22 replies to this topic

[marcojohno]

Lost all electrical power. Battery is fully charged and battery connections clean.
No ignition lights or any other power.

Driving along last night and then literally within a split second the car died, no electrics atall

When we tried jump starting the car, underneath the bonnet the heater cable was sparking away on the manifold and still no electric power

This lead me to believe it was a split wire shorting out somewhere, i checked every single wire this morning and nothing

little help guys??

[Surfbluegarage]

yeah could be a short.. by the sounds of the heater cable sparking out on the manifold might suggest poor or non existant engine earth... melted a choke cable once when i put my first mini engine in the car and connected up.. connected battery and a few mins later.. nice fragrance of burning... it used the choke cable as the engine earth and melted it and some wiring..

Edited by mini_mad_daps, 26 January 2010 - 12:14 AM.

[Ethel]

The heater cable would serve as an earth so it might be worth checking the earth strap.

[marcojohno]

engine earth is the first thing tomo then

i thought it was a bit weird cus i had only recently done the wiring and i new it was in good condition

is there a quick fix to the earth strap? cus my poor mini is abandoned the other side of town and id really like to bring him home

[Ethel]

You just need a connection between the engine and body, a jump lead may do but likely to fall off.

[bmcecosse]

Just slacken the connections - wiggle the wires about and retighten. Should fix it enough to get home - but real answer is to fit a NEW one.

[GraemeC]

But then a poor engine earth wouldn't kill all the electrics.

[Ethel]

I did think about that 'n thought the solenoid location might make a difference (it wouldn't) but I guess the real effect could be to run the battery down by obstructing the alternator. It shouldn't suddenly die if that was the case though . I wonder if the battery cable could have melted on the exhaust?

[Johneh]

I had a similar problem to this last week, had no electrics at all, in the end, I just cleaned the conmection between the main positive lead that runs from the battery and connects to the starter, it wasn't even very dirty in the first place but once cleaned, everything worked fine.

Hope this helps, Johneh.

[marcojohno]

rightio little update

i replaced both the battery and engine earths with new ones, cleaning the areas first

and stilll nothingggg

replaced the battery and the new one blew up

still sounds like an earth issue but both are fine???

any ideas?

[L400RAS]

rightio little update

i replaced both the battery and engine earths with new ones, cleaning the areas first

and stilll nothingggg

replaced the battery and the new one blew up

still sounds like an earth issue but both are fine???

any ideas?

I would suggest a major short - check the positive cable all the way from the battery to the starter solenoid for anywhere that is bare cable, and touching the body.

[marcojohno]

hhmm i have checked, had it up on the ramp and everything was fine

but i could check again, no harm in trying

[L400RAS]

hhmm i have checked, had it up on the ramp and everything was fine

but i could check again, no harm in trying

~ just with you saying the new battery blew up, this must have been drawing a lot of current, thus i suspecte the main battery underneath the car.

Have you got a multimeter or "power probe" with continuity setting? if so, disconnect both batter leads, and the main feed at the front to the starter solenoid, then put one end of your meter to the cars body / engine block, and the other end to the ring connection of the positive lead. If there is continuity here - there shouldn't be, and the positive cable shoudl be re-checked. Doing it this way means you are not using the large 12V battery, only the meters own current = safe.

Edited by L400RAS, 02 February 2010 - 06:44 PM.

[marcojohno]

would that explain the complete electric problem? cause it failed mid driving and nothing works no lights/radio or anything ??

[Punts]

Try checking the red wire that goes from the starter to the fusebox. A short on this wire could cause you to loose the main feed to the fuses, this could cut all your electrics. Also check the brown wire from the starter to the alternator. Did the new battery blow up when it was first connected or after a while?? If you had an alternator fault it could over-charge the battery which can cause it to boil and split.