1st Gen R50 Cooper Most liked posts in thread: Wiring nightmare

Looks like the connections are a bit gunky at that left front engine compartment ground you mentioned next to the air box ( now a cone filter ). I'm going to split the wires back and see if it managed to eat it's way down into them. This same connection is also for the interior fuse box (According to my Haynes manual ) which could also explain the way things sort of systematically shut down if the corrosion was eating up the wiring.
We'll see.

 

Another thing noted that I didn't even think was related.

Before everything went to hell with the interior lighting and tac I had a very strange "overheat".
During a rain storm ( It rained for around a month straight during all of this :incazzato: ) I had a very sudden over heat according to the temp gauge. I was lucky and very close to a Quick Trip Gas station. Pulled in and let it cool before taking a look. I found the reservoir was a bit low but not empty. I picked up some 50/50 on the cheap and topped it. Looked in the access line and it was still full of coolant. This was a one time thing. Never did it again.

I believe this is related because as an experiment I disconnected the above mentioned grounds (E2) and gave it power to see exactly what these grounds controlled in the interior/ECU first hand. I got an instant overheat reading as the ground for the sensor was no longer connected. Fans tripped on and the needle stayed vertical for around 30 minutes even without power and the grounds back in place. Much like the random "overheat" I had.

Between that finding and a bit of the gunky stuff; it seems that with this I can confirm it's more than likely a ground issue at that source.

Now my big choice is learning to do wiring on the fly or just taking it to the local mini shop and having them give it a go.
Could be a relatively cheap fix if a tech can confirm a ground issue as well. A little cutting and splicing~

I'm mechanically savvy but wiring is a different beast to me. :crazy:

 

No problem. I'll post it tomorrow when there's adequate lighting for reference.

 

'03 R50

As an Update. Seems the battery is being drained due to something still remaining powered. A less than week old battery just had issues turning over the engine today. I'm going to stick the volt meter to it and pull fuses until the charge dies cluing me into what is still powered when the key is removed.

 

While the instructions worked, nothing changed. I did however learn that it looks like the cars ECU is resetting each time the key is turned as it did the exact same actions as it has been doing once given the command. "-9999999 0.0 trip millage and all needles shaking with a buzz"
:mad2:
Fingers crossed that it IS a ground issue.

 

Not yet. Didn't think to. Will look into it and give it a shot

 

After two failures I had it replaced under the warranty. It was only around 8 months old which is why I found it suspect of being drained rather than just being bad cells.

 

Worth looking at before I go pulling more trim off and taking the seat out once more. Given the amount of rain we had before the issue came up that's not a bad leap in judgement. ( Actual minor flood worthy )

Thanks for all the help.
Have I told you all that you're awesome?