Driving home from work last week in 100+ degree heat with the A/C on, just rolling along at highway speed I hear the sound of something letting off pressure, like maybe one of my tires was letting all its air out. I sort of expected to start riding rough, but it stayed riding smooth, no change in the way the engine ran, but I couldn't help wonder what that noise was. Real soon after that, I noticed it was getting warmer in the car. And warmer. And warmer. I knew what the noise was then. My AC had crapped out. Since it was a rapid loss of pressure, I figured finding the problem would not be hard. It wasn't. Under the hood on the driver's side below the plastic air inlet duct I can see a hose has come apart. It looks like it failed where the hard line that would be used while charging the system meets the rubber hose. In other words, it doesn't look like the rubber failed, it looks like it failed at a mechanical joint. I haven't looked at it very hard yet. Anyway, does anyone know if Auto Zone or NAPA (someplace like that) sells the hoses and what not for our little cars? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

Nobody's ever had Air conditioning failure that could provide any insight?

 

This was helpful.

 

I assume you are out of warranty. Find a specialty A/C outfit somewhere if possible. If you are planning replacing the hose yourself, remove the hose, and very securely tape up the fittings that are still on the car so no dirt or grit, or xs air or moisture can get in.

Take the hose to the hose place and have them make up a duplicate (this is assuming you choose not to just buy the hose from MINI). The fittings may or may not have O-ring seals, replace them if possible, lube them with compressor oil when you put it all back together. Make sure the hose is not in a bind or twist or is rubbing on something that would abrade the outside. These hoses are all double wall so a catastrophic rupture of the inner hose does not blow freon out with great force and also allows for the freon to come out more slowly which may save some of the oil in the system. This also makes finding the exact point of a hose leak very hard. Sound like you just had a hose where the crimp connection between rubber and metal was just not made properly.

Now you must evac the system with a vac pump capable of doing A/C systems. I'm guessing you may not have such a pump, or gauges, or maybe the know how to recharge it, so take it to a reputable A/C service site and have it evacuated and recharged properly. If you have such a pump, you seal off the system and watch the vac gauge for about 30 min to see if you have a leak.

Depending on the mileage and how long the system may have been open to air, replacing the receiver/drier may or may not be needed. All this is an easy job if you know A/C system operation and have the tools. If you don't then just pay someone competent to do this for you.

Sorry for all the details above but you asked a question and were not getting any responses and I know that can sometimes get frustrating. Just trying to help a little.

YD

 

Thanks for the reply. It turns out the hose did fail at a mechanical joint of sorts. The hard line up front on the driver's side the has the schrader valve and cap on it mates with the rubber portion of hose just below the duct for the air intake. That's where the failure is. I'm not sure if it needs to be re-crimped or if the hose needs to be replaced entirely. But I can't find a hose anywhere (outside of dealers). The closest dealr to me is in Memphis, TN. I'm in Little Rock, AR. It kinda makes dropping the car off at the dealer a major undertaking. There is a reputable air conditioning shop in town here, and I guess I'll let them give the repair a try if they feel they can. No way I can fix it.

 

Also make sure you don't have a failed motor mount or that the hose came unsecured, causing it to vibrate - that can cause a hard line failure too. Having the hose replaced by an A/C shop is the right thing to do, but I'd probably just order the hose from MINI to make sure you get the right one - I believe in keeping the car OEM. I'm sure the A/C shop can make up a new hose, but with the way this one's made I'd prefer to have the OEM part and just have them install it, evac the system and recharge.

Another reason to have a good A/C shop do the work is that when they recharge it they'll check the pressures to make sure it's not over charged and running too high of head pressure - which can also cause a hose to fail.

I take it modern A/C sytems no longer have a high pressure fusible plug? It makes sense that they wouldn't, relying on high/low pressure switches to shut the system down if someting goes out of whack.

Also make sure your cooling fans are working properly, they should all be on when the A/C's on, unless you're motoring down the highway......

 

Good call on the motor mounts. I will need to check them. I don't beat on my car, but it does have more power than it was designed for.

 

If you've changed to those hard poly mounts, it could cause a vibration related failure of the hose, just make sure it's clamped down well (on the hard line part, leave the rubber line free somewhere to absorb the movement between the engine and the body) so that it can't vibrate and you should be OK........

No reason why a local A/C shop can't handle this tho.....replace the line tho, you can't re-crimp it.

 

I still have stock mounts. I was considering switching to something more rigid, though.

 

Well, $404 later, the hose is replaced, the system is recharged, and all is functional again. $130 of parts, freaon and oil, $270 labor.

 

good to hear you fixed the problem.
I'm having a similar issue, which shop repaired your AC line and where did you get the part, did you order the part yourself.

 

Mhnd, you realize you are responding to a post that is 7 years old?

 

today's winner of the resurrection award!

sorry mhnd .... I APPLAUD your reading older posts, they are a wealth of knowledge

but now you know to check the age of the last post b4 adding . . . .

I'd buy you a cold drink in acknowledgement of crossing a bar . . . .

 

+1
Heck...7 years!! Wow...I second the award!!
The again...maybe they are building post counts!!
Bet they want to get in the 6th gear lounge!!

 

8 years later here I am

Do I win anything now lol