Any ideas how many amps it takes to jump start a Mini Cooper with a dead battery? I have a Power Dome which claims to put out 600 amps, but not a bump out of the starter. There has to be a better way to start a Mini with a dead battery than pushing it down a hill.

 

It will take a pretty decent slug of current to start a MINI (or most any car). Most jump start packs might say they are capable of a pretty big current surge, but a lot of this gets lost through the cables and clamps. If you have to keep jump starting the car, either the battery is shot (and not just discharged) or the alternator is not charging it sufficiently. If the battery accepts and holds a charge, the starter could be bad.

A booster pack works not only by powering the car directly, but also pushing some of it's juice into the vehicle battery as a quick charge to help crank the engine. If the battery is worn out, it will not hold enough of this brief charge to crank the engine.

MINI batteries are notoriously short lived. What year is your car? If it's more than 3 years old, the battery is probably toast. Mine barely made it to three years before it died off, needing a couple push starts along with hits from the charger until I replaced it with an Optima.

 

Many thanks Greatbear! The battery on my 2005 Mini lasted 3 years, 10 1/2 months - I guess I was overdue. My service station was able to fire it up right away with a "Jump Start" 660 amp jump starter. I think that was the name. I'm now looking at an AutoSport 660i which claims that it can start a dead battery. It is likewise a 660 amp continuous - 1700 peak amps (whatever that means). My Power Dome admits that it will not start a dead battery. I will file your reply for future reference.