Okay, so last weekend, the wife's car was acting weird. You would need to turn the key several times to get it to start. You would get no sound, no crank no nothing, then like the 4th or 5th turn it would start. I came home and swapped the relays in the engine compartment, and it started right up, So the next morning before I left for work, I decided to give it a try, and sure enough, ti took several turns for anything to happen. finally Wednesday, it would not start at all, no matter what. My wife spent 20 minutes trying.

I figured ti was the starter since my Ford Ranger showed the same symptoms ( except you could hear the solenoid clicking, so I figured her solenoid on her starter went bad.) Tonight I changed the starter, go to turn it on....and same symptoms, no click, no nothing. I'm at wits end, and since my shop is an hour away from here, I can't exactly roll it in and start testing the wiring. I also tried jumping the battery to see if the battery is low, but same

So, with that in mind, any ideas? I can only thing of the ignition switch going bad, or the wiring, but I have heard a few people having problems with the ignition switch because the contacts go bad. Any tips or tricks I can try to see if in fact there is a problem?

Her MINI is a 2005 S Auto with 95K on the clock. Thanks guys.

 

I would first rule out your battery. Take your car to an Autozone, O'Rileys or some other shop and have them check your battery before you do anything expensive!
*Sorry I didn't read the part about you already ruling out the battery, I'm not entirely sure where to go from here, but please update us on anything you figure out.

 

Lets throw this in with all "not starting " threads.

Did you check the engine ground ??

Wouldn't hurt to check.

 

Since its an auto I would suggest trying to put it in neutral and try and start it. Also check to see if you have brake lights with the key on to see if the brake light switch is working. You can also drop the lower steering column trim and remove the electrical side of the ignition switch and test from there. Its held in by 2 set screws on the left hand side of the column under the trim.

 

Attached is a pic from the fog light retrofit pdf. This junction is located on the passenger side, just inside wheel well, item X165.

It's attached to the car by one bolt. Clean under the junction, and be sure it is snugly tightened. LOTS of grounding going on there, including the starter, and when I retrofit my fogs I left it loose. Everything looked great, but no start.

If I can get a picture, I'll post it. It's just another place to check, not a guarantee.

 

Thanks for all the insight guys. I checked all the grounds, and cleaned them up, but still gave me the same situation. I ordered an ignition switch, so hopefully it gets here before the weeks end. I tried a few things tonight, which now tells me ordering that may have been the right choice. I turn the key fully, and before allowing it to turn back to the on position, I wiggled it forward and backwards, and then up and down. When I did up and down, it not only started, but started every time, which tells me the contacts may in deed be worn. Crossing my fingers that this may in deed be the problem.