Battery issues

skateboard · #1 09-16-2009, 08:37 AM

Hi...I'm new to the forum, but not new to Minis. I own an '05 Cooper with 20K miles, and I have an '09 S I bought 6 months ago. I tried starting the '09 yesterday morning and the battery was dead. I jumped it and took it down to Momentum Mini. After having it all day they called to tell me the battery was completely dead....but Mini would not warrant it because I only have 1910 miles on it! They say that you must drive 800 miles a month on the Mini to keep the battery charged. I will never drive that many miles but I do drive my car everyday. 7.5 miles each way to work and back. I also drive it on the weekends. This is easily the most ludicrous thing I've ever encountered in 35 years of buying and driving cars.
Has anyone heard of such a thing?

pilotart · #2 09-16-2009, 02:14 PM

It's in My '08 Owner's Manual about short trips not keeping battery charged.

Mine wouldn't start on it's second week and then again after 17 months, might have been a third instance, but I caught my Parking Lights on.

Sometimes hard to notice inside a well lit Garage or Hangar.

I have the ScanGauge (link in sig below) that reads voltage and for many months before the second 'no-start' it had read 11.6 Volts in the mornings.

I now use a two amp 'trickle-charger' if I see it below 12.4 Volts, (I average less than 300 miles a month).

The new MINI Sealed Battery can be damaged by normal 'high-voltage' (14+) Chargers and it needs a special charger that controls it to 13.8 Volts, or it will 'vent' too much.

Trickle charging should be stopped before it gets above 14 Volts.
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I would think you should be given a warranty replacement, perhaps it's time for you to contact MINI-USA for that.

Benibiker · #3 09-16-2009, 10:35 PM

My previous 07 Mini went in for service and mysteriously the battery died on them. Of course I never had any problems before and of course they tried to blame me for not driving my car enough. They did change it under warranty though.

skateboard · #4 09-17-2009, 07:20 AM

Thanks for the responses, very helpful. I hope I'm responding correctly...not sure of these "threads" and all.
I did contact Mini USA and was assured that they would contact my dealer to authorize replacement of my battery. However, my dealership took it upon themselves to replace my battery at no cost before Mini USA even made the call. So they did the right thing and I'm happy. (although in my opinion they should've done it from the get go before things got so sideways.

Thanks again...happy motoring.

countryboyshane · #5 11-17-2009, 05:51 AM

Had the same thing happen to me this week. I left my car sitting in my garage for about 7 days and then when I went to start it up last night, the starter tried to turn the engine over and then said to me, "Are you serious Shane!?" All lights turned off in the interior, then flickered back on. No battery warning light either.

After I called up MINI roadside service the operator told me what I experienced was normal

So after this occurance, I know this is one of the MINI's little quirks that I definitely do not like.

KevinC · #6 11-17-2009, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotart

I now use a two amp 'trickle-charger' if I see it below 12.4 Volts, (I average less than 300 miles a month).

A Battery Tender will be much nicer to your battery than an old-school trickle charger.. cheap and works great. BMW actually OEM's this thing and puts their own logo on it too.

http://batterytender.com/resources/w...terytender.htm

surfblue · #7 11-28-2009, 11:07 AM

I'm glad you've made this post. I've mentioned this before, and now I have a better story to tell about your Mini's battery.
I have an 07 MCS. It has less than 16k miles on it. I bought it new (ordered, not off the lot) in May of 07, and it's been trouble free.
That said...let me admit that I am a bit of a nut about battery maintenance. I've previously stated on this forum that these batteries do NOT get a good enough charge EVER for long term maintenance. (When I have posted this "information", I've had no real response from other forum members). Once a month I put my full size charger on the Mini battery, set at 12v 10a... and I top off the battery to bring it to absolute full charge. I've been doing this since the first month I got the car.
I just came back from a one week 1800 mile road trip through Vegas, then southern Utah and more back roads of Nevada. The car ran perfect and was a joy to drive btw.
But as to the battery: BEFORE I left on the trip, I made sure the battery was FULLY CHARGED. I then proceeded (with my co-pilot) to drive the car for many big mile days. When I got home, I put the charger on the battery. It took a full HALF HOUR to bring the battery to full charge, using the 12v 10a setting. I'm not going to bore you with my driving during the trip. I'd call it NORMAL USE.
What I'm telling you ALL is...IF you want your battery to go for it's optimum life, go spend the money on a quality full size charger, and the first of every month, bring it to full charge. Batteries have memory. IF you leave them discharged to a certain level for a period of time, the battery will NOT charge beyond that level when you put a charger on it.
My battery will be 3 years old this coming May, and it's still doing well.
Just tryin' to help.

