Put in and Turn key and all power goes off. Take key out a- hear some clicking, everything comes back.

Battery is good, - problem happens intermittently.

Anything else to check?

 

Good to see I'm not the only one stumped. Here is some additional trouble shooting I have done.


I checked the battery and its fine - just for the interests of ruling it out, I hooked up a new battery and the problem still exists.


During my troubleshooting I did notice that the DME Relay makes a clicking noise sometimes when its seems to be trying to come back to life. I went ahead and replaced the DME Relay, but problem continues to exist. I will try to take a video of what is occurring in the different key positions to help give a visual of whats happening.

 

I've run into the issue where I can only start my Mini immediately after key-insertion.
Can't let the lights register at all or else it just doesn't do anything when I turn the key.

I dunno, maybe it's just a Mini thing... I never get a clicking noise from any sort of relays or the starter though. Kinda stumping?

 

Just throwing ideas around here. Is the car starting? May not be your issue as the battery is something I would have thought it would be, but just a thought. The alternator provides your car with a constant source of electricity while the engine is running. Over time, the alternator can begin to fail and start causing trouble with the various electrical systems in the car. When the car is running, the alternator should be outputting anywhere from about 12.5 volts to about 14.5 volts. If you don't see any significant change in the voltage after you start up the car, then your alternator could be faulty. If the voltage is high at the battery (around 17 volts or higher), then the alternator's regulator is most likely faulty and needs to be replaced. Here is some more info with alternator trouble shooting. This may not be your issue, but at least you can possibly trouble shoot and rule it out.

 

Mine will start sometimes other times it won't start at all. One point I did forget to mention is absolutely no trouble codes at all.

The problem is intermittent at best. Three days straight the problem existed, this morning it's running without issue.

I tested the alternator - just to rule it out, and it's holding a pretty consistent reading of
14.3v .

I am almost temped to start looking to pull open and start looking for shorts in the ignition switch itself. Will try to get that video uploaded tonight so you can clearly see the problem (it's really hard to describe what's happening).

 

Just had a similar problem was bad solenoid on the starter. Not working at all and drawing a lot of current when it should have been moving... New starter solved it.

Check if you are getting ~12V on the solenoid terminal of the starter (smaller wire) when it won't start. If so, problems the starter. If no voltage then the problem is upstream and the starter isn't getting the signal to fire. The main lug of the starter (2 big cables) gets 12V all the time.

 

The ignition switch is a good idea. Ran across this thread that might have some good info here. This NAM thread here ended up being the battery, but people gave some good suggestions that may be helpful as well. Hope you get it figured out. Let us know what you find.

 

I found my solution, which was a loose ground... Also replaced the ignition coils, no idea if that'll do anything but help cold starts. Hope OP found a solution!

 

That's good to hear!

 

Same thing happen to me the other day while I was out for lunch. First thing I checked and it worked. Glad you managed to get it too.

 

We did find the problem - a bad negative battery cable, noticed the bottom side of the cable had a split in it. Resulting Sometimes it would short out. Odd we didn't see this when testing the voltage - but replacing the negative cable seems to have resolved the problem.

Thanks all