So my battery dies when i don't drive the car for a few days. Fine. I'm okay with this. I'll figure that out another time.

(mini cooper convertible, normally aspirated, 2004 delivery, 2005 model.)

This morning, i went to start it and it was completely totally flat. Not a single interior light, nothing. (p.s. do not store jumper cables in convertible trunk, it will be hard to get them!)
I used my portable jumper and while i was able to get interior lights and my instrument panel, the car still would not turn over.

So i pushed the car out of the driveway and lined it up with my other car.
I have the jumper cables for stupid people which split in the middle.
I hooked one side up to the mini and the other up to the audi.
When i connected the two cables together in the middle, i hear a spark/click noise come from mini.

The car is now totally dead. I get no interior lights, no cranking, nothing. I checked all the obvious fuses that i can see. they are all okay.

I got the bentley manual, which says to troubleshoot the starter on page 121-18.Unfortunately, my bentley manual does not contain that page. (edit: called bentley - my manual is missing over 20 pages from the one section i needed this morning. this year is starting off well!) I also do not see a TOC item in the manual for "where the hell are all the damn fuses?"

Can anyone point me to a "master" fuse, or some equivalent, probably expensive, set of electronics that make a nice "sparky" noise when the car isn't happily jumped?

thanks
Eric

 

I seriously doubt it is a fuse.

If you jumped using the cables and heard the click everything is working, you just aren't getting enough juice thru the jumper cables.

Make sure the good car is running and put the jumper cables on. Put the ground on a good ground (not battery ground). put positive cable on positive post. Running car RPM should be up to 2000 for a couple minutes then give your mini a try.


Edit: after reading your post I thought the clicking heard was from the starter. Now I think did you possibly reverse the - and + leads on your jumper cable?

I would go get a new battery. You need one anyway.


Fuses are under the hood.

 

I heard the starter click when i jumped the car with a portable battery jumper.

when i plugged the car into another car, i heard a DIFFERENT click, and EVERYTHING is DEAD.
no interior lights, nothing.

before i plugged the car into a bigger car, i had interior lights/console/etc.

The battery is one year old. I will get a new one when i figure out how to start the car at all. No need to **** up another battery.

I did jump it properly. I have jumper cables for a moron - they light up when they're plugged in properly.
I've also done this 20 or so times since 2005.
This is the first time it has killed my car.

Any special fuses that are not in the regular fuse box (which i checked)?

 

fuse F100 on Cooper S is in cargo department near batter. 250 amp . appears to be next to positive terminal of battery in a small plastic compartment.

Do you have a multimeter? You can test to see if it is ok.


Fuse and Relay panel 2 behind left kick panel

 

I have a normally aspirated mini convertible. Not the S.

please describe to me what a left kick is.

since my manual is missing pages!

Will there be spare fuses present, or should i pick some up on my way home? What values?

I do have a multimeter, and would be happy tracing the voltage through the car to see where it is disconnected... if i knew which points to test.

 

Fuse panel 2 is in your vehicle on the left kick panel which would be on the drivers side left foot.

It doesn't look like there is anything in ther that would cause complete failure like what you have described.

I would go get a new batter and hook it up(without jumping it) Perhaps your current battery is completely toast.

I think that you shouldn't have damaged any fuses if you've jumped it properly as described.

My manual is for 02-04 only.

 

I can pretty much guarantee that the problem is not the battery. The battery has at least *some* voltage, and while i cannot tell how much current it would have, it certainly has enough voltage to power some of the electronics. The fact that it isn't doing *anything* tells me that i've either damaged some circuitry or there is a "master" fuse somewhere (please please please) that's toasted.

I'll check the left panel shortly.

p.s. I've seen cars jumped "backwards" before. nothing terribly bad happens. you risk an explosion as the batteries dump, but if you reverse it in due time, you can survive it, and so can the car and battery.

That being said, i did not jump the car backwards. Really, i am quite sure of this.

 

Trust me on this, your battery is dead. Install a new one and I bet it fires right up. I have had the very same thing happen twice and it was the battery both times.

 

You have probably already done this, but before you buy a new battery, I would check connections. Make sure nothing is loose, corroded, etc. On both cars, but especially the MINI.

 

It is not the battery. Not not not the battery. The battery *was* lighting the instruments, then, in just a split second, it was not.
Also, even if the battery were totally *missing*, the car would still be able to light dash lights while jumped.

Nothing is loose or corroded. I checked all obvious connections. Keep in mind that things were *fine* before i jumped the car. Well, not fine, but better than they are now...

Based on the "snapping" noise i heard, i have either fried a circuit or a fuse.

Does anyone here know of a "main fuse" that is in between the battery and everything else?

 

You say in your first post that you had no interior lights before using the portable jumper, so a little current may not be enough to power them (remember, everything goes through the BC1 - so if not enough juice to power the computer, nothing happens.)

If you're still under warranty, you can call roadside assistance, but it's probably less trouble just to pick up a new battery. Given your first sentence about how it's dead after a couple of days is a big clue that something's just not right.
You're not going to do any harm to a new battery if a fuse is blown, but it WILL eliminate one variable. If the battery is completely toast, even jumping it may not work.

