Hello everyone and anyone. I am new to this site and just trying to get myself more familiar with this fast little machine my wife wanted so badly last year. We have a 2002 Mini Cooper S that I rarely drive. This is my wife's new little baby, other than our dog "pudge". Have stored it most of the winter. Had started it many times over the winter, so it wouldn't kill the battery. Had to jump start it once. Went on vacation and now won't start. Tried battery charger and jump starting but neither worked. It looks like the original factory battery. The indicator on battery shows black, needs recharge, not the yellow replacement. I am assuming the battery is bad. Do I need to do anything special on this car prior to removing battery for replacement. Had heard something about on board computer being damaged if not done properly. Any help would be appreciated. My wife is anxious to be back in her little yellow car.

 

Should be no problem, just disconnect the ground first when you remove the old one, and connect the ground last when you install the new one.

If you have the original battery, it's no wonder it's dead - 7 years is a lot on an OEM battery!

 

Well ICY, you didnt mention if you were jumping the car from the battery itself or from the post and a negative ground under the hood. I have found it challenging to get a good ground under the hood at times so if you havent tried directly jumping off the battery you might try that first, making sure you have a good connection at all of the jumper cable ends.

I have found out that just starting the car and running it for awhile isnt enough to keep a good charge on the battery. If you are storing the car in the future you might want to consider removing the battery and putting a trickle charger or a battery tender on the battery until you are ready to drive it regularly again.

As for the battery, you can take it to most local autoparts stores and they can check it out for you for free to see if the battery is good or not. Then you wont be wasting money on a new battery if that one is fine.

 

2nd that, a battery tender is a good idea for a car that sits all winter, otherwise you'll kill a new battery too.

 

I only tried jump starting from under the hood, as the manual stated not to do from the battery itself. I do not know a great deal about these cars, as I said, it is my wife's MCS. Is it okay then to jump start directly from the battery? Thanks for the help.

 

Maybe not. I didnt read the manual. But when I jumped it from the battery I didnt seem to have any problems and pretty much every other car other than a MINI you have to jump the vehicle from the battery. Maybe someone else has a definitive answer.

 

I would guess that they dont want you jumping from the battery because it is in a relatively closed space (passenger compartment), and jumping can release hydrogen gas. That by itself isnt the hazard, but the sparks potentially created removing the cables plus the enclosed space could create a problem, the chances of something actually happening are slim, but they do exist.

The suggestions so far have been what I was thinking so I have nothing else to add.