts.

 

Thanks, frenchie! I guess I will continue with the welding wire prop until the summer. I wonder how much MINI wants for the kit?

 

My 2002 Cooper has decided that I don't need air flow to my feet despite living in Wisconsin. The dealer said it had a faulty air distribution activator and it would cost $300 to replace it. This didn't fix anything. So they said it may need air flaps in the heater box replaced. They said it would be $1600 to do this as there was 13 hours of labor involved. I declined the repair and had them put my old air distribution activator back in as the new one didn't make any difference. This reduced my bill anyway. Is the air distribution activator the servo you are talking about in this thread? You also talk about checking diagnostic codes. How do I do this? Also, if I do need to replace the air flap kit, what repair manual do you recommend? Thanks for your help!

 

Yes this discussion is about the air distribution flap; the link to the diag and error codes is in post #6 above.

As I stated the dash will need to be removed; I neglected to mention that the coolant and freon from the A/C will have to be purged, its not a small job but can be done one step at a time. Good luck!

 

I'll sell you a sketch of my magic coat hanger design for $10.00. Quite a bit less than the full air box kit with labor. Although it bugs me that it isn't working correctly on its own, I really don't notice any difference in operation with the footwell damper propped open. All other functions work normally such as temperature control, fan speed, defrost, etc. I only pull the coat hanger out if I want full defrost on the windscreen.

 

Deal! E-mail the sketch to beemeli@sbcglobal.net - The check is in the mail...really..

 

I'll post a pic tomorrow after work.

Here's a pic onasled posted for me at m|u while discussing the same question. He had taken the picture when tearing down his MINI.

The air distribution servo unit can be seen mounted to a white section (item 2 in the upper diagram), likely part of the linkage system (part of the misc. parts replacement kit - item 2 in the lower diagram) that manipulates the dampers. A little more studying including the realoem sketch it appears much of the linkage is on the outside of the air box on the driver's side. Since my damper seems to rotate in place, I think it's a linkage problem so I'm going to squeeze myself under there and see if I can locate a broken linkage arm or something.