I have been searching through the forums and can't find an answer to my problem. Hopefully it's nothing, but the car won't start right now.

I have a 2013 JCW R56 with 2000 miles on her. I haven't driven her for 2 weeks and I guess she's mad at me, as she's giving me a cold shoulder. So here's what happened:

I leave her parked in a garage, unlocked and either in neutral with the e brake on, or in 1st gear. I have Dash Command and an OBD dongle permanently plugged in.

Today, I opened the passenger door and put something inside the car, then closed the door - and there was a painful cracking sound. I thought something had fallen between the door and door jam, but when I opened the door I noticed the window did not automatically lower a fraction. And it did not obviously raise again upon closing. So then I get the keys and plug the fob into the ignition, no lights, no tone, nothing. Then I try an internal light, nothing. Then I notice the OBD reader in its slot (it has a red light on it) with the red light flashing, maybe 2 times a second. Then I noticed the 'START/STOP' button blinking about once a second, dimly. The same with the hazard light button.

So I'm assuming a dead battery from probably the OBD dongle, right? I hooked it up to the battery tender and about 3 hours later checked on the car, nothing, no lights, no change from before.

So can anyone shed any light on this for me? I'm pretty sure the OBD discharged the battery. Or is that a bad assumption? Will the trickle charger recharge the battery, and if so, how long does it usually take? Overnight? Should I just go jump start and try going for a drive? And perhaps the biggest question, is my battery kaput now and in need of replacement?

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I did search for an hour and couldn't find anything. I do remember reading a post mentioning something about Ultragages draining batteries overnight through the OBD port, hence why I'm guessing the dongle I had plugged in. Or, maybe one of my daughters 'inadvertently' switched an interior light on last time they were in it? Hmmm...

I sure appreciate any input, thank you.

Mike

 

Personally, I would not just jump start then drive to charge the battery. That puts a HUGE load on the alternator. I would use a "big" battery charger set at low for at least 4 hours, then trickle charge overnight. Then check battery condition with a proper battery tester. If battery checks out OK, no worries. Start it up and drive it! Oh, and figure out where your dark draw is. Maybe something left on, as you said.

 

Make sure the battery terminals are tight also.

 

Yes, Mib4840. Good point. Tight and clean!

Also...probably a good idea to disconnect the battery from the car before charging. Less chance of a voltage spike taking out one of the "black boxes".

 

I would look into a battery charger that you can leave on for extended periods of time. Either a Deltran Battery Tender Jr. or a CTEK.

 

Thank you all for the replies.

I went to the owners manual and followed the instructions for jump starting, and yes, drove it. The battery seems to have held a charge now, but I did throw it back on the battery tender jr that I have.

But now I found the following 2 problems: the passenger door window will open a crack as usual when opening the door, but will not reseat itself upon closing. I still have control over it with the internal window switch. But worse, usually when I get home the cooling fan will stay on, but this morning all I got was a soft sizzling or boiling sound. No fan. I opened Dash Command and read 220F or 90C on water temp. I could also smell an oily type smell.

Any ideas?

Thank you,
Mike

 

You paid for your warranty when you bought the car. Time to get acquinted with your service dept.

 

Agreed. I now have an appointment on Monday with Mini of the Woodlands. The SR said I can drive it unless it starts displaying CELs or acting up. I certainly won't be revving it to 5000 rpm like I did on the drive down the street.

I think something definitely broke in the passenger door when I heard the crunch. And the sound of a sizzling fajita plate under the hood does not sit well with me.

I will post results when I know next week.

Mike

 

While you're throwing things, why not throw the OBD dongle into the glove box? I found that mine killed the battery after a few days.

 

For sure. It has been dispatched.

 

OK, let's pretend that I know nothing about current technology. Actually, not much pretending needs to be done! What the heck is a "dongle", and what does it do? Well, besides plug into your OBD 2 port and drain your battery...

 

"Dongle" is a computer-tech term for "miscellaneous thing that you plug in", basically. In this case, it plugs into the OBD2 port and presumably sends the info it reads to a gauge or phone or some such. And drains your battery.

