North American Motoring

Mini Cooper 2014-Present: How to Jump Start Battery

Does your friend have jumper cables? It's your lucky day.

By Jacob Stumph - June 14, 2016

This article applies to the Mini Cooper (2014-present).

A flat battery is never a good sign, as it means you have an electrical issue, likely related to your battery or alternator. However, if you can't get to the auto parts store to buy new parts in the first place, you're hosed. So with the help of a friend, it's time to jump start your MINI and get back on the road.

Materials Needed

  • Jumper cables
  • A second, running vehicle

Step 1 – Locate the battery

Pull the running car nose-to-nose with your Mini, so that your jumper cables can easily reach from battery to battery with some slack.

Pop the hood of your Mini and locate the battery jump points, which are very convenient. The positive terminal of the battery is covered by a small red cap, and the negative ground is just to the right of the battery.

    • mini cooper how to replace remove access battery jump start
      Figure 1. Pop the hood.
    • mini cooper how to replace remove access battery jump start
      Figure 2. Mini jump points.

Step 2 – Attach jumper cables

Shut the running car down, and turn off the ignition. Remember: red-to-red, and black-to-black.

  • Start by attaching the positive cable (+/red) to the helper car's battery terminal, and then attach the other end of the positive jump cable to the terminal under the positive cap on the Mini.
  • Attach the negative (black) jumper to the helper car's battery, and then carefully clip the other end of the negative jumper cable to the black highlighted ground point on your Mini.

Step 3 – Start the helper car

With the jumpers in place, start the helper car and let it run for a few minutes. Periodically rev the engine up a bit to make sure that the alternator is kicking on to send out maximum juice to the disabled car.

After a few minutes, hop in your Mini and attempt to start the car; it should fire up. If it doesn't start, but sounds like it was trying to, then it needs more time to charge up; just keep the jumpers on the car for a while longer. It should start after that.

With your Mini started up, carefully remove the jump cables and do not shut the car off. You should ideally go drive the car around to help charge the battery a bit. At this point, you should consider heading to the auto parts store and having your battery's voltage tested, as it likely requires replacement.

[Related Article - How to Replace Your Battery - NorthAmericanMotoring.com]

Related Discussions