Hello all,
New here. My son is off to college and ever since he left I have had this issue with his Mini. The car has an electrical drain when parked and the battery goes fully dead within a day and a half. I am reasonably handy but wouldn't mind a professional to at least diagnose the problem. Anybody know an honest mechanic in the Rockland County NY or Bergen County NJ area? Or have any idea what to look for?
Thanks in advance!
D

 

I have had this experience twice, once with my MG Midget and once with my '36 Chevy Streetrod. The Midget was the cigarette lighter, the '36 was a real head scratcher since I had just completed a frame off restoration and had replaced the entire wiring harness. That turned out to be a bad (new) radio, they have a small draw to hold memory (< 20mA) but mine was pulling almost an amp. Easiest way to find the problem is to montior the amp draw at the battery then start pulling fuses one at a time until the you find the circuit thats causing problem. At least this will lead you in the right direction.

 

Try pulling the fuses in both panels one-at-a-time. One is next to computer harness under the bonnet; the other is on the left panel at the floor below the steering wheel.

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For the one under the bonnet, there are fuses on both top and bottom.



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Here's a diagram of the panel inside:

 

yup...you are down to pulling one fuse at a time....or 5 or 6 and seeing of the draw drops by quite a bit with an amp-meter...
or just do the lazy thing, and get a battery tender....and keep it plugged in, so the car is ready to go when you want it...will be easier on the battery not killing it and re-charging it too if it takes a while to fix.

 

ummmmm .... those big things are relays

those little things (the other diagram where ever you got these pictures) are the fuses . . . they have numbers on the top like 10, 15 or 20 and also are color coded. All the fuses are "on top" of the respective panel.



1. Is there anything in the car that is not original equipment like a sound system or hard wired radar detector? This would be the most likely problem source; something added to the car.

2. Rather than hang a battery tender and allow the car to uselessly burn amps I'd simply disconnect the battery. You might need to connect a trickle charger b4 he comes home or plan on a jump and a healthy charging drive b4 he comes home but no use to pump in juice and burn it off uselessly. This is a POOR second choice tho, find the drain....it should NOT be happening. I can park my 79 for 3 months and it still starts strong.

 

I have a 1990 miata ,the car could sit for weeks without a problem. This car not so much. I have it running for this weekend I will tear it apart when I have more time (which I'll never have) that is why I seek a professional to diagnose this and not charge 135 an hour like my local mini stealer

 

Silly as it sounds put a new battery in it, I have had 3 cases where the battery was the actual draw. A new battery fixed all 3 cars.

 

battery is brandy new less than 2 weeks old cars started fine for a couple of days after that

 

A one amp draw is significant. Something should be getting hot.

Rich