To the OP:
- A battery tender is not a battery charger. A tender is designed to keep a charged battery charged, generally with a very very small current. A battery charger is used to recharge a battery that is discharged, usually with a rather larger current.
- Search on the board for the "window reset procedure". I think it involves running the window all the way down, and continuing to hold the button down for 5 more seconds. Then running the window all the way up, and continuing to hold the button for 5 more seconds again. There's a good chance that will fix your window woes.
- 220F is in the normal operating temperature range for our MINIs. It's not a problem. I don't know what the sizzling sound is, but it is possible that the fan noise covered it up before. It's a little odd that your fan does not work the same way it used to, though.

 

Slave, great input thank you. With the battery tender, I think I was hoping it would bring back the charge, but impatience got the better of me. Cheers for pointing out the finer points of it

Just found a thread or two as you mentioned about the windows, thanks, I will try that tomorrow and hope for the best, although the surprising crunch that occurred when I closed the door makes me think something really is broken in the door's belly.

I'm glad 220 is normal operating temp, but I'm sure something is amiss with the fan. I think the sizzling sound was boiling water in the cooling system. Does anyone happen to know what the top of the normal water temperature range might be? I searched and found some posts suggesting that 220 - 225 was high, but I wonder would say 250 be a matter of shut it down NOW?

 

Well I couldn't resist. I just went out to the garage and SUCCESS!!! The window pops down a crack on opening, and pops back up after closing! Thank you Slave for referring me to the window reset procedure!

I'm still scratching my head over that crunching sound, and I have an appointment with service on Monday for the fan.

Thanks
Mike

 

One more suggestion. When you turn off the ignition and abandon the car there are still electronic gizmos functioning. Locking the car shuts them off thus reducing battery drain especially if the car is going to sit for a few days or weeks. In that case a battery tender is certainly the thing to use, but do hit the lock button as well.

 

Okay. I'm now locking it while away from it, thank you Fly'n Brick.

I dropped the car with the dealer this morning and just got off the phone with him. He says that what I am seeing is the car is being run in (it has 3000 miles on it after 10 months), and that there are many variables that affect the fan coming on (and staying on after shut down). Ambient temperature, driving style, etc, and it may not always come on after shutting down. The same with the boiling/crackling noise.

Seems like this is a quirk of the Mini. Can anyone chime in on this?

Does anyone know what coolant temperature will trigger the fan on? I saw it get as hot as 190ºF on the drive to the dealer, and the fan was definitely not on when I arrived.

Mike

 

i've never heard of the cracking noise...

FYI I've left my MINI alone in the dead of winter for weeks to 1mo at a time without turning on, no issues whatsoever

 

The sound is similar to what you might hear under the hood of your bbq on Saturday afternoon (but not so loud and no steak aroma). Not comfortable under the hood of your (correction, my) Mini.

They said they were unable to replicate the problem, but also gave me the report that said it was normal for the fan to either come on after stopping, or not come on. Either way, normal.

I'm thinking it was the ELM OBD dongle left plugged in for around 2 weeks that drained the battery. So that stays unplugged when not in use now. On a side note, the dealer did a battery test today (didn't ask them to), and it checked out fine.

So has anyone else noted the fan not coming on after switching the engine off on a hot day?

 

Sorry to keep referring to our Arizona heat, but, I normally drive in 100-115 degree temps and very seldom does my fan come on. When it does it surprises me and I forget that it is supposed to sometimes. I can actually only remember it coming on probably 4-5 times since I have owned it for the past 2 years.

 

well it was 98 in Dallas today and with my AC on the fan was on Med to OMG high alot.

 

Is that the fan on your AC or on your radiator?

 

This is the kind of information I was looking for Mib, thank you. I'm scratching my head about the whole thing, and starting to think that the fan coming on after stopping every trip was actually NOT the norm and now it's starting to get run in, it is behaving the way it was supposed to...so what I thought was normal was not and what appeared abnormal was a sample of the new normal for me...help, my brain's about to explode!

Thank you.

Mike

 

radiator , with car up to temp and sitting still for any time with AC on the fan goes from medium to screaming high in no time.

 

Thanks Adam, I misunderstood what you had meant. I had a chuckle to myself as I'd thought you meant AC...