Drove the car on sunday for an hour or two and everything worked fine. It sat all day yesterday and i went out today to take my friend to an appointment and the car didn't start. All the electronics seem to work. When I try to start it I hear a clicking. The weird thing is that while I am trying to start it the drivers window moves down a bit with each click. What could be the problem here? It is an automatic with about 55k miles on it and no previous problems.

 

Probably in need of a new battery. I had a similar situation where it appeared all the electronics were working, but I'd get this clicking sound anytime I tried to start the motor.

GotMINI

 

If the lights aren't dim or fading, then your battery should be fine. Does it sound like it is trying to turn over? IE - it is trying to ignite, and won't; or does it make no noise other than the clicking when the key is turned?

If it's trying to ignite, then you probably aren't getting fuel, or spark.
If it's just clicking, then it may be your starter.

 

What year is your MINI, mmaluso? If you have a 1st Gen, particularly if it's a few years young, then you seem to be in the neighborhood of the normal life expectancy of the OEM battery. That would be the first place I'd investigate. Your radio and instrument panel may still seem fine; they take a lot less current than the starter. As Astro suggests, you might check to see if you can detect dimness in your headlamps.

Was it particularly cold there today?

 

Ok i used my motorcycle to jumpstart it last night and let it idle by itself for about 10 minutes. Then i shut if off and it started right back up so i let it idle for about 10 more minutes. The car hasnt been driven since and then i tried to drive it a couple minutes ago and it didn't start so I am going to assume its the battery and take it in to get tested tonight. It just clicks (and drivers window goes down)... doesnt try to turn over. Ill post back whether or not that was the problem. I guess I just didn't think it was the obvious because of the way the window was acting.

 

Autozone sells a Duralast Gold battery that is about half the price of the OEM battery and comes with a 7 year warranty. Perfect fit and no reason to pay more for less. . . .

 

Brace the hatch so it will not close while you have the battery out. Seen a lot of crawling in the rear seat to get hatch open.

 

What are you talking about?

Problem was just a bad battery. How simple and uninteresting. I think I'm just used to troubleshooting the rx7 so I just assume the worst .

 

haha... I wish some of the problems I had in the past were "simple and uninteresting"... I seem to get stuck with the $500+ repair bills...

GotMINI