I know this has been discussed before in this forum, but I wanted to get a more recent consensus of what could be wrong.

Yesterday afternoon I went in the garage and attempted to start the car. It just clicked a few times and beeped the usual beeps like when you start the car, but that was it. I checked the battery and the little eye has the green dot. The battery is original (build week 12/6/02) and there are NO electrical or under hood mods anywhere, other than the OEM alarm.

Roadside assistance had a flatbed to my garage in about 2 hours and we tried to jump start it but again just nothing but clicks. It was taken to the dealer, about 8 miles away, and they have had a peek at it since 8am today. My inclination is that it is an ECU that is fried, or the alternator hasn't been recharging the battery properly and is toast, or maybe a solenoid is gone. I doubt it is the battery, because I can still listen to the radio and the interior lights come on at normal brightness when you open the door. The headlights do not come on, but other things do, like turn signals and parking lights. Maybe the car goes into safe mode to conserve whatever battery power is left!

The car has been running fine, although we are in the throes of a long hot summer and a battery that is going on 3 years now may be showing signs of its age. I'm glad this happened at my house and not in the middle of nowhere! My mileage is a little low for its age (just under 22000), and the majority of my trips are short ones, like under 10 miles one way. I read in the warranty book that that may cause the battery to not recharge fully.

Anybody have this happen to them?
__________________________________________________ ____________
'03 IB/W MC, CVT, chrome bits, 1&2, euro parcel shelf, alta stubby, official first aid kit and warning triangle in the boot

 

do you have rats or anything in your house or garage? I had a 1990 mazda miata and rats bit completely through 2 of the spark plug wires..car wouldnt start...thats all i can think of.

 

Any vehichle I've had that just clicked or beeped but didn't turn the starter over had a bad cable connection either to the battery or starter or ground. Since jumping didn't help I doubt its your battery connection so I would look at the grounding terminal on the engine, or the starter terminals.

Your radio etc would still work with high resistance connections, but anything with a large amperage draw would not.

 

Strange...I had the EXACT same thing happen today.

Our always-garaged, daily-driver, no-mods, 04 Cooper (22,000 miles) wouldn't do anything but click when I tried to start it this morning. The radio and (sometimes) windows did work, so I thought it was a drained battery. However, when I tried to jump start it, I got nothing but really fast clicks when turning the ignition.

I'm baffled. I guess I'll have to wait until Monday and have it towed to the dealer.

SCMiniGuy, give me a PM if your dealer finds the problem (and I'll do the same).

 

flyingsluzer,

WOW! Our mileage is almost identical too. I have exactly 21979, but mine is an '03. I noticed though that the EP light came on also (I have a CVT) in the gear display area in the center speedo.

Maybe our cars are communicating with each other across a few states.

I called the dealer twice today and they didn't have a chance to look at it yet. They were open from 8-1, since it was a Saturday. I will call them on Monday morning and find out the latest, but I will be out of the state until Wednesday, so even if it is a quick fix I will be "sans the MINI" until at least mid-week. You may get yours back before me!

My warranty is up on 1/21/07. Maybe I should start saving up now for a late model '06 S ...

 

wire harness

ask minicoop78 he knows aboot this

 

I also have an 03 MC CVT only I have about 43,000 miles and it just happend to me this morning, My neareast dealer is about 250 miles away so if they have to tow it to Sacramento I'm screwed. as far as having to either find someone to get me down there, because I don't think that they will bring the car back to me

 

Good news!

I had the MINI towed to the dealer this morning and it turned out to be a bad cell in the battery.

Before the guy put my MINI on the flatbed, I asked him to give the jumper cables a try one more time. Same results though... just a fast clicking sound. Evidently, the bad cell left the battery unable to hold a charge of suffiecient amperage to turn the starter. The guy with the tow truck said that the jumper cables alone can't push enough current to start the car without at least some help from the battery, so if the battery is truly dead, cables won't help.

