9 replies to this topic

[lam]

Hi

My minis battery is completely flat after not driving it for a week. I connected my jumpstart powerpack to get it started and that gave it no power at all, weirdly the green light that shows it's connected to a battery didn't even light up. I tried the powerpack on my girlfriends car after and it was fine so there's no issue with that.

I then tried to jump start from my girlfriends car and it gave a little bit of power, enough to show the ignition lights and give a few slow revs, but then it just died and made that constant clicking noise.

Any ideas what the problem may be or a solution?

Thanks in advance...

[lrostoke]

Sounds like its just totally flat, keep the jump leads from the girlfriends car on longer before even attempting to start it., let it get a bit of charge in it, also make sure the leads have a good connection.

Also sounds like you either have a power drain or a worn out battery, shouldn't go flat after just a week of standing.

Edited by lrostoke, 31 December 2009 - 01:27 PM.

[mars red mike]

It needs to be charged up before you attempt to start it. Jumper packs are only really for batteries that are low, not totally flat.

[matty4113]

Had this the other week on a 4.6 range rover, power pack only turned the interior light on. Tried jump starting with a poxy set of leads but they weren't up to the job. Got some heavy duty leads and this is what to do........connect it to your girlfriends car, leave for a minute or 2 with the gf's car running, then just before you go to start the mini get your gf to to increase her revs (to about 3k) it should fire up.

[dklawson]

Or... your battery has totally failed. I have had this happen before. In my case it was something that broke "inside" the battery. There was absolutely no electrical connection between the plates and one of the posts. No matter what you tried, you could not get the battery to take (or provide) any electricity.

If you have a charger, make sure to top up the cells and put the battery on low current (2 Amp) charge over night. With any luck your problem will not be like mine but will be a totally discharged battery. Keep in mind however, that batteries do not last forever and if yours is a "common" battery and more than 3 years old, it may have simply reached the end of its life.

[steble]

after getting a little bit of power into the battery try bump starting it instead then go for a nice long drive

oh and check your earths

[Boycie]

If the battery has been allowed to go that flat, I'm afraid it will never be 100% again..

The absolutely best thing you can do is remove it, check the electrolyte levels unless it is a totally sealed one and put it on a decent 12hr+ trickle charge. 'Jumping' the car and then driving it will indeed put some charge into the battery, but you can't beat a decent bench charge.

[lam]

Thanks all, good advice! I finally got it working with better jump cables left for longer. Turns out that if the battery is completely flat the powerpack won't recognise it which explains that problem too. Now to sort out that squealing fanbelt! Never ending...

[Boycie]

Cool... that squeeling fan belt is possibly part of the problem (alternator not charging battery properly!)

[dklawson]

Cool... that squeeling fan belt is possibly part of the problem (alternator not charging battery properly!)

Agreed. Either the fan belt is loose and slipping which prevents the alternator from charging, or the alternator has bearings going bad and IT is locking up, causing the belt to slip and squeal.