Battery?...or not?
 

My battery is a Duralast and about 4.5years old. The car started and ran fine this afternoon and the volt meter/gauge has always sat @14.3volts while running (12.4volts @ pre-ignition)
Strangely enough, this evening I went out to start my Mini only to have it non responsive. Turn the key, all gauges and interior lights are as bright as normal as well as exterior marker and tail lights - Turn the key and = nothing.
Even, having tried jumping the battery with a heavy duty portable battery pack as well as jumping in the traditional way with a car and cables made no difference. It seems regardless, the battery still didn't have enough juice to start.
Just the soft sound of the solenoid trying to engage. While jumping the battery and trying to start the car, the headlights would also flicker/flash.
All terminals and grounds are clean (the car is clean and free of rust). The battery itself gives off healthy sparks while removing or touching the terminals while attempting to jump. Which may leave me to believe it has a fair amount of charge (?)

I've often read that these cars are pretty intolerant to weakening batteries. This is a new one to me. I mean the car started and ran perfectly this afternoon (a 14.3volts).
Before I go walking/haul this thing 1mi away to my local Advance autocrap store to have it checked - Are these typical symptoms of a battery gone belly up?

EDIT: I no nothing about how to read voltage and multi meters are pretty much alien technology to me.

My symptoms were similar. Except I didn’t try to jump start it, I just let it rolll down the driveway amd popped the clutch at the bottom. Don’t have to be going very fast to bump start one.


one other thing you can try is : while holding key in start, then cycle clutch pedal down and up two to 3 times. That used to get mine to start before the battery finally took a poop a couple weeks ago.

as opposed to holding clutch then turning key. Dunno why but it worked for me for couple of months.

wonder if the starter might be going out; maybe give it a love tap with a small hammer / breaker bar?

Battery completely dead this morning. Don't think its the starter. But a possibility nevertheless. Just had the transmission replaced recently. Perhaps a connection has come loose/not making good contact?
Preparing for my 1mi hike to the auto parts store w/15lb battery strapped to my back in a sports bag.
UGH!

in case it's closer, Wally World now tests batteries and if you then find yourself in the market for a new one as a result the AGM H5s are much cheaper there than at the parts stores...

Cheap volt meter from Harbor Freight less than $10- sometimes free. Set the "V" to 20. Red to positive post, Black to Negative post. You should have just above 12v. If less, then battery is flat. Since you're talking about a hike, I presume you have no other cars- I was going to suggest a battery charger (nothing super fancy, mine was like $60 but I pull the batteries I think are "iffy" and give them a charge to see if my issues are resolved).

I also second Daftad on the battery purchase location. I purchase all my batteries at walmart. They're generally cheaper than most parts stores and if I ever have an issue while I'm on the road I can almost always find a walmart- It's not always easy to find the specific parts store you purchased a battery from.

You might try and jump the car while the battery is still installed. Then use a volt meter at the battery and see if it is reading a little higher when the car is running (alt should be charging it)

Also, check your grounds- especially the one at the front motor mount. Undo it, clean it and reinstall. (Trust me on this- it's weird but it seems to be an issue for many people with a no start condition- ask me how I know)

Your situation is not unusual. In times past, the battery would give you warning of its impending death -- slower and slower cranking. Batteries these days just simply stop working. And you are correct -- a Mini is super sensitive to voltage. Your battery is already three years old. I can almost guarantee a new battery will solve your problem.

All good recommendations....Maybe next time. Nonetheless - Thanks!
Well that 1mi trek to the auto parts store toting a 15lb battery over my back, with not a sidewalk in sight, felt more like 50lbs by the time I reached the parts store @7:45am.
**Yes - my Mini is my only mode of transportation. I have to be honest - I haven't seen the inside of a Walmart in almost 27 years and there is not a Walmart within 10mi from me.
I have little options other than Advance (1mi away) and O'Reilly which is about 3.5mi down the road.
As the Universe would have it - When I finally reached the auto parts store, wouldn't you know the doors were locked and I was greeted with a hand written note taped to the front door which read:
"System down. Store closed. Sorry for the inconvenience" :eek2: (seriously; I can't make this **** up). I couldn't believe my luck.
As I sat there for 20min in disbelief, as if catching my last breath, while stretching in effort to pry apart the compressed vertebrae from my spine; the manager drove up and said pretty much what the sign read.
Slinging the battery over my back preparing to to leave as I contemplated making the longer journey up to O'Reilly's - the manger flung open the door and said "hey the system is up come on in" :)


To sum up the story: My battery was flat. I wound up dropping $235 on a DieHard 650 cca 47H5 w/ 36mo free replacement 0mo prorated. At which point I just wanted this moment to end.
The bright side of the story is that this new battery only weighs 10lbs and was a less agonizing hike making my way through ditches and inclines back to the apt.

BTW: The Mini fired right up!:thumbsup:

@Cooper48 called it! :nod:
Very cool ending to this story. Congratulations. :cool::grin::thumbsup:

Yay! And your bonus is you lost 1,000 calories.

Mein gott! All’s well that ends well.

Yeah - I concur with what cooper48 stated: In my past experience with dying batteries normally one would observe a gradual degredation. Interesting to me that this wasn't the case with this "modern" car.
Even more noticable (with this new battery), is how my idle is back to being super smooth again. I had noticed that after having the trans replaced it idled just a bit rougher than I had remembered. I just assumed that maybe a mount is in need of replacement. Although they are all new within the last 8months.
​​​​​​
Can't say for sure but perhaps gained a bit more pep as well (?).
.

And now you have an interesting story about the time you had to hike... just for a battery. :)

Glad you fixed it!

Glad it ended well...

My 2014 R61 is still on its original battery. Wondering if it is on borrowed time. I don't drive it that often, so I keep it hooked up to a battery tender. Maybe that has helped extend its life.

Your 2014 is an AGM. OEM AGM lasting 12+ years is not uncommon.

Wow! 12years on an AGM! - Although I did inquire while choosing a battery, the parts store didn't have one in stock for my specs.
My original factory battery lasted 9years. My second replacement 7years, while the former auto parts replacement (Duralast) had lasted 4.5years since this recent replacement.
Wish I would have known. I may have had them transfer one (AGM) from another store - If I could have afforded missing a day of work.

Good to know!

Yep. when I changed the battery in the 2005 e46/3 in 2019 ish, it was still the original Deka. Best believe I put another Deka (aka Bosch) back in it!

I’m fairly confident that the sudden change from crank to no-crank is largely a function of the use of gear-reduction starters in a lot of cars these days. They just don’t need much power to turn over a little four-banger.

I’m also on the AGM train these days. It wasn’t substantially different in cost for me to get an AGM from Costco than it was to buy a traditional battery from one of the discount parts stores.