My "new to me" 2004 Mini Cooper has just stopped blowing cold air from the AC. I looked through several threads here and elsewhere, found the procedure for running the self-diagnosis, and performed it.

There were no errors. The self-calibration finished successfully.

And still no cold air....

I've read that a very common failure on these cars is the AC compressor clutch. Am I right to jump to that, given that all other self-test components didn't fail their tests? What other diagnostic procedures can I run to further isolate the cause?

I appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Regarding the AC clutch, that's an easy visual check.

With your car running and the AC not on, shine a flashlight onto the AC pulley from above.

You'll see that the center of the pulley isn't spinning.

Now, activate the AC and return to the AC pulley with the flashlight.

If (when the AC kicks on) the center of the pulley spins, your AC compressor clutch is functioning properly.

 

If the system is low on refrigerant, the compressor clutch will not engage.

 

+1 I'd check the refrigerant. Any strange noises at all? Some info HERE, which ended up being the compressor.

 

any decent garage can check your gas levels and check for leaks .... nothing unique about MINI a/c until you need parts . . .

 

Do you get AC when the engine is first started and still not warmed up, or no AC at all? If it's the first, the heater control (doors on a MINI, not a valve) may be stuck open and the car is mixing hot and cold. The hot usually wins...

And I'll second the comment about the refrigerant being low. Below a certain pressure, the computer will lock out the compressor to protect it. You need to put proper hvac gauges on it and see what is happening.

Please resist the temptation to use quickie leak seal goo. It seems to make little jobs into big jobs...

 

Last night I started my AC and my compressor clutch seemed to engage. Also, for a moment I seemed to get a brief blast of chilled air, but then it warmed up, so the mixer doors do seem to be malfunctioning. This was a problem with my old 750iL's IHKA system late in its life, and it was a royal pain to fix.

Thanks for helping with troubleshooting ideas, everyone.

Scott