Anyway, Autohaus put in a new battery and had me on my way in about an hour. I think the cost of the battery may have been covered under the 36000 mile Full-Service package and not the 48000 mile warranty. (though I'm not sure)

Sandie,
If you are that far from the dealer, it may be worth your time and effort to try replacing the battery before you make the trip.

SCMiniGuy,
I hope it turns out to be the same solution for your MINI. Quick and easy.

 

I called the dealer on Monday and they said it was the battery in my car as well. This surprised me because I thought that the magic eye thingy was green when I looked at it . It makes sense though that if one cell is bad then the battery would need to be replaced, and that it wouldn't have enough to take a jump to start the car. We tried twice with cables to start it, but no luck. How many cells are there in this battery anyway? 6?

The car is ready now and I will be getting it tomorrow morning. I miss this little bugger!!!!! I haven't seen it or driven it since Friday .

 

I had the same exact problem with my 04 Mini Cooper. Was out driving the car last night at 9:00 with no problems. Didn't leave anything on in the car or charging. Went out this morning and nothing. Just the clicking and tach pulsing like everybody else mentioned. Called the dealer and they said they thought it was the battery. Mini roadside assistance picked it up but the dealer hasn't looked the car over yet. I hope it's a battery and nothing more. My car has 30,000 miles on it and no engine/electrical mods. This sure seems early for a bad battery. Though I must say I've experienced something similar in my motorcycles. Still darn inconvienent.

 

Same thing with my 04 Cooper back in July or so. Bad cell in the battery. Seems early for a dead battery. The Dealer got me a rental and took my MINI away on a flatbed. All things considered, they made everything as easy as possible.

 

listening to all the battery issues wanted to be sure this didn't happen- went to Coscto & got battery with higher CCA for $45 with 3 yr full replacement- fits perfectly in my 3 yr old 03 MCS

 

bgrpph,

I noticed you bought a replacement battery for your 03 Cooper at Costco. I have a Costco membership too... do you know what brand of battery it is, and what is the "number" (model #?) on the battery? My '03 cooper is 30 months "old" and I have a sneaking suspicion the battery will be the next thing to go...most of the cars I've owned, the OEM batteries all seem to give up the ghost at around the 36-month mark. Funny though, I've never had to replace a replacement battery in a car...the replacements seem to last forever...5, 6, even 7 years...but the OEMs always seem to go within 3 years, give or take a few months. I'd gladly pay $50 extra at delivery for the "convenience" of an OEM battery that lasts 60-72 months or more...

thanks.

-boognish

 

Those little green eyes on batteries can be very deceiving. It's green so my battery's good....not so fast. All that green eye is telling you is, yes the battery is good, but it only shows the condition of the cell the green eye is in. Other cells can be tango uniform, but hey my green eye says the battery's good. Most frustrating, I hates those things. As for a replacement I've had great luck with red top Optima batteries.

I hope I don't need one for a while.

Chuck

 

Makes me wonder if hooking up a Battery Tender now and then would help, like I do with my motorcycles...

 

If your car sits for a while between uses a battery tender is a good idea. Any modern car the MINI included consumes some power while they're just sitting there waiting for the next motoring adventure. If you use yours as a daily driver you won't need a battery tender.

Chuck

 

I was driving home last night and car has been running fine.. As I was cruising on the freeway, I noticed by ABS lights come on, and the DSC light was on...I thought this is weird, so I went to the slowest lane. It got weirder when I looked at the time, and my clock had disappeared. I have DEFI gauges, and my oil pressure gauge was acting erratically.

Anyways, the dash lights for radio/AC started flashing, and I am still moving at this time. Now I'm thinking, battery? alternator? All of a sudden the ABS light goes out, so does the DSC and I get my clock back and my oil pressure gauge acts properly again. Drove for another 10 miles.

As I was exiting the freeway, all the lights (ABS/DSC) comes on again, and the battery light comes on also. Clock disappears, and I get "flashing" dash lights on the radio/AC again. As I was turning left, the steering wheel was just "heavy" as if I have manual steering. I was able to get the car home and parked the car. As I try to restart the car, just ticking sounds and lights (headlights and interior) are pretty dim.

