Here is the deal
What I think is a good battery ( less than a year old ) . I will have it tested .
Car won't start. I get radio. Lights come on. When I try to start drivers window rolls down.

I jump start the car all is fine. If I run the car for a minute or two I can turn it off then restart just fine (this leads me to believe the battery is fine)
Weather I drive the car a short or far drive it will restart right away, but if it sits any length of time (4hrs) a no start occurs.

I have cleaned ground points at engine mount and at the firewall. I have added a ground strap from battery to shock tower bolt.
0.6 ohms resistance now between body and battery clamp.

At idle 14.25 V with headlights on, defrost and wipers.
Phantom draw is minimal.

Pulled the ECU and all pins look clean.

It feels like the electricity is there but can't go to starter. In my experience when things get warm resistance goes up and when cool it gets less.

Any ideas?

 

You did not say anything about the positive connections. I would start by doing some voltage drop tests (under load) to see where the energy is going. Also there is a positive connection at the battery which has a trip circuit in it. It has a specific name but I cannot remember it right now. From your description of it taking a jump, the positive connection at the battery might be suspect since the jump would bypass the battery connections and go directly to the starter making the cables test good.

Just my thoughts.

 

Often this is a grounding issue.
Also the starter solenoid could be going bad.
Of course cleaning the battery terminals would be the best place to start.

 

All grounds and battery connections clean and tight.
Beginning to think its the starter.

 

Still no luck
parting out the car now

 

You are PARTING OUT your car because you can't figure why the car doesn't start all the time?

 

x2
The starter or solenoid are suspect, why would you part out your car for that? It could even be the ignition switch! Basically all small issues, that can save your Mini!

 

when you say the "car will not start"....do you mean it will turn over and not fire off? Or, will the starter motor not turn the engine over when you turn the key to the "start" position on the ignition switch?

You need to be a little more informative with your details here.....these are two completely different problems that require different diagnosis......and trying to diagnose an electrical issue over the Internet is not easy unless "ALL" info is taken into account

Now, with all that said, just from what you posted in your first post, I'm thinking a bad battery......you say it starts fine after running for a bit, which to me means that the alternator is charging up a weak battery.....

Are you sure nothing is left on in the car?? Glove box light? Dome light?? Trunk light?? Reading light??

I'm not sure if you are actually joking or not about parting the car out or not.....but that's pretty extreme for a "no start" issue that is probably a simple fix

Bryan

 

0-100 faster than the Mini, that's for sure.

Can I get the trim pieces from above the A-pillars?

 

I found a mini R50 2006 with less km's than mine in better condition with newish Firestone Firehawk indy 500 17 inch tires, Bora exhaust and other goodies
I will keep my present R50 for parts and or part it out.

Along with the no start the car has tailgate and tail light rust, CEL and airbag light on and no A/C. It has been a good car but its time has come.

I will post photos once I figure out how

 

Old car

After it flew

 

Post flight

 

Beauty shot

 

rust

 

New ride