This morning I hop in the MINI to go to work, turn the key and it doesn't start. There are whiring and clicking noises but no starting. I also noticed that the lights that usually light up on the dash only come on momentarily or not at all. The dome light was also barely lit. It seems like a dead/nearly dead battery but I can't think of anything that would have drained it completely overnight. Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a dead battery to me. Have Mini Roadside jump it and you should be okay.

 

I'll give the jumpstart a shot when I get off of work. By the way, no MINI roadside assistance for me as I'm out of warrenty. Funny, now that the warrenty has expired the passenger door lock actuator has failed, the driver door window occasionally stops working, and the car won't start(hopefully a battery issue). Not sure what's worse, MINI issues or the fact that I had to drive my wife's beetle to work.

 

Try slow charging the battery too, at 2A for 16-18hours.

If you don't drive your mini other than for short distances, chances are
you're better off with a deep cycle battery and charge it once a month
or so using 2A. :smile: (check out www.optimabatteries.com).

 

I did this to my wife's car a few months ago... I left the driver's door open (to vent fumes from an apholstry cleaner) all night and the dome light drained the battery. If the battery is low, you will hear the starter motor try and turn (clicking noise), but if the battery is completely dead, you will only see the dash lights burn dimly as they require so little power.

I once had a Mazda Protege that did this to itself. The cooling fan relay got stuck in the ON postion. Even after I turned the car off, the cooling fan kept running. It would regularly do this on a hot day, but the computer was supposed to turn the fan off in about 5 minutes. In this case, the relay didn't work and the fan ran until the battery died. As soon as I touched jumper cables to the battery, the fan kicked on!

 

Your car is fine... trust me... Truthfully, heres what you do.. get in your car, take a deep breath becasue your goign to scream, ok, no put the key in the ignition adn push the UNLOCK button, then start the car... you may have to press it twice. thats it stop screaming and haev fun motoring.

 

If you want to knwo it buried in your handbook somewhere I think, you activeted a little knwon security featuer of the mini. I did this by accident the oher day and almost changed the battery. but nwo my babys runnign great a 3 secodn fixed and damn handy for parking on teh street in big cities..

 

ok, I have to know, how do I use this feature? Sounds like a great "kill switch" option.

Should we keep this quiet? Wanna PM me about it?

 

None of the suggestions so far have worked. I tried the trick with the key in the ignition, nothing. I tried jumping the car, nothing. Now that I'm not rushing to go to work I've noticed a couple of things. The chime when the door is open sounds weak as thought the battery is low, even with jumper cables attached. Also, after removing the key the speedometer flickers as well as the door locks. I'm afraid this may be a bcu/ecu issue. Any further input? The MINI shop manual doesn't come out till september and I'm out of warrenty. Oh god, I think I'm screwed!

 

Did you check the gas? Sounds like the same thing that happened to me the day I ran out of gas...Just a thought.

 

Go to Radio Shack and buy the cheapest voltmeter they have. Certainly less than $15.

1) Measure the voltage between the two battery posts.
2) Measure the voltage at the cigarette lighter when the key in in the on position.
3) Connect the battery charger. (plug it in and turn it on)
4) Measure the voltage across the battery posts again.
5) Measure the voltage at the lighter again.

Post the whole mess here.

Leave the charger connected for 3 hours and try starting the car.

 

Alrighty, went to radio shack and picked up a voltmeter. With the selector set on 15 I get a reading of 875 betweent the battery posts. I get a reading of 600 at the lighter with similar settings. Hopefully those numbers mean something to ya'll. I'm really starting to doubt this is a battery problem. After a couple of seconds with the key in the on position the radio comes on just fine. But if I try to start the car the dash lights dim and the speedometer does its flicker thing. Oh, and just in case it comes up, no I haven't done anything "electronic" to my car. No plasma booster, no ignition upgrade, no ecu tuning, nothing. The only engine related mod I have is an exhaust system. Which, upon thinking about it, would probably somehow void my warrenty if I still had one. Total miles 53,XXX.

 

875 means 8.75 Volts. 600 means 6.00 Volts.

That's way, way too low, and it probably means your battey is not just discharged, but has failed.

