I have noticed a lot of people having electrical issues with their starters on various threads. I am having a problem installing the starter on my 05 S. I ordered a refurbished one from NAPA and have not been able to slide it into the Transmission. I am running into the flywheel (I believe) with the dome. I say this because the dome is showing wear from repeated contact with something. I checked to make sure they didn't give me one for the classic or one for an auto since I have the Manual S. I even reordered it, when it came in the starters were identical and the correct part number. Is there a trick that I am missing to installing it or could I just have bad enough luck that I got the same wrong part twice. Also I just installed a battery into my car two weeks ago and it has been sitting in my driveway and now the battery is completely dead (2 volts at the battery and 1.8 volts in the engine compartment). I checked the ground wire and for corrosion on the posts. I'm a novice but my friend is a certified Mech and has been assisting me so I don't mess up the car. Any help would be appreciated.

 

I had the same problem and so have a few other on the forum.

It seems that someone in the refurb process have mixed up part numbers.

Take it back and order the one for automatic, they should look slightly different at the dome end. It will slide right in.

 

I ordered the new starter from NAPA I'll let you know if it works out. Was there a specific supplier that has been messing up refurb starters?

 

Many folks (well I remember about 3 or 4) have had this issue.... Remember the common threads being the catalog at auto-zone had the stick/auto starter mixed up...bet they use the same supplier or the same database....

 

So I tried the Automatic starter, it got further in than the manual version but it still didn't fit all the way in and began to torque as it slide into the transmission. It almost feels like the dome for the automatic should be on the manual. I think I'm just going to take the car and the starter to a shop and see if I can get them to fit it in. Thanks for the assistance.

 

I finally got a starter that fits, not from napa but from way out motoring in Atlanta. The owner was very helpful and it got here in two days. The issues seems to be that there are several types of starters for this particular year of mini (R50 standard, R50 automatic, R53 standard and R53 automatic) due to this Napa and other autoparts stores don't stock the correct dome for the mini, and may not even have the correct starter to to begin with. Now I just have to track down the reason my Battery keeps dying and the car should be good to go. Thanks for the help and stay away from napa for mini starters.

 

Listen for a pump running...
One common issue (with a Extented warrenty on most mini's...including SOME 2005 CARS) is the ps pump can fail...sometimes it simply dies...other times it stays running till the battery dies.