About a year ago I started to notice the Mini (2006 R50 base, manual, 85k) having some funny electrical gremlins. The symptoms were as follows and continued this way randomly for 6+ months, popping up as quickly as they went away.

Symptoms at first:

1. No Ac
2. No Dash Lights
3. Sunroof would occasionally not work
4. Lights would stay on when parked, only some, for 15 minutes.

This would often happen like this... I will be driving someone tells me my tail lights are acting funny and I pull over to inspect only to find the lights are all functioning but by the time I get home my interior lights are not working, but maybe the headlights are stuck on, I would then lock the car with the key in the door because maybe the locks didn't work, and 15 minutes later the car would power-down and operate fine in the morning.

So this gets me searching and I stumble upon a few threads referring to can bus short problems within ipod or other audio related problems. I open up the dash and remove the ipod adapter(factory installed), and the car still occasionally does the above.

Fast forward(6 months), i'm living with it, diagnosing it in my spare time as it only happens randomly and has not caught me out without ac on a hot day. Call it neglect whatever... Except the symptoms start to get worse.

1. Now the sunroof controls work so infrequently they are a risk to use.
2. The ac has not worked in month
3. Occasionally if you go to start the car it wont, and then you will try again and it will.
4. Sometimes when you go to start the car it blows the 50amp starter fuse
5. Dash lights have not worked in a month.


I have done the following:

1. Inspected for moisture or corrosion in the passengers footwell computer area(dry, made it dryer with silica packets)
2. Fuses/Relays all done, several times
3. Ipod Adapter Removal (But aux in is still installed)
4. New Battery

My plan of attack is to put the car on stands and inspect the starter and grounds related to the motor/starter. Either way due to the fact that the car is no longer reliable enough to serve as a daily driver I will attempt to ad grounds even if ground failure can't be confirmed.

Any diagnostic suggestions? Any leads? Thanks in advance, solid community i've been lurking on.

p.s. I have some wild as idea that some corrosion around my right rear tail light is messing with the ground/entire car, I've been told by more electrically inclined auto friends that this is just conjecture and I should drop it, but if someone here gives me just an inkling of reason I will explore that path too.

 

What's your battery voltage when it's been sitting and when it's running. Many of these issues could be caused by low voltage (a short somewhere, bad alternator, etc) ?

If it's out of spec, what voltage do you get at the battery and what do you read in the engine compartment (jump terminal)?

 

Alternator and charging circuits seem ok, and the new battery tests good. I removed the battery and started checking connections between fuse box and starter, body control, and under hood grounds. All check out ok so I took out the body control and checked for corrosion and none was found(board seems covered in water proofing too). Then I took out the ignition switch to find a melted cam lobe and some nasty corrosion and melting on one of the tabs.

I ordered a new switch but am not sure why it got hot, was the corrosion first thus causing the heat and subsequently the melting plastic....

Thanks for the help, I will update this thread in a couple days when the switch arrives. I still fear the starter or solenoid at the starter caused this load at the switch but this is pure speculation, likely tainted by my own bad attitude after chasing this diagnostic down.

 

Don't overthink it. Those switches are known to go bad. And, the starter load doesn't flow through there anyway. The main current is switched by the solenoid right at the starter, and there is a relay between the starter switch and the solenoid. One of the gray-green ones in the engine compartment fuse box.

 

Time to over think it. Replaced the ignition switch and yes I no longer blow my starter fuse but my a/c, interior lights, dash signals, radio, and sun roof no longer work.

Time to check voltages and make sure this alternator is still working, any other thoughts?

 

Update. Last night the car left me stranded. I put in the ignition switch, reconnected the battery and went on my way. Sure I had still lost some systems but the car was no worse than it was prior to the ignition switch failing.

Except now it won't restart, and it came at the cost of a tow. So now its time to dive into the drivers side footwell to see if there is any moisture or problems with the EWS.

I should note, its been raining hard, regularly.

 

We may have a winner here... found this corrosion on the drivers side kick-panel. Not looking good.