How about hooking up the battery charger and getting us some readings?

After this one data point, I'm guessing you need a new battery. That would be fairly cheap.

Where abouts do you live? Harsh weather?

Oh, HEY!!!, look at the battery indicator!!! It's like a little round window in the top of your battery. I'll post a picture in a few minutes.

Maybe you are just low on water if you live in a hot-hot-hot climate.

 

Thank you so much for the info and guidance. With this being a british car and all I naturally assume that all of the electronics have spontaniously failed. I'll set up the battery on the charger and report back in a few hours. In the mean time my wife's making margaritas. That aught to improve my mood.

 

Oh, by the way. I live in Bakersfield, California where it is currently 102. Do you think THAT might have something to do with it? hmmmm.

 

This is the battery (Like this is a surprise to you)

The round "eye" in between the battery posts should look green like this:

There's a little green ball that floats in a tube to show you how much water there is in the battery.

If it looks dark black, (use a flashlight or something) the battery is low on water.

Pry up the covers and add a SMALL amount of DISTILLED water from the store.

Add to each of the cells about 1 ounce at a time or so.

I'm guessing the battery just dried out. You can add water and worry, or get a new battery.

 

The ball in the battery is green. For now the charger is doing it's thing. I've got it set on 2. A couple of questions, if you're up for more. 1.Is there any reason I should flip the charger to 10? 2.If it's the battery houldn't the car have started when I had it hooked up to another running car's battery. I don't want to get my hopes up that I just need to buy a battery instead of a $1500 ecu. I swear I'll stop asking questions now...............probably.:smile:

 

You should set the charger on 10

Also, while it's hooked up, measure the voltage between the battery terminals. It should be a solid 13 to 15 Volts. (1300 to 1499 on your meter. You might need to click up to a larger setting)

It's good that the ball is green. Good and bad. Your battery has enough water, but it's still (probably) busted.

If the battery has really died a horrible death, it can theoretically keep the car from starting even when hooked up to another car. (But usually that doesn't happen)

I'm here, cooking dinner, repairing a crashed model glider and fighting in OT::Politics, so I'll be checking back now-and-then over the evening.

(Oh, and drinking Pino Grigio)

 

The voltmeter reads about 1200 which is a little low I guess. I'll let it charge overnight and deal with it tommorow. The motorcycle was begging to be ridden anyway. Goodbye MINI....Hello CBR! I'll report back tommorow. THANKS, THANKS, THANKS for the help. With no warrenty and no dealer around I'm lucky to have the help of you NAMers.:smile:

 

if you have some time tomorrow after work. and you can get the car running. go to your local auto parts store and ask them to hook up a battery tester to your car. usually they have a big rig with a battery charger built in and stuff. this should also be able to test your alternator as well. (lets hope it's not that). it'll tell you if it's the alternator or battery or a combination of the two. and whether or not you have something drawing current from the battery when the key is in the OFF position.

i'd bet money on a dying battery. once they've run a few miles, 50K in this case and also run dead once or twice it is an impossible road to keep a good charge.

 

I've seen many cars not start when getting jumped,because the battery is bad

 

yeah, if the key didn't work adn your out warrenty then it probably is a dead battery, but I'd still stry the key thing again. you may try looking up the other post I had on here about my car not starting it might give you some more tips. search for my handle, sorry I've got to get on the road to work or I'd look it up for ya.

 

After charging the battery all night I measured the voltage again. It was at 11. That's not very good is it? After putting the battery back in the car and trying to start it (it didn't) the battery was down to about 8 volts between the posts. So I'm hoping that the battery i'm about to buy will get her up and running again. Wish me luck!

 

keep us posted - no puns intended.

 

Ah, posted. Good news. After much, apparently unecessary, worry the new battery has indeed done the trick! Now i'm left with 2 questions. 1.Is it normal for a battery to fail completely so suddenly and 2.If I have a battery failure in the middle of nowhere will I be able to start it using jumper cables (considering I couldn't this time)? Either way THANKS to the fine folks here on NAM for keeping me calm and pointing me in the right direction. I'm now off to make up for 2 days of lost motoring. Good bye CBR......HELLO MINI!