I've heard fables of a BIG fuse underneath the fuse box in the engine, but you've got to pull the fuse box to check it. Did the spark/click come from the front or the back?
In any case, start with the easy, known issue - the battery.

 

The MCS has a 'disconnect' that is supposed to kill power to the car after an accident. I assume the Cooper would have the same - if so it should be near the red power cable.


Work with us on this one - unless you've tried a new battery, don't say it's not the battery. Electronics in cars these days do 'funny things' when they don't have enough current.

 

I'll go buy a new battery at lunch, but it isn't going to be the battery. The interior lights were working, then i connect the jumpers, then click, then they're not working.

That click (which came from the front of the car, which side, i don't know) was the sound of something breaking. It was not the sound of the battery instantly and totally discharging.
The other car, while hooked up and running, should happily run the interior lights.

If/When i come back and it isn't the battery, what's next? Tow to dealer? (under warranty still)
I feel retarded having it towed so they can replace a fuse and call me a moron.

 

I suppose you could start pulling big fuses out of the engine fuse box and do a visual/electrical check for continuity, but other than that and the 'big mother' underneath the fusebox, I can't see what else it could be.

 

The MC doenst have (that I know of) the cut off explosive that the S does due to it being under the hood not in the interrior.

I know that other cars I have owned had fusable links as well as fuses and the links were nothing more than easy melt wires. (just an idea)

 

Eric--

Please tell me how to check this "big mother" under the fusebox. My bentley manual is missing these pages. This is what i want to check!
I have checked all other fuses under the hood.

A call into my dealer has my service advisor checking with the lead tech for me about this problem too.

 

Check out this thread for pics.
No step by step, but it should be pretty straight forward.
Good luck!

 

woo! thank you. I will check this shortly, *before* i buy my new battery.
Would you folks expect a stock mini's battery to be unable to start the car after, say, 4 days of being off and in cold weather? Do i have a draining problem?

It says that the 100 amp fuse feeds the steering pump
1) damn, that's a lot of amperage for steering
2) how would that cause my car to not have interior lights? What do those 50 amp fuses do?

thanks
Eric

 

This sounds like the exact things my MCS was doing. Please prove me wrong, but I still have to say it is your battery.





Good call Eric, try the easy things first.

 

Dude, it is the battery.... The MINI requires a lot of power to do anything and the battery goes quick and fast. Even if you are one volt off the car won't even turn over. As posted above, you have to let the car sit with jumpers for a good 10 min for the battery to obtain enough of a charge to even jump turn the car over.

My battery went flat and like yours, nothing came up. Jump required 10 min connected to a Subaru Forester and then it barley turned over. New battery in no problems...

 

"I'll go buy a new battery at lunch, but it isn't going to be the battery. The interior lights were working, then i connect the jumpers, then click, then they're not working."

This would still imply the battery. The current is going to take the path of least resistance. It's possible that you have a short IN the battery, especially if you have jumped the car 20 times in the past (seem to remember that number from your posts).

Obviously doublecheck the connections, it's quite possible that they have corrosion and aren't making a solid connection in the cold/damp weather. But if your battery only keeps a charge for a few days it's toast anyway and needs to be replaced.

 

You're a stubborn fellow, aren't you?


It's more than likely that you just got a crappy battery. You could have a dark current issue, but I'd put the odds at 99:1 that it's just a weak battery that self drains (especially in the cold). Given that, you could probably get a new one from MINI if your dealer is nearby.
1) Yep
2) From the post, the 50amp fuses power groups of other fuses, but w/o a wiring diagram (and maybe with one) not sure what does what. I'm betting if you pull the fuse box, they'll all be intact. But if not, you'll know your (other) problem.


Go get a battery and after your car is running we can discuss the intricacies of the MINI electrical system.

 

This battery is a year old. Granted, it is not the mini battery (it is an autobarn battery, with more CCA than the mini original) - how long should these things last?

Eric

 

You don't say what part of the world you're in, but in general a battery should not go dead over a few days. I have a Lexus that I drive infrequently since I got my MINI and it sits for over a month sometimes without being driven and always starts right up.

I have left my '03 MiniS sit outside in the cold for over a week and it starts right up, so either you have a drain somewhere or a bad battery or bad connection and the battery isn't getting recharged. That will kill a battery ina year as well.

Anxuious to hear what it turns out to be, but I'm thinking a new battery and a trip to the dealer to have the whole charging system checked, especially since you're still in warranty.

 

I've had six year old cars where I never replaced the battery. But 3-5 years is pretty normal for an OEM battery. You get what you pay for with batteries. If you buy the discount battery that's 50% less then the name brand you're likely to be buying twice as many of them.

On the other hand I'm not sure that buying the premium designer battery gets you a better battery except for specific applications (stereophiles, deep cycle, harsh environments etc).

If you don't go buy the MINI OEM one (I have no idea what they overcharge for it) go somewhere that carries a lot of batteries (Sears for example) and ask them what the normal middle of the road battery is.