Hey everyone,

I have an 03 R53 I just finished buttoning up after a rebuild. I'm having a no crank condition and I'm thinking I may have missed an engine to body ground wire. I have the one that runs from the top motor mount on the engine side hooked up but I haven't found and don't remember any others.

My key does the "open door key recognition ding", the fuel pump primes and when I turn to start the blower kicks off and I get a (what I'm pretty sure is a) solenoid click.

Questions I have: Dare I jump battery straight to the solenoid just to make sure the fault is in the starter? Is there any chance the starter went kaput while it was out of the car?

 

Are you sure you have the wires attached to the starter correctly? there are two big studs and one smaller for the solenoid. Both large cables (from battery and from alternator) go on one of the big studs.

Jumping from the battery cable terminal to the solenoid terminal is the way to test it. Be prepared - you don't want the car to move on you. Out of gear, of course.

 

Check the two leads to the starter ... just did mine and there was some wear on the rubber boot around the inner side on the lead to the starter that was causing the positive lead to go to ground. As a result the starter wouldn't crank. A good dose of electrical tape solved the issue and the starter cranked no problem.

 

Yes, after you double check your wiring, you should be safe to use a remote start switch to jump the solenoid to see if the starter spins.

Worse case, pull the starter and bench test it.

Motor on!

 

Double Check your ground at the upper motor mount. Seen that be the culprit before.

 

Jumping the solenoid isn't cranking it. It does cause a small click over in the area of the ECU. The wires going to the starter are correct and the ground cable on the starter and motor look good.

I'm thinking that the rebuilt motor might be so tight that the starter is energizing but not cranking. Would it be useful to tow the car around in gear for a bit to pick up oil and pump it around? I might even try to bump start it just to drive it for a bit. It's been too long without my Mini!

 

Update time! I think you'll enjoy this one.

I towed the Mini up a hill and gave it one run with the plugs out. Installed the plugs and gave it a long 2nd gear run and it fired up. Hooray! I drove it over to the gas station and filled up the tires really quick (leaving it running, of course) and drove back home and shut it off at the top of the hill. Gave it a bit of time to cool and checked the fluids. Everything is fine.

Get back in the car and there is zero power. No interior lights, no dash, no key, zilch, nada.

I gave it a good run down the hill hoping the alternator gives it some power but I don't get a peep out of it.

Now I have the car on a battery tender to recharge it. I'm guessing I have a short or a blown fuse somewhere now. Possibly a miswired alternator? Any suggestions?

It was great to have the Mini running again though! Even being in break in procedure in the Mini is better than every other car I've had to drive for the last three months.

 

You didn't say if you've checked the things already suggested - these all remain prime suspects in my mind:

1) engine grounds
2) Chafing/short of battery positive cable near the starter
3) cables mixed up at the starter (two battery positive cables met there - one from the alternator and one from the battery) plus the smaller solenoid wire

Did you measure battery voltage while it was running? I'll bet it was 12v or less and it was running off the battery and not the alternator

Any chance you cleaned the alternator with brake cleaner? Did anything else to it?

Good luck!

 

I traced the no power situation back to the body to negative terminal wire which was corroded at the negative post. The other ground wires checked out fine. I'm still suspicious of a short somewhere in the system.

That being said, I know I had the starter hooked up correctly. I'm pulling it to check it. I haven't cleaned the alternator.

 

Turned out to be the starter solenoid! Grabbed a new one from the junkyard and it's been smooth sailing, by which I mean driving.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Motor on!

 

Glad you got it fixed , I was going to say the cable between the starter and solenoid possibility rusted and cam apart.