1st Gen R53 Cooper S Alternator might be dead.

Yeah......
Steel wool was not a good idea. Steel wool turns to rust almost instantaneously. The materials that are being captured in the OCC are water vapors and a oily corrosive combustion by product mixture. Better would have been one of those metal wool pot cleaning pads you can find at the grocery store. You can get them made from copper or stainless steel.

 

This terminal

needs to be REALLY CLEAN!!!!! it is the ground return for all things engine, including the starter motor. If this is corroded you may find that you have slow cranking and lots of other stuff. Anyway, clean this sucker real, real good. Check both ends.

As far as the OCC, steel wool is a really, really bad idea. The pot scrubbers are a much better idea. And for the future, anything that drips rust needs quick attantion.

Matt

 

That's a perfect example

of the dangers of getting information from web forums. How does one know what is real and what is BS? while the internet is easy, I find that the majority of content is finacially based, then opinion, then fact. I also find that books are pretty much the opposite.

Matt

 

I have seen the suggestion that you use a metal (usually the copper type) kitchen scrubby to give more surface area to a catch can...I guess somebody decided a SOS pad was the same!!:eek6:

You ever get the car fixed, or did the problem go away for the time being?!

 

Testing alternator

Test alternator

All about Mini Cooper: Testing alternator