OK so, I have a 2004 Cooper S, completely stock, never even looked under the hood until tuesday when I decided to spray the engine down.

So everything ran as usual until last night when I was leaving work and all of a sudden my power steering went out. At the same time all of the lights on my speedo came on (Batery, ABS, etc) also the digital speedo on the steering column went blank.

As I drove (car ran fine) the power steering came back, and when I stopped at a light everything "fixed" itself fine, as I started driving again though, power steering go's back out, guages go nuts, and the speedo needle drops to nothing. Totally weird.

I go to check the car today and I have absolutely NO power whatsoever.
Nothing....
It's just sitting there, dead.

:(

Any ideas?

I'm gonna pick up a new battery tomorrow from Autozone (Duralast Gold).
Would all this happen if the battery was to kill over?

Help

:(

T

 

There is a good chance that you got something wet that shouldn't have been. Water could have worked its way into any number of electronic components that would cause failures. Some kind of surface corrosion on some connectors maybe.

Why would you bother to clean the engine bay if you've never even looked before? I've never cleaned my engine besides a surface wipe for fear of getting stuff wet that shouldn't be.

 

Just cleaning some bugs off from years of trips across Alligator Alley....

Car ran perfect until yesterday (saturday) evening since tuesday so.....

 

is the battery?

 

Probably 3-4 years.

Once I came out, got in the car, nothing, had the battery replaced by the dealership.

The weird electrical stuff going nuts is what's freaking me out,
Nothing like that happened when I had the battery replaced the first time.
When the battery dies, does everything just go wacky in these cars?
I've had batteries die in other cars and it's a slow death, not sudden like this.

 

Parting the Red Sea and pouring water into an engine compartment full of electonics are two completely different things........What were you thinking?

 

My guess is that the battery went Tango Uniform.

I've cleaned many an engine & have never killed one with a bit of washing in the engine bay.

 

Seems to make sense that the water and issues are related....Could be he was a bit overzealous with the water....I dont think the fuse box and ECU panels under the bonnet are water proof.

Also sounds like he was having multiple electronic failures while driving. Any idea if a poorly functioning battery make a PS Pump go haywire while driving down the road ?

 

Seems to me if he got water where the car didn't like it the problem would have happened immediately, not later on. No clue on the dead power steering, but my bet is still on a bad battery. For the OP's sake I hope I'm correct.

 

Definitely a dead battery... this is exactly what happened when my batteries died (yes, I have been through multiple).

 

Thanks JCampos, I really hope that's what it is.

I'll let everyone know as soon as I change it out.

T

 

Battery

 

you doubted me?

 

Grrrrrr

 

OK, so it wasn't the battery...

Installed new $150 Duralast Gold,

Here's the updated symptoms:

Start car, everythings fine aside from now the Service Engine light is on.

If I let it idle without reving it's fine.

Rev slightly and the batery light comes on. Sometimes it goes back off but most of the time stays on after a slight rev.
If I rev it harder the DSC and tire pressire lights come on and go back off after the car winds down from the rev.
The speedo also makes a buzzing sound and the needles drop.
then the needles go back to normal.
Thsi happens everytime I rev.
If I rev a little harder the same thing happens but now the ABS light comes on, on the steering wheel guage.
As the car winds down back to normal idle the lights go off.

If the battery light is on, no power steering.

If I trun the car off and then back on, everythings fine until I rev and everything starts all over again.

So, I called Lauderdale Mini and the guy says it sounds like a bad alternator.... $1300!!!!!

What do you guys think?

Also, anyone recommend a shop in the Hollywood FL area?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
T

 

Go here for the part and have a local shop install it.

 

Ok here is another thing to try... WAIT. Let everything dry out. Water some where is shorting things out. Take the covers off the fuse boxes under the hood. Disconnect the battery too. (this will also clear any errors in the ECU. Leave the hood open and the car out in the hot florida sun. Early September I'm guessing high humidity too. So it's going to take a long time for the car to dry out. Stop trying to start and run it. Really let it sit in the hot sun for the day. If it's raining put it in the garage with a dehumidifier running. That may help too. Give it a good 1-2 days to dry out before sending it to a mechanic. Stop trying to start it and run it every five seconds as this can cause real damage. I know this is a little late, but when you steam clean an engine cover the battery, distributor and fuse boxes with plastic bags and tape. Have the car running while you steam clean and don't hold a pressure washer too close to the engine. Use a an engine degreaser in the pressure washer or a pray on engine degreaser. Sorry this is a little late!

 

The above poster makes very good points.

Go somewhere with a supply of compressed air if you don't have a compressor. DO NOT use a lot of pressure. A little will do. Pull the plug wires off of the plugs. Blow out the holes the plugs are in. Blow out the wire ends, both the coil & plug side. Blow the coil connection off. Pull the fuse cover under the hood & the ECU cover, blow them out. My guess is that you have water down in the plug wells. WD 40 works for getting rid of water, WD stands for water dispersant. At idle it is fine, but when reving you are not getting enough current.

What did you hose your engine off with a power washer? If so hell man don't use that again. I spray a very low volume of water to wet things down, being careful not to get it on the ECU & fuse area. Also try & keep the serpentine belt are dry. I then spritz some simple green on there & wash the car. Before I dry the car I drizzle water over the parts I've put simple green on to rinse the crud away. Then I wipe things down & use a blower to remove any water that went where I did not intend it to.

Before you buy an alternator have yours tested first. For what one costs you want to be sure it is bad.

 

I used a regular hose to rinse it down....

I found a guy in Miami that works on Coopers, it's being towed down now (uggghh) and I should know in the morning.

He said it sounded like the "tensioner" wasn't tightening the belt down enough or something like that. Said he's run into something like this before.

I'll just have to see tomorrow unfortunately.

:(

I'll let you guys know and Thanks SO much....
T

 

Doubt its the tensioner.... if the tensioner OR the alternator. If it were either, you would not be able to start/stop your motor as your battery would lose charge and would not be able to recover.

Sounds like an electrical problem to me. Good luck.

 

Mechanic said it was the tensioner, serpentine belt, and Alternator....

$1300 later, car's fixed.

Ugggghhhhhh........

Hopefully this thread will "help" someone else in my position.

Thanks again guys.
T

 

Glad it ended up being the Alternator and nothing more serious. The fact that the mechanic decided to replace the tensioner and belt for a few more hours of labor at premium price was just a bonus.

 

Glad you are up & running again...

IMO the mechanic did the right thing in replacing the belt & tensioner along with the alternator. Heck half the work is already done when pulling the alternator. Not a cheap fix, but a necessary one.

 

An easy way to test the battery and alternator is to buy a voltmeter and test the battery terminals and the alternator. $1300 is a lot of dough if the alternator wasn't the culprit.

 

I saw my alternator once. I hope I don't have to get that far into tearing down my MINI again real soon. I had it out while replacing the supercharger. If I had the extra cash at the time, I'd have replaced that alternator just because of where it's placed. I'm not sure it could be pulled out to the passenger side through the wheel well or not.

Glad someone got you fixed up. While a working MINI is more fun than the typical vehicle, it seems to be twice the pain (or cost) when it's broken.