I'm not sure what's wrong with my car and apparently my mechanic (not a dealer) doesn't either. My first thought was the alternator, but he thinks that the engine wiring harness may be replaced after reading the technical service bulletin M120505 (which I cannot find online). He doesn't seem very confident though, and I don't even know if they are willing to do the work at all (I am supposed to get a call back after they do some research). The reason I started going to this place was that they seemed knowledgeable in Minis and had reasonable (e.g. non-dealer) prices. At this point I'm not sure what I'm going to do, I really don't want to pay another towing charge to get it over to the dealer, nor do I want to pay the high dealer prices to get whatever it needs done. Although I'm getting really sick of not having my car, and I just want this whole thing to be over.

Anyway here is my description of what happened on that dreadful day, I'm hoping maybe someone can give me some feedback if they've had the same issue, or at least an estimate about how much someone charged them to replace the engine wiring harness so I can get an idea of how much this is going to screw me. It has over 140,000 miles on it (it's a 2002), so it's definitely out of warranty. I'm definitely regretting this purchase (I just got it 3 months ago and have already had several issues), although unfortunately I can't turn back the clock.



At about 8AM the battery light came on. It went off and came back on several times within about 30 minutes. After that, as far as I know it continued to be on solid.

After driving about 1 hour I tried to park. At that time the ABS and traction control lights came on, and power steering was lost. After turning the car off, I tried to restart it. The car would not start at all, and it did not appear that the starter even tried. I lifted the hood and examined the battery contacts, which appeared to be attached well. After 1-2 minutes, I tried to start the car again and it started up. I believe the battery light was still on though. I shut the engine off and left the car for approximately 4 hours.

When returning to the car it did start immediately, and I started driving to a place where I could get a new battery which was about 4-5 miles away. Shortly before arriving at the destination I lost power steering, and I believe the ABS and traction lights came on again. If I remember correctly, the instrement cluster over the steering wheel (tac and speedometer) went dead and the tac and speedometer needles were stuck and did not return to zero when the car was stopped. I was also unable to roll up the windows before shutting the car off.

I went into the shop to find they did not have a battery. This took about 20 minutes and afterwards the car did start. Initially I did have power steering. After driving for about half a mile, the power steering was lost and the ABS and traction control lights came back on. The transmission appeared to be shifted into the lowest gear possible. I pulled over to the shoulder and stopped the car. After waiting for several minutes to try and start it again, I was able to find someone with a battery within walking distance. I walked to get the new battery, then came back and replaced the battery. After the battery was replaced, the car started right up, however the battery light was still on and now the check engine light was on. I assumed that it would take a bit for the battery to charge up for a bit, so I drove home. I drove the short distance to give the old battery to the place where I bought the new one. The engine also started right up, with the battery and check engine lights still on.

After about 30 minutes of driving on the freeway, the ABS and traction control lights came back on and I lost power steering. I slowed down as traffic got worse going into the bay bridge. After sitting in traffic for a while the instriument cluster started going nuts with lights flickering on and off seemingly randomly. After a while the engine overheat light came on, and I was not sure if I should believe it or not since all the other lights did not appear to be functioning correctly. After a few minutes I saw smoke coming out of the hood and immediately shut off the engine. After poping the hood I could see the engine coolant tank boiling over and there was coolant all over the engine components. After a couple of minutes a tow truck showed up and towed it into san francisco where it was parked in a mechanic's garage, without restarting the car.

 

All of what you say is consistent with the alternator failing......and the car running off the battery...then having things fail....like the ELECTRIC power steering, ELECTRIC windows......COMPUTER driven stability control....electric gauges (computerized).....Does it add up yet??
When the voltage is low, like from a bad battery or failed alternator, the electronics on a MINI does strange things...it is after-all a big computer....and when the electric power steering, a big electric motors turns on and off...it causes the voltage to go up and down....and anybody with a computer KNOWS that is not good.
Testing the alternator is an easy thing for a shop....before they dig too deep, why not check the simple stuff, that is actually quite common on higher mileage cars? 140,000 miles is alot for any electrical competent!!
The fact that things worked OK after the battery recharge (then rapidly failed) would be expected....when a battery is brought to a very low point...they frequently will not recover...especially if the battery is old, or the battery is rapidly re-charged!!
If the harness has failed....what makes him believe it is bad....
was the car fine before the battery light came on?!
These cars do act funny with a nearly failed battery......so was everything working fine last week? or was random things happening?
Testing an alternator should be pretty easy....most auto zone type of places can do a basic check with it in the car (my battery charger can do a test too).......some places can do a bench test once it is out!!
PS most "NEW" battery's may not be fully charged....they sit on the shelf, slowly discharging, and get "rotated out" and re-charged by the supplier every few months....so the fact a new battery fixed it for 30 minutes...about as long a most cars can run off a battery, seem right!
I'd get a new shop.....it sounds like they were trying to delay working on your car till later....
everything you say makes it sound pretty cut and dry....
what was the previous problems.....same shop?!

