I know of a guy who had this issue when he bought and immediately lowered a first release Clubman. He was so p.o.'d over it he sold the car and walked away from MINI after having been a multiple MINI owner since "the old days"

 

Look at the installation instructions for the KW Coilovers...
http://docs.kwsuspension.de/eah68620070.pdf

See page 10...they recognize this problem and tell you how to fix it.

It's nice they do. Would it be nice for others to do the same?????

 

You need to ask the dealer to show you how the lowering damaged the lines, and you should take pictures of it. Your installer may be at fault. I've lowered many R56's without any problems. But I did have one car come in that the someone bent the A/C line and caused it to rub on the belt and cut it.

I'd be interested in the production dates of the cars that have the line running too close to the axle as there may have been a change causing some cars to have this happen and others to not have it.

 

Post up the Pic tintman718! I am gonna dream about AccuAir Suspension tonight.

 

i suspiciously lost ac a few weeks after switching from springs to coils. i'll have to jack it up tonight and see if there's any damage under there.

 

..did you get it fixed (AC lines replaced) yet? ...interested to know if it kinked the lines...or rubbed them down or pinched them...etc.

..any pics of the damage to the lines?
__________________________________________________ ___

..last week, I put in the NM springs...and after reading this thread, made sure to look out for this.

Took some pics of the passenger side, 1st pic is before spring install, with tire off..and suspension hanging.
..2nd pic is after install, and car back on its wheels..just poked the camera around wheel and snapped pic...can see the AC line just about 1 inch above drive shaft.

It doesn't look to be close enough to be of concern even under hard compressions...right?
..be happy to hear any input from the suspension gurus.don't want any ac probs..here in Tx
* I did view the link http://docs.kwsuspension.de/eah68620070.pdf ..but it looks like their pic is of car on stands/suspension hanging..??
J

 

got the car up on a lift today and took a peak. you can see here where the axle is rubbing the AC line. my quandary is that it doesn't look like there's a hole worn in yet, but i don't have any cold air. possibly this wear mark is making the wall thickness small enough for the refrigerant to leak out over time? or perhaps there's a hairline crack i couldn't feel with my finger.



it was mentioned in the KW instructions to "bend it up out of the way", but the line did not feel mailable. I could move it up maybe .5 - .75", but once i let go it just returned to the initial position. i did notice that in front of the rub, maybe 3", the line is sitting in this clip.



i didn't want to take it out of the clip for fear of it rubbing on the pulley you can see in the picture. would it be reasonable to make a small bracket to move the clip up a bit? or is it ok to take the AC line out of the clip and just let it sit above it?


for the record i'm on h&r street coilovers; the spring perches are sitting 15mm up from the bottom.

 

hardingsan, my line looks just like your's. I unclipped the line, moved it above the clip, and ziptied it about an inch higher. I'll have to check it again because the axle could cut right through the ziptie if they touch.



Also, if you can't find a leak, the standard procedure is to recharge the system with a dyed oil and look for the leak with a UV light. My A/C is running a lot warmer than it used to, so I'm going to have to do this as well.

 

Yup thats exactly what mine was like...I ordered a new line from penske parts for like $70 plus the rings. I'm going to take it to my mechanic today to get it done and move the line. He said maybe I hit a pothole hard enough to make the axle break the line.

 

tintman - in that pic of the line ziptied, ..is that showing clearance with your car resting normally on its suspension...or jacked up with suspension hanging?

..before you ziptied up higher, how close was it to the driveshaft while car resting normally on suspension?
...in my 2nd pic from earlier post...I've got about an inch of clearance...I should probably just move it up a bit just to be sure.

sure am glad I saw this thread...right around the time I finally lowered the car a bit
thanks,
J

 

Ya know this is a problem that could happen without lowering the car. I have bottomed mine out on potholes over the years, and it seems that is no different than lowering the car. I plan to look at mine next weekend and see if there are any issues. If its been rubbing, Mini is fixing it as a warrantee issue (still have stock springs).

This is a really stupid arrangement on Mini's part.

 

My pic is of the suspension hanging free. I'm not sure what the clearance was previously, but I raised the line about 1".

What's interesting is that not all R56's have that rubber cylinder on the axle. It looks like a vibration damper, but not sure.

 

i ziptied mine in the same manner. thanks for the picture.

i did notice while i was fiddling with it that the wear mark was covered in a slivery/grey greasy substance. do you know A: the color of the oil in the R134 and B: is the leak detector only noticeable with a UV light or is it also obnoxiously colored i.e. can i leak test myself?

 

It's colorless. I would recommend visiting your local mechanic. This is really something you need the right tools for. It's important you know if and how much refrigerant is in the system.

The ghetto way to do this is to clean the suspected leak area with brake cleaner, then recharge the system with a can or two from the auto parts store. After that you monitor for residue again.

 

Ok so my line was broke pretty much the same spot as the pic above but had an actual hole in it so maybe you're lucky so far lol. anyways i paid 72 for the line and had my mechanic change it for 250 included the ac recharge and all that. the ac runs like a champ now. The line is easy enough to replace yourself especially with the DOS intake rather than the stock intake box..all you have to do is remove the wheel and pull the right side of the fender lining off and you'll see how easy it is..too bad i didnt know that or else i woulda just changed it myself and had the mechanic charge the system.

 

FWIW - I looked at my '07 and the line has a bend in it just before it goes over the axial and clears it by about 1-1/2" with the car on the ground. Plus it goes over the inner CV which is fixed in place. So Mini changed something to make this worse for you guys.

 

I'm lowered about 1.5" and I'm having this problem.

To those of you who zip tied your AC line higher up... have you had any problems with that? Or does it seem like a stable solution?

 

Only problem i had was i hit a big bump and broke my condenser, other than that i bent the line slightly updawards and get no contact.

 

I'm constantly blown away at how different MINIs are from car to car. I moved mine out of the way just in case, but it still was never very close.

Even lowered 6" mine doesn't come near the AC line. 1.5" drop is causing problems? That's within stock suspension travel range.

 

Do "S" and "base" coopers route the line in the same fashion?

 

I have to assume that's one of the reasons for the difference in clearances.

 

I've had coilovers for 8 months and haven't had any problems. I don't remember if my installer had to move the AC line or not though. You'd think if I was going to have a problem, it'd surface within those 8 months, but regardless now I'm feeling a little worried haha. Guess the next time I'm under there I should check just to make sure.

 

I also suspect the lines chnaged from certain years not sure but i suspect

 

All you need for finding AC leaks in the future is a UV light. Even a cheepo light will work. AC systems have a green Florence dye added.

 

Was it made in Florence?