Most liked posts in thread: 2002 R53 Electrical Problem

  1. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    #5 BlimeyCabrio, Jul 16, 2014
    Is the battery currently dead?
    How many volts does it make on a voltmeter?
    If it was run down by the lack of alternator, I'd put it on a charger and get it up to full charge before I tried anything else. These cars do really weird things with low voltage.
     
  2. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    #3 BlimeyCabrio, Jul 15, 2014
    How old is your battery?
     
  3. clifforddward

    clifforddward Active Member

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    #6 clifforddward, Jul 17, 2014
    I can second BlimeyCabrio's comment...Just yesterday my ASC light started glowing, could not turn it off with the switch...Also noticed sluggish starting on startup. Knowing the Mini is prone to issues from a weak battery, that is the first thing I checked...turned out one of my cells had gone bad (4 1/2 year old battery)...a quick trip to the store, new battery, and both starting and ASC light immediately fixed!

    Always check strength of the battery first, even if it was good a few months ago. Keeping a weak battery can lead to far more difficult repairs in the electrical system...
     
  4. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    #7 Dave.0, Jul 17, 2014
    Yup an nice fresh Optima Red Top may be the cure.
     
  5. watkino

    watkino New Member

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    #14 watkino, Aug 2, 2014
    "Good News"

    My fault, wired wrong.

    Two large wires go to the solenoid, smaller third wire goes to the positive side on the starter motor. (slightly in my defense, I had to take it out the bottom with a bad back and had a 3 week delay when I was given the wrong starter to begin with)

    Lesson learned, back is healing.

    Local shop in Saratoga Springs was great, as I took the car in half assembled with the front bumper off.

    Will include a picture when I can find one. (should have done this in the beginning)

    I think I saw another thread that also mentioned being wired wrong, I post the picture there too. I am very leery about those 12 year old header bolts, reason why I did not take it out from the top as shown in manuals. (soaking them in PB Blaster as they will have to come out soon anyway for future work)

    Thank you all for the advice.
     
  6. watkino

    watkino New Member

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    #2 watkino, Jul 15, 2014
    Forgot to add, checked all fuses, all looked fine.
     
  7. watkino

    watkino New Member

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    #4 watkino, Jul 16, 2014
    2 years old, and it was verified good about 2 months before this when the original alternator died
     
  8. nkfry

    nkfry New Member
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    #8 nkfry, Jul 17, 2014
    Do you have a battery light illuminated? Does the car have power steering?

    If the car isn't charging you won't have power steering, but if the PS works the alternator is working.

    A jolt from shorting the system out can hurt the BCM and ECM, but I don't think you've got computer issues.

    Are you trying to roll the windows up with the car off? If so, the window motors are a large draw on the battery, and therefore are slower when the car is not running and the alternator isn't charging.
     
  9. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    #9 MCS02, Jul 17, 2014
    Minis do very odd stuff when the battery is going bad. Make very sure you have a good battery before you do anything.

    their not like normal cars, well of course there MINIs!:D
     
  10. watkino

    watkino New Member

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    #10 watkino, Jul 17, 2014
    Ok, thanks all for the ideas, and just joined to support this great site

    Battery tested good at Advanced Auto
    I never had the warning light for the battery
    PS appeared to be working, drove fine (I would have known if I didn't have PS, correct? Big difference?)

    All Fuses appear good, tested the specific one for Alternator #39

    Tested 2 of the 4 lines to the alternator (1 to Fuse 39, 1 to DME, the 3rd one goes to the Dash Board Light (to hard for now)

    Have not checked the main line back to the battery. (but did check the big fuse in the back by the battery)

    Hopefully I am not overreacting (Volt Reg was bad)

    Using the volt meter, I read a bit more than 14 volts while the car was running after I replaced the bad alternator the first time.

    Currently, before I took everything apart, was only reading 12.

    All ideas and help is greatly appreciated.
     
  11. watkino

    watkino New Member

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    #11 watkino, Jul 21, 2014
    No luck.

    Swapped out another "good" battery from my other car.

    Bought a new digital multimeter to replace the 20 year old Sears one, both batteries were fully charged, read 12+ when the car was not running, then under 12 when running.

    3 options left, local shop in town @ 5 miles, better shop @15 miles away and the MINI dealer in 35 miles away

    With a 12 year old car, repair will probably end up more than it worth.

    Will update when I know more.
     
  12. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

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    #12 ZippyNH, Jul 21, 2014
    You check the ground wires? Maybe a bit of corrosion....and I would double check the fuses....
    If I recall, the alternator uses a 5 amp fuse to feed the voltage regulator to make the power it amplifies...remember an alternator needs an input to amplify, while a old style generator (classic car) does not, but only makes full input at high rpms.
    I'd look at the battery cables...they have long runs...and could chafe corrode or otherwise fail.
     
  13. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    #13 Dave.0, Jul 21, 2014
    Dealer DME time yet?