not sure what you call those little circle vents on top of the dash. i thought they were defroster vents. the little circles on top on each side of the cabin near the side windows. anyhow i've noticed with the weather warming up on my drives home from work that hot air is coming out of them. a/c and heat is off. am i missing something? is there a way to close the vents that i don't know about? doesn't seem normal that they would constantly be allowing air through them like a vent. but, i guess i could be wrong .

 

They are defroster vents, for the side windows so you can see the mirrors and out the side of the car.
At highway speeds I find the movement of the car seems to naturally force air through those vents.

 

oh ok. thank you. i was a little worried there. a/c and heater both work fine so i was just wondering. this will be my first summer with the MINI and i was actually surprised the other day when i used the a/c for the first time that it actually worked pretty well. thank you for the info.

 

Drove around today with the motor well warmed up and the heater/defroster off. Absolutely no warm air coming out of the defroster vents (it was like 40 degrees, so I would have noticed). I think the air direction -floor, dash, defrost- is controlled by vacuum operated gates. You may have a vacuum leak that is allowing the defroster gate to open slightly.
-skip-

 

I do have the same "problem"....
a coincidence????

 

You probably do not have a problem.
Before you turn the system off, just have the flow to the floor (heat) and you will likely not feel the warm air out of the vents. If you have the air control going to the floor and still have heat out of the vents you may have a problem. However, unless this bugs you don't worry about it until you are in for your next service.

 

come to think of it LAST time i used the heater the other morning, it was a particulary cold morning (for socal) and the windows were all fogged up. we get that moist fog on our windows here even on warm days- always attributed it to the ocean air out here. anyway, i had it in auto mode which blows air out the vents as opposed to the normal floor position i use. it was after i turned off the heater that i noticed the air coming out of the vents.

thanks for that tip i will try it when i get in the MINI in a few.

not really a huge deal but, with the weather here in the valley getting warmer, and soon it will be HOT (90-100+) if there is an issue i don't want any more hot air blowing on me. i'm getting my coolant flushed tomorrow so if the issue persists after i try that tip, i'll have it checked.

 

ok i turned the heater on switched to floor and turned it off. no air coming out of the defroster vents. BUT, now there is air coming out of the floor vents! soooo vacuum leak like mention above?

if it is a leak i could probably do this myself. BUT where would the leak be? behind the dash or in the engine bay? i guess i'm asking where does the line that controls the flaps connect to the heater controls? if there is one which, i assume there would be if there is a leak in the first place. if it is inside the engine bay that would be easy enough. i was actually planning on switching over to some red silicon hoses for bling. but, if it requires pulling a bunch of dash pieces that could be a PITA. i have pulled dash parts to wire the aux input, etc.

any input would be great. thanks!

 

No, that is just the vent function, not likely a problem.
Almost all cars have the vent function when the AC and heat are off. This allows fresh air to come in even when the systems are off.

 

ah ok, thank you!