New member. Just had my wife's 2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible (which she's only had ~2 weeks) towed home after it would not start when my wife came back to the car after a visit to the doctors office. Turn the key and nothing, no clicks, buzzes or anything. I have an OBD2 adapter that stays in my car so when I got there I plugged it in and saw a P0456 code set. Did some online searching on my phone and saw nothing that would prevent the starter from turning over. Did see where a loose gas cap could set a P0456 so I check the gas cap, seemed tight. I cleared the code and still no joy.

Cost $80 bucks to tow home, will probably cost another $80 or more to tow to my nearest Mini specialist. Hoping I can get to the bottom of this without towing it anywhere.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

 

Start with the battery; how old, did you have it tested, are you sure the terminals are tight and not corroded?

Engine ground strap tight, it is next to the passenger side motor mount.

You are getting no internal lights on when you turn the key?

Do the headlights come on?

 

Internal lights and headlights come on, will check battery age etc. in the morning. Thanks!

 

You can't know for sure with a visual check of the gas cap. Mine looked fine but the code didn't go away until a few hundred miles after buying a new $20 gas cap. If the cap is original it is time for it to go.

But the battery is the more likely culprit for no start as R53coop said.

 

Battery appears to be 3 years old.

Checked voltage, 12.25.

Connected to second car (engine running) with battery cables for 15 minutes. Mini battery voltage now reads 12.84 at the battery, 12.83 in the engine compartment.

No change, turn key and there is nothing, no clicks from starter etc.

Have Mini on 10amp charger now.

 

Ground cable in engine compartment looks good, tight and no corrosion.

Charging battery with 10 amp charger now.
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Carried battery to O'Reilly Auto, checks out as being good. Have checked all connections I know to check, find nothing wrong.

Calling tow truck.

 

Couldn't get a tow truck today so I went to Batteries Plus and got a new battery, luckily the guy behind the counter actually owned a 2006 R52 like my wifes. He knew all about "registering" the battery etc. and said they could do it for me. So I buy the battery thinking it will start the car then I can drive it back to Batteries Plus to return the core and let them "register" the battery in the ECM. Get home, install new battery, no joy. Return battery, trying to find a tow truck for monday. Oh and the local Mini guy that I wnat to have the car towed to is backed up for 3 weeks.

 

is the car standard or auto ?
if standard try push start
if that works look at imobileizer
if not that get under it and see if you have signal at starter when you have someone turn key , if you have signal it is bad starter

 

Another thread here where it was the starter.

 

I'll try to check that, IF I can get under the car! At 55 I'm not as skinny as I once was. LOL

Thanks.

 

also if automatic trans try it in neutral or hold it up in park and see if it works ( could be bad N switch )

 

Thanks, I'll try that. Couldn't check starter, no way I can get under that car. I couldn't have gotten under it when I was 18, much less now!

 

Pretty sure the 6 cylinder Fiero was the car you had to pull the motor to change the spark plugs. MINI is a little better but sure could use the nano type robots to get into the small places there are.

 

It was many years ago that I worked in a Pontiac dealership, but I believe it was changing a thermostat in a certain year Fiero V-6 that was also outrageously expensive. Had to remove the intake manifold I believe.

 

OK, this thread may need to be stickied as a precautionary tale!

Had the Mini towed to shop this morning. Received a call within an hour of the car arriving at the shop. The Mini key/fob was in rough shape, buttons didn't work etc and the fob had been taped up in an attempt to keep it from falling apart. Well that attempt failed.

The car doesn't start because the electronic guts of the fob had fallen out.

I am rather embarrassed.

 

Look in your wife's purse for the guts. May save you some coin.

 

Found the guts, but no battery. I had seen the inside of the fob before, right after she got the car a few weeks ago. The battery was loose and not attached to the "guts". I was planning on trying to re-solder it myself but hadn't done so yet. So now the battery, with a bit of terminal attached to it, is gone. I'm thinking the battery probably fell out in a parking lot somewhere and the electronics just happened to fall out in the car where the mechanic found it.

 

We keep having similar battery drain issues with my wife’s 2006 mini s. We were having issues with batter drain if car was parked for more than 3days without being moved. We started not locking and setting alarm and that helped for a while.
Now we have the opposite issue, if the door is not locked and alarm set Right away, the battery drains and car goes dead within 10 minutes.
I think the car is possessed, because doors are causing issues with starting car. If you happen to have drivers side door open and staring car it will go dead as if battery is drained, but if you open and close door and move to neutral and back to park and close the door, the car will come back and start.

 

Glad it's a simple issue. Thanks for following up. GL writing the check for a new key