JB -

I apologize for hacking your seat question, but...

What is this "sleep mode" that you speak of ?

When I bought my 05 (JCW), the seller mentioned that it needs to be on a charger if not driven daily. I didn't ask why, he didn't offer.
But yes, "something" does drain the battery. Odd thing is, if I disconnect the negative battery cable, there are no sparks that I can see when disconnecting or reconnecting. This would indicate that there is no drain, but...there is. !

Thanks for any info.

Mike

 

Thank you deepgrey. I'm going to search but is there a thread regarding how to do this do you know? Specifically the occupancy sensor?
I would disagree with your seller. Mine is also an '05 and before this latest event I go two weeks without starting or charging and it would start just fine. When you first turn off any modern car a number of systems stay active either for safety or convenience. For example a lot of cars will still let you operate the windows (not sure on MINI) at ignition off but before opening doors. That's a convenience but it takes power. Depending on the car in question, after a preset time most car cars will go into a sleep mode and shut off these systems to prevent unnecessary power drain. Not all systems get shut off though. Some stay permanently connected like an alarm system for example. If your car is going dead after a few days you likely have a parasitic draw against the battery. There are multiple threads and youtube videos on how to solve them. It's not particularly hard but can be time consuming. Before you start be sure you have a fully charged and healthy battery.

 

I think I specified what I did in a thread somewhere, with the obvious caveat that I've never been able to actually test that the airbag will deploy (which is why I'm pretty sure and not completely sure). It was I think the OC3 component in the ABG module.

 

I have an '06 JCW that sits long spells and I've never had a battery drain. I will hook it up to a trickle charger sometimes, but often I forget. I went through the resistor thing and was banging my head against the wall wondering why it didn't work, until I came across it on NAM. I removed the passenger seat, so I removed the occupant sensor from the seat, and just have that sensor hooked up in the car.

 

I wonder if it would be possible to place the sensor in a new seat. I know on my new seats the cushions come off easy and just velcro down. It anyone has one they would like to sell donate that I could experiment with please send a pm.

 

You can disagree if you like, make no difference. Matter of fact, the battery DOES need to be on a charger when the car sits for more than a few days. JUST like the seller told me.
I thought that it was just that the car (05, JCW) had the original battery in it when I bought it a coupla years ago, and he was talking about a low battery charge. Nope, I bought a new and fresh (current date) battery, and yes, the new battery (Optima) also needed to be on a charger if left to sit, more than four or five days.

I have an Optima in one of my old hot rods, that can sit over a year...and still have the power to turn on the fuel pump AND start the engine, without...a top-off of the battery charge !

Thanks for the info about looking here and YouTube. Haven't seen any other folks with this problem, so...yes. I' go video hunting.

Mike

 

That’s strange. For years my car would sit five days at a time, and I would never have issues until the battery started getting really weak. I walked to work, so it often only got driven on the weekends.

 

My Mini can sit for two weeks w/o a problem but I used to have a 911 Porsche that sat much longer. I always kept a trickle going on it and its battery lived a long life. Letting a normal battery drain down is hard on it as crystals form on the lead plates and weaken it. My Mini only rarely sites that long. It has been down recently due to fuel injector problems.

Peter