Anyways, I am hoping it's my battery.. Does it sound like the battery? By the way, original battery on my 03 MCS.

///Gilbert

 

Gilbert, with your car being an 03 the battery is likely the problem. To be sure take your car & have the battery load tested. If you can't start the car pull the battery & carry it to the shop for thew test. The battery eye on top can say it's good even when it's not. If it's not the battery keep looking. The way your car had electrical problems that came went away & then came back again makes me also suspect a lose connection at the battery or engine.

Be careful working around your battery! Wear eye protection! I had one blow up once, lucky for me I was looking the other way. No I wasn't smart enough to be wearing goggles, although I am now.

Chuck

 

Thanks Chuck... Yeah I'm really hoping it's my battery, plus gives me a reason to buy the braille one =).. I checked the connections and they are all good, even the grounds..

///Gilbert

 

I really want to emphasize this message to all mini cooper owners! I own a green on white roof 2002 mini cooper (not the S). I woke up a few days ago to find I had no power to the car whatsoever. I was stunned! The car has 15,820 miles on it...not to mention this same exact problem happened not even a year ago. Anyway, i was not going to send the car back to the dealership in charleston, south carolina which is two hours away from my home in hilton head and costs an arm and a leg to have towed. I came on this website, which i think is great, and read through all the threads regarding mini owners with battery issues. After all the reading, I decided to disconnect the battery and have it checked. Before I even did this, i tried to jumpstart the mini. I ADVISE all mini owners to NEVER have your mini cooper jumpstarted or jump someone else. It just will not work! (at least not for me). I then took the battery out, and had this battery tested to find that it was completely dead. (keep in mind its a 9-month year old batter). So, i figured there was something other wrong with the car. Some component in the car's electronics was drawing power out of the battery, EVEN WHEN the car was turned OFF!. So, after A LOT of investigating, I found that the EVERSTART batter company has a battery called the PLUS 47-3. This battery is an exact fit and even comes with the vent tube which vents the battery. Its great, and costs ONLY $48.87 dollars. A complete savings compared to the MINI battery that costs close to $175 dollars. ALSO at walmart, for $2.83, buy battery turnover switch! This is the MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT and will save your mini from dying as mine did. The way it works is you simply connect this value/switch to the negative terminal on your battery, then connect the mini's hard wire negative to the switch. Its completely easy to do! (Im 23 years old and have no automobile knowledge) If you ever plan to not use your mini for even as many days as a week, (as I did) you simply turn the **** on the valve to the OFF postion, and it will cut off ALL power to the car, even the electrical components that draw on the battery, and as a result give you a dead mini. Its a 2.83 cent part that will save you a lot of hassle, and keep your mini powered up and not dead as I found out. I am relaying all this info. to all mini owners, because you would not believe all the trouble and hassle I had to go through this past few days to get the my mini back on the road. PLEASE FEEL free to e-mail me at any time at BS8315@aol.com if you have any other questions regarding a replacement battery for your mini cooper (NOT THE S) or if you need me to explain more about the shut/off value that you can connect to your mini's battery! I would love to share my knowledge so that you wont have to go throuh all the hassle as I did!!!

 

Mini did a recal on the Battery in my 03 MC....then I purchased an 04 MCS w/ 18,000 mi last year and it had just had its battery replaced as well...Just before I bought it.

From What I am told Costco Battery is made by Johnson Controls and has a 100% 3 yr warranty...Not pro rata (another scam)....The saga continues

 

I replaced my OEM battery with a 7-year Interstate battery because I didn't want to be left stranded. I'm glad I did. Good luck!

 

Classic dead battery sx in a MINI are described here. I went with a Die Hard when mine went last summer (well before the recall, of course!). Judging from this thread, I can see why there is a battery recall.

 

i replaced my battery with an Optima red-top battery last year. still running strong :D

 

Thats a great battery. Which one did you get and any fitment problems?