Hey guys, had a weird problem with Bailey today - 2005 Mini R50 manual. 210,000kms.

Hopped in the car to grab a slice of pizza, drove to the pizza place and was out of the car no more than 5 minutes after getting my slice and I tried starting and there was nothing. No starter click, no crank. Lots of power, fuel pump primed, lights and everything worked, but nothing from the starter.

Had a buddy bring a jump box, left it attached to the battery for 10 minutes, still nothing. Removed and re-secured battery terminal cables, still nothing. Checked grounds. Still nothing. Grabbed my spare key, nothing. Bump stared it in reverse after getting a push out of the parking spot and it FIRED RIGHT UP!

When I got it home and turned it off and tried restarting, nothing. Lots of power in the battery but no crank, not even a click from the starter.

I'm assuming the starter up and died? There were literally no symptoms of it dying.

I'm going to try to give it a tap and see if I can get it going again.

 

Here's a quick video of the problem:


Checked fuses and nothing was blown.

 

If you didn't see it, this thread is the same symptoms. A few things were mentioned to check, some of which you already have ruled out. But worth the read.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...lp-please.html

 

So, I found the problem: The fuseable link between the solenoid and the starter had corroded through.

Thought I might be able to get a ring terminal on it to repair it, but the copper braided wire fell apart in my hands. New starter inbound...