I have a 2003 Mini Cooper S. I just changed the battery out yesterday because the one in it died. I thought everything was working fine until i noticed something ridiculous. When my car is off, the hazard lights will begin to flash randomly for 15-30 seconds. They'll stop randomly on their own, and then do it again randomly. Also, the interior light on the roof will slowly fade on and off on it's own, whether the car is on or off. What is the problem with this? What do i do? Please help.

Also i just noticed it only does it if the car is locked i think...

 

first thing I'd do is check the connections . . . if things are not tight you can get very flaky reactions in the car.

Second...where did this battery come from? Are you sure it is fully charged? Again, low voltage can be the suspect.

My home alarm system just went nuts in the middle of the night because the battery in the system had crapped out. Right on the side of the battery it says: REPLACE EVERY 3 TO 5 YEARS. Mine was 4 years old and when it crapped out & the system went nutts due to the low voltage....especially annoying at 2AM when you also can't shut the damn thing off because of the malfunction!!!!!

 

Yes, those are all signs of low voltage from the battery. My MINI did the same thing when battery died. When I tried to crank the car, the windows started lowering on their own! Apparently the ECM (electrical control module) is a computer that will send out random signals to electrical components if its input voltage is too low.

 

the connections are solid and tight.

battery is brand new from Sears Auto.

 

That may be your problem. That battery could have been dead on the shelf. Charge it overnite and see what happens. I peronally don't like Sears for auto related service. Tools Yes!

 

Another thought is to check your ground strap. Some of this sounds like what happens when the bottom of the ground strap starts to corrode.

 

groundstrap looks good. no signs of corrosion or anything.
the dude at sears auto was telling me it was because i changed the battery and didn't save the memory? So he said the computer could be having problems or something. My thoughts were though if the battery was dead then there was no difference between disconnecting the battery and it being connected to a dead battery, so if this was a computer problem, it would be happening regardless if i saved the memory before swapping the battery out cuz the old one was alreay deaD!

 

should i disconnect the groundwire overnight so my battery doesn't die? or should i let it stay connected.

 

Electrical gremlins got the MINI ey ?

First off, the guy at Sears better not quit his day job. Disconnecting the battery will only do a hard reset of your ECU. BCM is not effected. Although you will have to reset your digital clock.

Whenever installing a new battery, always good to have your mechanic perform a check of your vehicles charging system same time. I have heard of owners installing a new battery thinking that was the problem, only to have the new battery last a week. And once you drain them down like that, a bad cell can develope and it will never be good as it was.

Did the guy at Sears perform a load test of the battery before selling it to ya ?

 

no. i don't think he did. i have a friend who has stuff to check the battery and to see if the alternator is doing anything funky.