20 replies to this topic

[TobbeH]

Hi everyone, I am new here and a new owner of a mini and I am absolutely in love!

The car is in great condition in and out but I've experienced some trouble these last days after something went wrong charging it up.
Last week I left the lights on and it drained the battery. I started charging it with the battery in the car with the minus connected to minus and the plus to the chassis as was recommended on this car. After a while i noticed some coming from the right hand side where there are two 35a fuses. I stopped the charging and took the battery out to charge instead. After the charge and the battery was in the car again the fuse for the horn (only the horn i think?) was burnt and got burnt as soon as I put a new one in. A couple days later I tried to put a new fuse in again and it worked for a day the got burt again. I decided to check it out later since only the horn seemed to be affected. (Worth mentioning the fuses I put in was 30a, not 35a as was in there before)

Yesterday the car suddenly started to shut off while driving but quickly started again a few times. I stopped by the side of the road and it would not start, not even a sound just the ignition light lit up. I waited a minute and it started fine and drove home with no problem except for the lights in the dash, headlights, high-beam and rear lights didn't work. Indicating lights and breaking light however work fine.

So, I have just checked the cables i can see and the few fuses I have found and it looks fine.

I am not sure where to look or what could have gone wrong, are these problems with the lights related to the engine shutting of yesterday? Could it be some short somewhere?

 

Please tell me if you need more info or pictures and I will supply you with what you need in order to help!
And for any help you can offer I am incredibly grateful and I look forward to exchanging knowledge, experiences and inspiration with you fellow mini owners!

 

------------------------------------------- Update 2 days later: -------------------------------------------

 

I've checked the ignition and light switches and found the following:

The ignition switch seemed to have a couple bad connections, not sure but I tried to get more cable in the connectors and tighten the screws. After this the sweet spot for ignition seemed to have gotten smaller and I have to slowly twist the key around to find it for ignition to happen. However, once it starts there is no problem. Drove around for a while, left it running a while, drove some more, no problems and didn't get as hot as before.

 

The light switch had three cables going in to it, one blue, one red and one brown.

The brown was connected to the one that seems to have gotten a bit hot... See image below.

 

https://ibb.co/6FhQsD8

 

 

I tried connecting the brown to the connector under it and my lights started working... Kind of.
The rear and front small lights works fine. However the only the right headlight works on the lower setting (daylight? Half-beam? English is a second language...) and when I turn on highbeam both work but not my extra lights that used to light up before.

Edited by TobbeH, 24 June 2019 - 05:50 PM.

[Spider]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry you're having issues here and it might not be easy to track down.

 

As a starting point with this, I'd probably check the connection of all the Brown Wires on the Starter Solenoid, it sounds like one or more of these is making a poor connection, could be corrosion or a loose connection. I'd suggest disconnecting the battery before working on these as they are connected directly to the battery supply without a fuse.

[mini-mad-mark]

Err this sounds odd:

 

I started charging it with the battery in the car with the minus connected to minus and the plus to the chassis as was recommended on this car.

 

A 1969 would probably be neg earth? So if you connected the minus (black normally) battery charger lead to the minus (negative) and the plus (positive) to the chassis you were just short circuiting the battery charger. Not sure what effect that would have on the car itself...

[TobbeH]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry you're having issues here and it might not be easy to track down.

 

As a starting point with this, I'd probably check the connection of all the Brown Wires on the Starter Solenoid, it sounds like one or more of these is making a poor connection, could be corrosion or a loose connection. I'd suggest disconnecting the battery before working on these as they are connected directly to the battery supply without a fuse.

 

Thanks mate, I'll give that a look!

 

Err this sounds odd:

 

I started charging it with the battery in the car with the minus connected to minus and the plus to the chassis as was recommended on this car.

 

A 1969 would probably be neg earth? So if you connected the minus (black normally) battery charger lead to the minus (negative) and the plus (positive) to the chassis you were just short circuiting the battery charger. Not sure what effect that would have on the car itself...

 

The car is positively grounded, red (plus) goes to chassis.

[mini-mad-mark]

Ah OK - thought that was phased out before 69

[Spider]

Err this sounds odd:

 

I started charging it with the battery in the car with the minus connected to minus and the plus to the chassis as was recommended on this car.

 

A 1969 would probably be neg earth? So if you connected the minus (black normally) battery charger lead to the minus (negative) and the plus (positive) to the chassis you were just short circuiting the battery charger. Not sure what effect that would have on the car itself...

 

It was from around 1969 in the UK, that some models started going Neg Earth, but I don't think they all went over until about 71 - 72-ish. There was a model that came out with a Pos. Earth Alternator !

