This morning my wife called me from a gas station where our 2002 MCS would not start. I drove over expecting to jump-start the car, but even after charging for 10 minutes all I could get was a loud clicking from the engine compartment, which I assumed was the starter trying to engage. I had the car towed home, and checked the voltage at the battery. I've got 12.59 V at the battery, but only 5 V at the positive terminal in the engine compartment. I'm going to put a new battery in anyway since this is the original 2002 battery, but have no idea why there is a voltage drop from the battery to the front of the car. Could this voltage drop be related to the starter, or is there a separate problem with the positive distribution block?
Thanks,
Ian

 

Start with the battery and see if that does it. It's weird that the reading at the terminal in the engine bay is so drastically different than the one direct from the terminal on the battery though. Right after connecting the new battery check the front terminal again and see if the drop is consistent eith the old battery - if the performance is unchanged you can always return the battery, I'd assume (although as you said, a 5 year old battery might do well to be changed anyway).

Has anything been done to the car recently? Exhaust work, or suspension/tires? Maybe something damaged the main lead running up from the boot to the engine bay?

Also, when you were trying to jump it, were you clipped to the front positive lead or were you clipped direct to the battery in the boot? If the battery was charged but only 5V is reaching the starter then yeah, I think it would have serious trouble turning over.

Keep us updated as to what the cause turns out to be asnd good luck!

 

Thanks for the quick response. No work was done to the car recently, so I"m leaning more towards a part failure than something getting bumped. I could not get the rear hatch open with no power, so I was jumping to positive post in the engine compartment. I've never had to open the hatch without power and the dealer said there was a ring under the backseat attached to a cable, but I could not find it. Does such an emergency cable actually exist?
Ian

 

That sounds right but I've never had to use it, sorry. I agree that a part failure is the most likely suspect, but it's always good to consider alternatives. best of luck tracing it and let us know if that fails to do the trick.

 

there is a 250 amp fuse that might have blown,and check the engine ground strap to the chassis on the r/h of the engine bay the lugs can snap off or the bolt work loose.

 

The new battery did the trick. I picked up an Optima Type 34R Red Top and that did the trick. 12.5 V at the battery, and 12.5 V at the positive post in the engine bay (plus the car started right up). The only explanation I can come up with is that the battery could not put out 12.5 V into a load, and that the car's wiring was sufficient load for a dying battery to cause the voltage drop from the back of the car to the front.

While perusing the board I did find the sticky about rust under the doorsill gasket, and sure enough I've got a bit of that. I've got an appointment with some POR15 in the morning. Great board, great info.

Thanks for the suggestion,
Ian

 

might not have a a good connection a little bit of corrosion can go a >LONG way... just a thought

 

An emergency release cable for the hatch does exist, but it never came on the earlier model MINIs (which, if you ask me, is dumb as hell as it makes it real difficult to get back to the hatch area if you ever need to access the battery compartment, but you can't because you're unable to release the lock mechanism for the hatch). I believe they started equipping the release cable in 04 or so. I hear it's possible to get it retrofitted to the earlier models, but I haven't looked into it much myself.

GotMINI

 

Yeah, my 05 had some start issues about 6 months ago, cleaned the batt terminals and cable connections....Start troubles went away.