Irish Mini Owners Club

Hi All,
I think I need a new battery. Its not holding its charge whatsoever, and dies literally the moment I turn off the engine. Going to try a new battery first, before I do anything else. Its a silly question, but is it just a normal battery for the mini? The one that is in it at the moment, seems quite skinny, and could be a reason why it is being drained pretty much straight away.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

Pug 306 Diesel battery fills the battery box and has more cranking power than you'll ever need.

Brillaint, thanks. I should be able to pick one of them up from a motorfactors/halfords Im assuming?

I was thinking: http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/store ... yId_212578

off the top of my head i think it's an 063 battery,
the old skinny mini battery was an 045 iirc

Thanks Macker. Think Ill throw in the one up linked about from Halfords. Im assuming its the battery because once the car is running, theres very little issues (although at full load the volts drop pretty much all the way down).

A question on jump starting. I know you are not meant to jump start directly to the battery (ie negative and postive from good to bad battery), you are meant to use a piece of the boot/engine bay, but I was told it is safe to jump the battery directly. This is what I have been doing. Is this dangerous/Could that be damaging the battery?

The 063 fills the battery box nicely and is great in cold weather.
Direct connecting should be fine - just remember to start the engine on the car with the good battery before attaching the leads

When the car is running with the lights on you should see around 13 volts with a multimeter at the battery if its anywhere below 12 the altenator is not charging

Right, I think Ill take the battery out of the Mayfair and put it into the 1275GT and see what happens. No point spending 100 odd quid on a battery for it to be an alternator issue!

Edit: Maybe not! Its about half the size of the current one!

I'd check the charging first.

Could it be s charging issue even if it starts straight away when jumped and doesn't die when driving? Bizarrely so, all these issues are happening since I ran out of petrol the day I added the CB radio and high level brake light. I disconnect the battery when the cars not in use, so there can't be any drain from them??

hi,
try a opel dealer i work for one and an 063 battery will set you back €80 in total.
they come with 2 year warranty and it 50amp 420cca so plently of power.
that is if its not alternator problem. hope this helps.

Check battery connections. If they are dirty or not tight it can prevent charging.

You can just about fit an 096 battery (as used in a pug 306 diesel) but an 063 is perfectly big enough. I have an 063 i got off Mark and it never fails to start. (well not because of the battery anyway.)

Gareth, you might be right. The negative is missing the screw and bolt for the clamp so the clamp is basically sitting on the point. Ill try get a new clamp piece and see how that goes from there.

antodeco wrote:The negative is missing the screw and bolt for the clamp so the clamp is basically sitting on the point.

D'oh.

If you have a discharged battery and you jump start the car it will run on altenator and if you have a charging fault when you turn off the engine you still have a discharged battery.Put a voltmeter directly on the battery it should read 12v or less if its discharged, start the engine ( by any means) and it should rise to 14v. If your getting 14v then most likly you need a new battery.

I'd put money on it being earth terminal. it was fine before you disconnected it to fit cb and if the bolt is missing the battery wont be getting a true charge. Fix that, take the car for a good drive and i think you will find problem solved.

Thanks for the response. Ill put a new earth strap on it. When the engine is on, the volts are reading 14v on the voltometer on the dash. When the engine is off and nothing on the battery its running at about 5v if even.

Put a voltmeter directly on the battery

Forget about the dash voltmeter. Stick the battery on a charger overnight

*or* you can get a perfectly serviceable battery from the dismantlers. most will check it for you and stand over *some* sort of guarantee. - ive been using a larger battery from the breakers for over a year, including all through last winter. cost me Euro 20.

keith wrote:*or* you can get a perfectly serviceable battery from the dismantlers. most will check it for you and stand over *some* sort of guarantee. - ive been using a larger battery from the breakers for over a year, including all through last winter. cost me Euro 20.

My Dad swears by them