I'm at a loss on this one. Wife said she needed to have her rear brake pads replaced on her 08' S. Everything seemed pretty straight forward thanks to the threads on here. Put everything back together and went to start the car and it won't turn over. Thought maybe I didn't connect the rear pad sensor correctly and I goofed on putting the sensor on the pad correctly. Snapped it into place, still won't start. A couple swear words later and I rechecked the sensor connection to the car and it seemed fine but I reterminated it just in case. Still won't start. Grabbed the old sensor, still won't start! Arrrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh! Checked fuses and didn't find anything blown. Any ideas?!?!

*edit: When I hit start, it's almost sounds like the battery is dead. Accessory functions are normal. I didn't have the key in the ignition while I was working on it.

 

If the car is automatic, then it isn't in park. Next dead battery due to radio on/door open while working.

Just Guesses.

Nothing near the rear wheels can interfere with starting.

 

Yep. Dead battery is my guess. It goes dead fast!

 

I'm pretty sure the boot was open while I was working on it so that could be it. Battery is 3+ years old and that is kind of long to last in Phoenix. I'll go buy a battery and report back. Thanks!

 

I'm going to go bug a neighbor for some jumper cables first and see if that does the trick first.

 

if the boot was open the light in there would be on and possibly the headliner light.

 

It has nothing to do with the pad sensor. The battery voltage is low. Trust me, I've detailed my car for a whole day with my doors & boot open and it can sap the battery. This car is always using power! Jump it, let it charge, and you're good to go.

 

Phew! Just the battery. Kinda funny now after the fact! I'm actually surprised the battery lasted 3.5 years in this heat. My car gets 2 years max. Thanks for all the replies and so quickly. I really appreciate it.

 

I've run down batteries leaving the radio on while washing the car. Amps and big speakers have quite a power draw. I'm surprised that a little dome light would kill your battery. I left my parking brakes (VW) on all day a few weeks ago and the car started right up. I guess your battery was on its last leg anyhow.

On many cars I've owned, the dome lights will time out after a period of time, but I believe these were SUVs where you might be (literally) tailgating and want to leave the hatch open. One was a BMW X5, so I'm a little surprised MINI doesn't time-out their interior lights too.