Irish Mini Owners Club

Hi all ,my battery isn't holding a charge, so I though it was the alternator so I change it along with a
new battery and a new fuse box which is the earlier 2 fuse one, left it overnight and it was dead the next day ....so I put a voltmeter across it and its reading only 5 volts and the fuses were ok

....can anyone advise

Dave did you replace positive and negative battery cables they can also give trouble

Cork Mini Centre wrote:Dave did you replace positive and negative battery cables they can also give trouble

The positive cable can frey where it goes through the rear panel (if the rubber ring has already perished)

I presume since its a 2 fuse system its an early car and not your Racing green. Is it originally an altenator ('74 -'78) or is it a dynamo conversion. It takes a lot to drain a fully charged new battery down to 5 volts, did you run the car with the new battery? When you turn the ignition on does the red charge light come on and then go out when engine is running? It sounds more like a bad connection/earth then a charging problem.

woody wrote:I presume since its a 2 fuse system its an early car and not your Racing green. Is it originally an altenator ('74 -'78) or is it a dynamo conversion. It takes a lot to drain a fully charged new battery down to 5 volts, did you run the car with the new battery? When you turn the ignition on does the red charge light come on and then go out when engine is running? It sounds more like a bad connection/earth then a charging problem.

Thanks for the replys the car is a 75 and not the racing green I had the new battery running in the car, when I turn the key the red light does come on and then go off when the engine was running..
left over night and then dead. The old alternator was original but wasn't charging so I replaced it with the one from the racing green all was fine when running the battery was putting out 14 volts the left over night and then 5 volts.
Its not the radio as I checked to see if it was coming on with the ignition off..the doesn't have a radio also...

How can you check a bad connection and the earths
Thanks

Was the 14v measured on the actual battery terminals and not the clamps. Turn on all the lights and anything else you can and measure the volts at the terminals again. If 14v then connections ok. If your using a multi meater you can use the ohm range to check for a load. Disconnect the battery and with ignition switch off measure resistance accross battery clamps.turn things on and off and pull the fuses one by one, you should see the readings change on the meter. The higher the reading the better. The lower the reading the more drain on battery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF1gijj03_0

This is what u need

Very good video but heed the warnings about blowing your meter. It is not something I recommend to anybody not competent with electrics, I have come across many blown ammeters from people who don't understand that ammeters are basicly a short circuit and if you put them in parallel instead of in series with a load they will blow. If you don't understand the last sentence DON'T try it.

This sounds exactly like the issue I am having

I've had it in the garage twice last week and the issue keeps coming back. Alternator and battery are fine but the battery keeps dying


Is there a quick fix for this that will allow me to get it to a mechanic who knows how to sort this out?

Also--if anyone can recommend a mechanic near Leixlip that would be great

Thanks

Try Paul kelly in minifix on 087 2597085 or his son on 086 1234367 also on facebook under minifix

[quote="jocelynn"]Try Paul kelly in minifix on 087 2597085 or his son on 086 1234367 also on facebook under minifix[/quote]

thanks jocelyn