Robin Casady · #8 11-28-2009, 11:40 AM

Why a 10 amp setting? Isn't a slow charge better than a fast charge?

lacning74 · #9 11-28-2009, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by surfblue

I'm glad you've made this post. I've mentioned this before, and now I have a better story to tell about your Mini's battery.
I have an 07 MCS. It has less than 16k miles on it. I bought it new (ordered, not off the lot) in May of 07, and it's been trouble free.
That said...let me admit that I am a bit of a nut about battery maintenance. I've previously stated on this forum that these batteries do NOT get a good enough charge EVER for long term maintenance. (When I have posted this "information", I've had no real response from other forum members). Once a month I put my full size charger on the Mini battery, set at 12v 10a... and I top off the battery to bring it to absolute full charge. I've been doing this since the first month I got the car.
I just came back from a one week 1800 mile road trip through Vegas, then southern Utah and more back roads of Nevada. The car ran perfect and was a joy to drive btw.
But as to the battery: BEFORE I left on the trip, I made sure the battery was FULLY CHARGED. I then proceeded (with my co-pilot) to drive the car for many big mile days. When I got home, I put the charger on the battery. It took a full HALF HOUR to bring the battery to full charge, using the 12v 10a setting. I'm not going to bore you with my driving during the trip. I'd call it NORMAL USE.
What I'm telling you ALL is...IF you want your battery to go for it's optimum life, go spend the money on a quality full size charger, and the first of every month, bring it to full charge. Batteries have memory. IF you leave them discharged to a certain level for a period of time, the battery will NOT charge beyond that level when you put a charger on it.
My battery will be 3 years old this coming May, and it's still doing well.
Just tryin' to help.

Crazy how the alternator couldn't keep your battery fully charged on a real road trip. My battery has died several times already. Driving in NYC with a 2 mile commute doesn't help. Parked on the street I can't really use a charger that needs to be plugged in. Guess I need a portable one? Any recommendations?

Benibiker · #10 11-28-2009, 10:33 PM

Crazy how we have to hook up a charger to keep the batt charged, raise the hood to keep the scoop from melting, and not park nose down to keep cold start chatter from happening. Ah, the life of a Mini owner...

surfblue · #11 11-29-2009, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin Casady

Why a 10 amp setting? Isn't a slow charge better than a fast charge?

Surfblue replies: Sorry bout that, Robin. I should explain. The charger is one of those modern setups that will run 2a or 10a on twelve volt. But it immediately adjusts the charge as it instantly "reads" the battery condition. As an example, when I put my charger on at the 10a setting in this case, it went nearly to the full 10a (which means the battery was quite discharged) but rapidly decreased the amount of charge. It would do the same thing if I set it on 2a. What I've found is that if you put it on 2a (and this goes for the battery that was in my old 62 Cooper or the battery in my Grinnall Scorpion) it starts at the same high amperage, but when it drops down to 2a, it never finishes the charge. Flip it on 10a, and PRESTO the charge is done.
I wouldn't suggest using a "trickle charger" to maintain a battery. You need to bring the battery to FULL CHARGE, then put the trickle charger on. The trickle charger won't finish the charge job. It doesn't have the amps to do it.
I can't speak for the modern little battery tenders. But I'd guess that UNLESS you start with your battery at full charge, it's NOT going to be able to run a hot enough charge to bring it to full charge. I could be wrong on this in regard to the modern "battery tender" type. Me, I'd want the battery FULLY CHARGED with a full size charger prior to putting any "tender" or "trickler" on it. And again, IF you put the full size charger on every 30 days, your battery should have a fairly optimum life.
Everyone should own a full bore charger. They're not that much money. Oh, and one like I have also has a START feature, so you can just hook it to a DEAD battery in a car and it has all the kick to just start the car right up.
Just tryin' to help.

surfblue · #12 11-29-2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benibiker

Crazy how we have to hook up a charger to keep the batt charged, raise the hood to keep the scoop from melting, and not park nose down to keep cold start chatter from happening. Ah, the life of a Mini owner...

Surfblue replies: Yeah, it's a FIDDLY modern car, for sure. I'm always going to have one, just the same. :-) I have never had the cold start issue, but I'm a battery charging, hood raising Mini S owner...AND PROUD OF IT!!!