My girlfriend's 2005 Automatic Mini Cooper didn't start on Monday. I moved it 10 feet in the morning, parked it, went out a couple of hours later, and just got a constant and loud clicking sound when I turned the key. All lights/radio/windows etc seemed to work fine. It's not had any problems in the past indicating that something was about to give up.

I'm guessing its the starter, but just wanted to make sure since when most of my starters have given up, they've progressively gotten worse, but this was instant. I was thinking about getting this one because most places want to charge around $200 even after the core charge: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MINI-...#ht_2723wt_699 Would that be the right one for this car?

Is there a good guide with pictures anywhere on how to replace this? From what I've read, it's trickier to get to than on most other cars.

Thanks

 

I would suggest that the battery is gone.
Mini's like alot of juice to keep everything working the way it should.
If it is original battery then it's time to get new one.
Don't go by the little green indicator.
3-4 years are what the batteries are good for.

 

The starter and motor take a lot of juice to turn. The clicking noise is the solenoid to engage it. That takes much less juice to get it to throw/engage. Lights and other things can still go on w/ a dying battery, just somewhat dimmer that you may not notice. If they dim a lot as you try to crank it, that's another clue there isn't enough battery juice available.

 

If it was the battery, wouldn't it at least be turning over the engine, albeit slowly and not enough to get it started?

How can I diagnose for certain? I have a battery charger so I could put that on it for a couple of hours, and then it should start, right? I also have a voltmeter somewhere I think if that would help. Could also probably try tapping on the starter if I knew where it was located. Can't see it under the hood, so I trust something needs to be removed to get to it unless it is accessed from underneath.

 

Like previously stated... once the battery is weak, it wont have the power to turn the engine.... try jumping it... if it starts then the starter is fine... get a new battery!

 

Sounds like the battery to me, have had this problem wayyyy too often in my Xterra, I finally got an Optima Deep Cycle battery for it though

Like others have said though, find a jump!

 

ok guys - i'll try and jump it from my Jetta tonight. Thanks

 

How about making sure the terminals are cleaned using one of those wire brushes meant for batteries and making sure you have a tight connection?

 

terminals are clean as can be, but anyway, i jumped it from my jetta and it started right up. so clearly the battery? the reason this surprises me is that it never had any problems starting before, and when i said i started and moved the car, then tried again a couple of hours later, i realized it was actually just about 15 minutes later.

anyway, if its definitely the battery, any recommendations as to which one to buy, and from where?

 

Get the battery tested FREE first at your local Auto Zone or Pep Boys or places like that...my neighbor had a problem with his battery on his Lexus almost like you, it was NOT the battery, one of the terminals actually moved with slight pressure so it's like the vibrations of the car can jar it a bit.

They put some vise grips on the loose battery clamp...varooommmm...

 

battery and alternator. Safe bet it's the battery, but could be alternator by chance. As others said, if you get the battery tested at many a place that will do it for free, you will know. Or, if no tester, the poor man's way would be if you can start it initially after jumping and running for some minutes (to charge the battery some), but not after some hours or overnight, it's the battery. If it will hold a charge for a good while (especially if you put a charger on it), alternator is suspect. Not always for sure, but probably 90%+ of the time it's the battery. And if it is 6 years old now (a 2005), it is at likely end of life anyway.

 

i'd suggest checkin the connections at the battery first. mine was loose and it would occasionally have issues starting. i cleaned the posts and it was fine for a while and then died again. later on I found that the wire that connects to the terminal was coming out of the crimp. Once I fixed, that no issues since. I mention the crimp because the other connections at the battery were tight. the crimp was just loose enough that it would occasionally lose contact enough to either drain the battery slowly or cause me issues where I had to turn the ignition key multiple times.

 

Battery it was. Brought it to Pep Boys to get a new one (Bosch) for $104, and they tested the old one for me. They said it can take up to an hour to complete the test, but before I even left the store, the machine was beeping to indicate that it was bad, really bad!

Thanks for your help!

 

Glad you got it worked out, and glad you got lucky at PepBoys!



I don't like that place