 

+1 with what zippy said... my car windows would roll down as i tried to start the car with a pretty dead battery... it also made some pretty scary noises.

since the check engine light is on now i would definitely put a code reader to it and see what it says.. but the alternator definitely sounds like the culprit.

 

Firestone said that it was the engine wiring harness, and refused to do the actual work. After I had it towed to a place that says they specialize in Mini's, they said that it was indeed the alternator (which I of course suggested to Firestone). Clearly I will not be returning to Firestone in the future.

Now the shop my car is at now is saying that it will cost about $1000 to replace the alternator ($600 for a bosh alternator and $400 for labor). Is that how much it should cost?

Man I can definitely say I'm not going to buy another one of these cars. The alternator in my Grand Am went out and I bought one for $100 with a lifetime warranty (apparently the bosh one for the mini only comes with a 2 year 24,000 warranty).

 

yep... mini has definitely made me second guess my purchase.. as far as prices for alternators i would look around for rebuilt ones or even salvage yards. maybe even some of the vendors here might be able to help you... and depending on your location, i would look into other shops. get competitive, especially when your wallet is the one taking the hit.

 

The shop replaced the alternator (finally finished on Friday at 5:30). I took it on 2 short trips (which were about 80 miles round trip), and on the way back home from the 2nd one the battery/charging light came on again. I brought it back to the shop and they said the alternator was dead again. The alternator was a Bosh 120A re-manufactured. They are replacing the alternator again, but now I'm worried that this one will be soon to die as well. What could kill an alternator so fast? It's a 2002 MC (not S) without any crazy after market ad ons that would be drawing a lot of current.

 

I just got a call from the mechanic, he said that there is a problem with the battery cables. Apparently when the car is started the voltage at the alternator is 14.5V, but the voltage at the battery is only 13.8V (where it should be at a minimum of 14.3-14.4). He said that a lot of work is needed to replace the cables, and that it will probably cost $500-$600. What a kick in the nuts. He thinks that is what is causing the alternator to prematurely fail, although I don't see how that would happen.

 

I always have to ask .... Did you check the engine ground strap?

Any local clubs in your area? Local Clubs can be a godsend for finding the right mechanics and often Members will work with you to get repairs done.

2002 with 140K .... WOW! Try http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/...01_catalog.htm
http://www.allminiparts.com/
http://www.koperformance.com/online_...FRljnAod9yjqoA

There are lots more places than what I listed above.

 

Maybe you just got a bad alternator...it does happen.....heck, some re-manufactures are kinda shade!! It is $$ (600) for a remanfactured alternator...I would expect to see that pricing on the DENSO S alternator....the one on the cooper is cheaper...

 

I got the car back on Wednesday at 10AM (with another alternator replacement and the battery cables redone). I drove it to work and on the way back home, the charging system warning light popped on AGAIN. I brought it straight to the shop. I haven't heard anything from them yet (over 2 days), and I don't want to call them and check on it yet since I'm still pissed and I'm sure some choice words will be exchanged. The running tally for this incident is about $2,000 and 2 weeks out of commission so far. If he calls me and says they want more money to replace something else they "think" is the problem, I'm going to scream.

I'm really doubting the competency for this shop (Auto Europa in San Francisco). Their prices are quite high, and they take a really long time to get anything done. Add to that the fact I've brought it to them 3 times with the same problem. When this is all over there are definitely going to be some review postings on any sites I can fine.

 

I had a similar problem, everything would go crazy with the car....Mine was the windshield wipers, air conditioning, radio and power windows.

I don't know how "my guy" determined this, but he replaced the starter, and all worked fine afterwards

 

I believe on early MC's there was an issue of chaffing of the wiring harness at the starter causing problems like yours.

Also may I suggest Bay Bridge Motors http://baybridgemotors.reachlocal.net/ in Oakland if your dissatisfied with your current shop.

Hope this helps...

 

Hey i have the rev counter problem and all ligts in the dash are off plus the central locking doesnt work , haow di you resolve your mc issue please?
i allready spent 2k euros and i didnt was able to resolve it , i am trying one more time and then i will decide to sell it for salvage , it really pisses me off!

 

were you able to fix this?