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2003 mini Cooper S lost all engine and electrical power
Went over a speed bump and when the rear end went over it the car shut off. Everything including all electrical power. Battery checked out o.k I noticed no spark when touching the negative battery terminal to the battery post. I know it's suppose to. What could be the likely issue?
Would check fusible link F100 and adjacent connecting cables in battery compartment, maybe somehow it got knocked loose or a corroded / kinked connector finally let go with the bump? F100 supplies fuse panel 3 in the engine compartment next to the left strut tower. Losing power to that panel would shut things down in a hurry.
Would check fusible link F100 and adjacent connecting cables in battery compartment, maybe somehow it got knocked loose or a corroded / kinked connector finally let go with the bump? F100 supplies fuse panel 3 in the engine compartment next to the left strut tower. Losing power to that panel would shut things down in a hurry.
Is this fusible link located in the same place as the battery? The link you provided says it's in the cargo compartment behind an access panel. Thanks for your help
Is this fusible link located in the same place as the battery? The link you provided says it's in the cargo compartment behind an access panel.
It's in the battery well mounted on the right hand (passenger in U.S.) side wall, next to the positive battery cable. You'll need to remove the battery to get to it.
Below where the screwdriver is pointing Stock configuration.
You might want to spend a few bucks and get back to the original configuration. I'm not sure a few wraps of electrical tape cuts it.
robj
I will once I get it back home. I got stranded with it. What could you recommend me do to it so I can start it up and get it back home. Remove that tape and tighten the link or clean it. Do you think I could replace the link? Thanks 😊 so much. This is really helping me out
Stephen
Clean out the bottom of the battery case - loose nuts & bolts etc..
Check the bottom of the battery in case it got punctured.
Do you know what the second red cable is for? I don't think it's original.
What could you recommend me do to it so I can start it up and get it back home. Remove that tape and tighten the link or clean it. Do you think I could replace the link?
Going with: unwrap the tape and see what's underneath. We're talking about what *should* be a 250A fusible link, which should not be 'delicate' but at this point who knows what the previous owner did with it. Could be he replaced it with a giant glass fuse or the odd length of Romex for all we know.
That said, although the battery compartment looks "modified" in there I'd like to hear from another early R53 owner (2002-2004) if their battery compartment set-up differ from the later years, especially if we can get a picture of what a stock set up actually looks like.
Stephen
Clean out the bottom of the battery case - loose nuts & bolts etc..
Check the bottom of the battery in case it got punctured.
Do you know what the second red cable is for? I don't think it's original.
Someone definitely Mcgivered it. Don't have power to steering wheel controls and airbag light stays on(have had this problem since I've had this car). Been told that is because a separate circuit running from the battery blew which causes that issue. Never has caused this problem before. I honestly don't know this battery cable is wired up. But that fusible link box is definitely missing(the set up in the pic)
Going with: unwrap the tape and see what's underneath. We're talking about what *should* be a 250A fusible link, which should not be 'delicate' but at this point who knows what the previous owner did with it. Could be he replaced it with a giant glass fuse or the odd length of Romex for all we know.
That said, although the battery compartment looks "modified" in there I'd like to hear from another early R53 owner (2002-2004) if their battery compartment set-up differ from the later years, especially if we can get a picture of what a stock set up actually looks like.
Anyone, Bueller?
A voltmeter should tell whether or not there is current flow across that red positive cable ...right?
Stephen
Groping in the dark here a bit!
Check the voltage at the jump-start terminal under the hood - that will tell you if the wiring from the rear battery is OK.
The heavy red cable from there runs across the back of the engine & down to the starter & alternator. In another thread, it had moved around, chafed through to the copper core & occasionally shorted out. Turn it over & check that.
Stephen
Groping in the dark here a bit!
Check the voltage at the jump-start terminal under the hood - that will tell you if the wiring from the rear battery is OK.
The heavy red cable from there runs across the back of the engine & down to the starter & alternator. In another thread, it had moved around, chafed through to the copper core & occasionally shorted out. Turn it over & check that.
The jump start terminal, is that the terminal under the small plastic cap withe the + symbol on it?
The jump start terminal, is that the terminal under the small plastic cap with the + symbol on it?
Yes!
You should see the same voltage as the battery there & also on the starter solenoid terminal.
If you don't, then there's something wrong with the fusible link or the main battery connection at the back.
Yes!
You should see the same voltage as the battery there & also on the starter solenoid terminal.
If you don't, then there's something wrong with the fusible link or the main battery connection at the back.
Fixed! The problem was indeed the fusible link. Was an easy fix for $5.00 that I would have never have found without y'all's help. I can't thank y'all enough for the money you saved me, not to mention the money and trouble it would taken me to tow it back 160 miles from home. By the way, is it normal for one these fusible links to go bad? It is a rigged set-up as you can see from the pic. Should I worry about it going bad again? I was very lucky this didn't happen at highway speed in heavy traffic. Could have been tragic. Thanks again!
By the way, is it normal for one these fusible links to go bad? It is a rigged set-up as you can see from the pic. Should I worry about it going bad again?
This is two things. For cars with the factory set-up, no it isn't normal for them to go bad. It's really a sort of catastrophic fail safe to protect against the shorting out the battery in the event of a collision or other major problem. The thing isn't supposed to trip (fail open) until hitting like 250A. Right now though, you don't have the factory set up but whatever creative mastery a previous owner did to get the car running. We don't know how much current tripped it, how, or why. Could be one end of it or the cable shorted out to the body through worn thin electrical tape when you hit the bump, or could be an affected high current system on board (or short elsewhere) that tripped it. Power steering maybe? That one goes at 100A.
In short I probably would worry about it going bad again until the car is either restored to a factory configuration back there or you've installed the equivalent in a universal fit setup from Painless or the like. Either way you need to be assured the car is safe, and electrical tape obviously isn't going to cut it.
Last edited by user 7389739; 01-25-2020 at 08:22 PM.
This is two things. For cars with the factory set-up, no it isn't normal for them to go bad. It's really a sort of catastrophic fail safe to protect against the shorting out the battery in the event of a collision or other major problem. The thing isn't supposed to trip (fail open) until hitting like 250A. Right now though, you don't have the factory set up but whatever creative mastery a previous owner did to get the car running. We don't know how much current tripped it, how, or why. Could be one end of it or the cable shorted out to the body through worn thin electrical tape when you hit the bump, or could be an affected high current system on board (or short elsewhere) that tripped it. Power steering maybe? That one goes at 100A.
In short I probably would worry about it going bad again until the car is either restored to a factory configuration back there or you've installed the equivalent in a universal fit setup from Painless or the like. Either way you need to be assured the car is safe, and electrical tape obviously isn't going to cut it.
Something is drawing current. When I connect the negative cable to the battery, there is some arcing. Is this a clue to some sort of electrical gremlin somewhere?
When I connect the negative cable to the battery, there is some arcing. Is this a clue to some sort of electrical gremlin somewhere?
There's always going to be some, and don't forget the dome light you switched on with the tail gate open to reach the battery. But, you can pull that fuse and measure the current draw between the negative cable and the battery (use the 10A setting first on your multimeter; if you have anything big you'll fry the fuse on the 10ma setting). Anything more than a few milliamps for the snoozing electronics is excessive and you can then start looking further, pulling fuses one by one to narrow down the circuit then component etc...
Might want to pull OBDII codes as well once you sort the creative cabling / fusible link issue...
01-16-2020, 09:51 AM