[Spider]

(I've edited the title to better reflect the issue and post content)

[TobbeH]

I just checked all connetions I could including the starter solenoid and found no obvious issues.

I went for a drive, stopped for a few minutes with the car running fine. Drove a little bit more and stopped and the engine shut down. Same thing this time where turning the key did nothing but light up the ignition light but no action. Waited 1 minute and it started fine and drove home.

Not sure if this is related but when I turn the key all the way when it's running the engine also dies. To start I just turn it a little bit and if a turn it over a certain point it won't start.
Also the ignition (where I turn the key) gets very hot after the car has been on for a few minutes.

[cal844]

Could it be a burnt ignition switch, or burnt connection somewhere that affects the circuits?

One shouldn't really be turning the key to the start position once the engine runs under it's own steam.

Doing so will damage the starter and ring gear on the flywheel

Edited by cal844, 23 June 2019 - 09:54 PM.

[TobbeH]

Could it be a burnt ignition switch, or burnt connection somewhere that affects the circuits?

One shouldn't really be turning the key to the start position once the engine runs under it's own steam.

Doing so will damage the starter and ring gear on the flywheel

Thanks for your reply, going to check that out tomorrow.

Also, thank you for that information!
Excuse my ignorance, removing it (aka learning) is partly why I am here.

[TobbeH]

------------------------------------------- Update 2 days later: -------------------------------------------

 

I've checked the ignition and light switches and found the following:

The ignition switch seemed to have a couple bad connections, not sure but I tried to get more cable in the connectors and tighten the screws. After this the sweet spot for ignition seemed to have gotten smaller and I have to slowly twist the key around to find it for ignition to happen. However, once it starts there is no problem. Drove around for a while, left it running a while, drove some more, no problems and didn't get as hot as before.

 

 

The light switch had three cables going in to it, one blue, one red and one brown.

The brown was connected to the one that seems to have gotten a bit hot... See image below.

 

https://ibb.co/6FhQsD8

 

 

I tried connecting the brown to the connector under it and my lights started working... Kind of.
The rear and front small lights works fine. However the only the right headlight works on the lower setting (daylight? Half-beam? English is a second language...) and when I turn on highbeam both work but not my extra lights that used to light up before.

 

Could the issue with the light be only the switch or could there be anything else also causing the issue?

And could the issue with the engine dying before and not starting be only the ignition switch and its uncertain connections?

 

If that is the case, great, the issues are easily fixed with replacing the switches. I would still want to find out what caused these to break in the first place tho so they don't happen again after replacing them 

Edited by TobbeH, 24 June 2019 - 08:34 PM.

[viz139]

I had the problem with the ignition switch "sweet spot" before and changing the switch sorted that. You mentioned "extra lights" before, running these through the light switch rather than using a relay will cause the switch to overheat as you are doubling the current it was designed to carry.

I have never seen and can find no referance of a positive earth mini with an alternator instead of the dynamo. just to be sure ,is there a regulator on the inner wing or can you see any wiring moddification where the regulator would normally be? 

[gazza82]

Positive earth alternators were available but I don't know if on a Mini as standard.

 

I bought one from a spares and accessories shop for my A35 in the 70s. Something died in it after 5 years and I couldn't get it fixed .. that was probably the last time it came out of the garage .. and it is still there!

[viz139]

Just found some information on the Somerford site about positive earth altenators in minis ,if you read the first paragraph.

http://www.somerford...page=page&id=72

[TobbeH]

I had the problem with the ignition switch "sweet spot" before and changing the switch sorted that. You mentioned "extra lights" before, running these through the light switch rather than using a relay will cause the switch to overheat as you are doubling the current it was designed to carry.

I have never seen and can find no referance of a positive earth mini with an alternator instead of the dynamo. just to be sure ,is there a regulator on the inner wing or can you see any wiring moddification where the regulator would normally be? 

 

Nice, I am expecting a new ignition switch tomorrow. The extra lights are connected to a relay, could that be where the problem is now maybe? Now when I turn on the lights sometimes one of the headlamps work and sometimes none, sometimes the full beam work on both but not the extra lights. There is a regulator and the connections there look fine, not sure what else to check there.

 

 

Positive earth alternators were available but I don't know if on a Mini as standard.

 

I bought one from a spares and accessories shop for my A35 in the 70s. Something died in it after 5 years and I couldn't get it fixed .. that was probably the last time it came out of the garage .. and it is still there!

 

That sure sounds sad, hope it runs again some day!