Wasabi, my non-S 03 mini cooper has decided to blow hot air at me... I suppose it's better than smoke but...

First: When I turn the steering wheel it makes an electrical kind of whirring sound. (It has done this as long as I can remember, I thought it was normal, and the steering seems to be fine).

Second: Last year I noticed when turning, a belt squealing sound would take place. This was in the winter so I'm not sure if it coincides with item 3 below. The noise eventually went away.

Third: Over the summer, I turned on the a/c to find nothing but hot air. I attempted to add freon, but it wouldn't go in - was already full.

Fourth: I had overheating issues, but was because I ran out of coolant. I have run out of coolant two times in as many years (which I found odd since I never really had to add coolant in my other car). But not a big deal... add water, move on...

So my question is: Is this all related? And how do I get my a/c to work? (I know the hard question). I'm going to climb under and see if my p/s fan is moving freely, and I'm going to check my fuses. But beyond that... any suggestions based on the weird noises I've described?

Thanks everyone!!!

 

So I cannot say for sure if this is all related, but I think the early years had a tie in between the low speed fan and the PS pump.

OK, search this site for low speed fan problems, or search for posts by Chris.j.lamb. There is about 20 pages of stuff to read and options on how to fix.

Now for symptoms; If you idle the car with no a/c your fan should still come on when the temp gets to a certain spot. I cannot recall the temp. If it doesn't turn on, your stage 1 low speed may be faulty.

If you idle the car with the a/c on, the fan will turn on when it gets to a higher temp than what is called for on stage 1. However, the fan will cycle off/on because it is set to turn back off when it drops the temp about 7 degrees F.

Hope this helps.

 

I did see a bunch of stuff related to the fans on here, but I was just curious if anyone knew if the noises either sealed this theory or if it takes me off in another direction. The belt squealing sound when I would turn the wheel sometime before the a/c went out is of particular interest in my mind. And also the fact that I've always had a kind of whirring sound when I turn the wheel (left or right).

Oh and another strange thing - my brake pedal hisses (it hasn't been doing it lately. I think it only does it when I have the heat on... then again, since I haven't been running the air, I can't say as to whether it does it when I have the air on). Probably not related... Just throwing it in the mix of weird things