[chughes163]

Hi,

I was driving in my MCS earlier today and on the way home i could hear a high pitched whine coming from the stereo - it normally makes a faint noise but it was much more apparrant....anyway i continue on my journey home and it goes away.

I go to join the slip road on the duals and then suddenly i completely lose all electrical power - the lights go out - the steering fails, the lot! I cant even put my hazzards on....however the engine is still working....i go to restart the engine but obviously i get nothing - it appears to be a flat battery i think....

i step out of the car to call MINI emergency - and after 5 mins on the phone i notice my hazzard lights turn themselves on - i then go to start the car and it works perfectly?!?! the only thing i notice is that the Engine warning light is on.

Any idea what could have caused this? I have had a stereo fitted to the car about 1 month ago but thats all.

Would appreciate ANY feedback possible!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[Mr G]

my old mini clubman used to do stuff like this.

this sounds really simplistic, but check your battery terminals.

If the battery terminals fail to make a circuit them your alternator can do all sorts of things including overcharging, and making buzzing noises through your radio. I don't really understand why all your accessories would stop but the engine still run, but maybe its a feature built into the electronics that cuts everything off if there's too much charge in the circuit.

Also the mysterious coming back to life thing could well be consistent with a termnial that has cooled down, so that's definitely what i'd be checking first.

 

[djpk1978]

Hmm, I read that and I dont know if I should be worried or not. When the MINI gets up to around 70mph on up, I hear a buzz through the stereo, faintly, but around 90mph its more noticable. I've been meaning to ask about it, but I was going to wait till I took the MINI in for that recall about the emissions sensor. Does anyone think its related or is that noise in the system in all MINI's?

 

[northandy]

my old mini clubman used to do stuff like this.

this sounds really simplistic, but check your battery terminals.

If the battery terminals fail to make a circuit them your alternator can do all sorts of things including overcharging, and making buzzing noises through your radio. I don't really understand why all your accessories would stop but the engine still run, but maybe its a feature built into the electronics that cuts everything off if there's too much charge in the circuit.

Also the mysterious coming back to life thing could well be consistent with a termnial that has cooled down, so that's definitely what i'd be checking first.

I think thats a good idea, its probably the answer... maybe a loose terminal

 

[chughes163]

Hi,

I just went out and had a look at my battery - everything appears to be very tight. I also checked the battery connections to my amps and 1 seemed slightly lose - anyway i retightened this one - could this have been the cause?

Also, the Engine management light is still on - does this mean theres a fault?

cheers

chris

 

[chughes163]

Fixed! - had a really nice guy from Mini assist come and he diagnosed it as a dodgy earth cable - new one fitted - £6.60 - well happy

let the mini fun continue

 

[Mr G]

So i was on the right track then.

I think the real problems may have started with the translation from english to german. someone told a german engineer to try to encompass all the feel and charactor of the old mini in the new model, but somewhere along the way he took them literally. He added squeeks, rattles, dodgy electrics etc.

 

[harveyjoseph]

So i was on the right track then.

I think the real problems may have started with the translation from english to german. someone told a german engineer to try to encompass all the feel and charactor of the old mini in the new model, but somewhere along the way he took them literally. He added squeeks, rattles, dodgy electrics etc.

Should I ask for my money back because I didn't get any of those options with my MINI...