Firstly, I apologize if this has been answered elsewhere and I missed it, I've been searching around for it.

The car is a 2004 Mini Cooper S with 148k miles on it, and has been nothing but stress and headaches.

I finally got the car registered and road legal yesterday. Today I go to drive to work and the battery light is on. Everything works besides my heated seats, so I ignored it. Drove to work without issue(15 miles), radio and ps and everything was fine. Then went to go to lunch, light still on and I suddenly had no powersteering. Drove there and back(5 miles). Then on the drive home the car was obviously having issues, lights were dim, etc. Right as I'm pulling up to my house, the Traction Control and ABS lights come on. I shut the car off, and it does not start back up.


Now due to my searching, it would seem the alternator has failed. But it seems odd it started up and drove so much before shutting down for good?


Another thing to note- A few days prior I used the car to try to jump one of my bmw's(which has a ford small block in it, and a VERY power hungry starter). I'm wondering if I messed something up then, or something to do with that.



I'm in a bind and need to fix this asap, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advanced for any help!

 

Yeah, sounds like the alternator failed. You'll need to replace it.

The car started and did everything because it was still running off the battery. I don't know about you, but those batteries are pretty beefy... I've left the lights on overnight and the car started the next day.

And no, jump starting a car won't damage the alternator. It just goes out due to wear and tear or old age.

 

^^^ Yep your Alt is DOA.

When my alternator died it did the same thing as yours. Battery light & then assorted other lights. Last gasp before the car wouldn't run was dead PS.

Jumping your car will do nothing for you. If it starts it will die very soon & maybe someplace that is a real pain like the middle of a busy road. Replacement of the alternator is the fix.

 

I realize that, my point was is that it's very odd that it happened directly after using the car to jump start one of my other cars.

Thanks for the input though guys

 

I would check the large fuse on the back side of the main fuse panel (under the hood) before I replaced the alt. Maybe jumping blew it. Nik

 

That was my thinking, but being new to the Mini, I didn't know if it had one/ where it was. Thank you!

How would I access this? Do I simply take the fuse box off and there's access to it that way?

 

Yes, it is directly on the back side. You may have to pull off part if the air intake. I apologize, it's been awhile.

Nik

 

Good luck hope it is an easy fuse fix for you. Replacing the alternator is a pain.