So a couple of months ago, I had to take out my battery for a mod, and after putting it back in, I overtightened the nut that holds the terminal connector to the battery on the negative side, and sheared it off.

That resulted in a number of issues in the following months--all attributed to this. One of the most interesting things I discovered is that without a solid ground connection--you can still have power to light the interior cabin, and gauges and give you the impression of power being present. But turn the ignition and it just clicks. I had assumed that without a ground or a bad ground atleast wouldn't result in reduced voltage but more of an on/off power condition.

Anyways on to the DIY. Unless you've been hiding in a hole somewhere, the various reports of car fires in previous years '02-'04 and even an '07 may have you a little concerned. In the '02-'04's it's pretty much been traced to a short in the engine compartment--so if you see any signs of it happening, the first thing to do is kill the power from the battery, but unless you keep the tools in your boot and have quick access to it, this might cause a little stress.

So I decided to install a battery quick disconnect that doesn't require any tools to kill the battery. Just twist off the ****, and you're done. I bought mine from Kragen for about $8.


The install is super simple. Disconnect the ground and the positive lead to the battery just in case. Then cut the connector off the black ground wire using wire cutters.


Strip the insulation off--I used a small pocket knife to expose the wire.


Then attach to the quick release connector--tighten.


Reattach positive connector, and screw on negative quick disconnect and you're done.


Now I've got a very quick, tool free way to disconnect the battery, and a bit more peace of mind.

Richard

 

While removing my transmission I found heavy chaffing going on in the battery harness that runs underneath the battery box (JustaCooper). So.......

 

oooh that's definitely not good. Was the insulation exposed at any point? Where is the chafing happening? Just curious what's rubbing against the harness.

 

Yeah..the insulation was gone on about 3 or 4 wires. It was rubbing on the actual plastic box. Cause on the Cooper the harness gets clipped to the underside of the box...

 

Wonderful design. Yeah I remember--had to pull the box to bleed the clutch....another wonderful MINI design...

 

I noticed the same thing on my R50

Nice write-up octaneguy. I sheared one of my bolts as well and had to do something along the same lines.

 

Thanks, the dealer wanted $18 (discounted price) for that negative wire assembly. For $8, I got more functionality as well, and reused the existing parts, lol.

 

when i bought my r50 in january, 2008 and took it out for my first drive, it was like sex. it was romantic and slow at first and then aggressive and explosive.... it was such an electric experience!
when i finished the drive, i parked the car somewhere on the upper west side of manhattan. with people around, i tried to exit the vehicle as if i had done it 1,000 times... but i could not--for the life of me--wipe the grin off my face. i had finally made love to my mc and everybody knew it.
that might sound cute, or nice or whatever, but the truth is... my mini ended up giving me the automotive equivalent of herpes.(kind of) i thought everything was cool, there were no symptoms of anything. but then after a few weeks i started having electrical problems. the problems seemed to come at entirely random intervals. but usually, the battery, or something like my aftermarket fogs or my amplifier would fail when i had some sort of important event/date.
it was true... at first i thought i was doing the f-cking, but i quickly realized that i was being f-cked. my car and all its electrical issues made for a pretty intense rape scene, at certain times.

however.... this thread has reassured me that i am less newbish than i thought. it may not fix my sporatic electrical issues, but the thread has inspired me to get over my post-rape trauma and attempt to fix my jam.

that was an absurd post. clearly i have no creative writing outlet.