hey ausminiers

when i leave my ignition on for just a few minutes it drains my battery so much that the car wont start.

does anyone have any ideas what cold be the problem.

i have a fairly new battery

the car is a 62 morris 850 if that makes a difference.


thanks josh

Firstly it's not advisable to leave your ignition on for a long period, it will stuff your coil & possibly burn out your points.

You may have something draining your battery best to check everything electrical.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

Couple of possibilities to think about:
- battery fitted wrong way (positive earth car?)
- dud new battery, test/replace under warranty
- bad earth

Like Doogie mentioned, you can stuff your coil & points leaving the ignition on for more than a minute or two, but it shouldn't drain your battery.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

Does the car have a Stereo fitted? The Mini I purchased recently had a sound system installed by the previous owner and it was wired in totally wrong....to the point were it kept draining the battery and eventually shorted out the power wire to the radio. Hence the smoke got out of the wires causing a panicked diversion off the road and a rather hasty run to the boot to disconnect the battery. (I am still trying to convince my wife we won't die in this car)
If there has been any electrical equipment additions done it would be advisable to check they are wired correctly.

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1971 Mini K

my minimatic was doing that. Yet the same battery in my clubman was ok. Turns out, I kept hooking it up as a negative earth (clubman) when the matic is a positive earth. Id check that first before you try anything.

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88 Rover 1.3i "Reggie"
99 Rover 1.3i “Grover”
12 Mini Cooper S "The shitter"
17 Mini Clubman JCW “Noddy”

it doesn't have a stereo or any other non standard equiptment in it.

battery is run as positive earth.

how can i tell if it has been changed to negative earth as opposed to positive.

thanks

well when i had it around the wrong way in my matic, it would start and run, but after about 10 mins after switching off, the battery was flat. so i spun the battery around the other way (no sparks, beauty!) and away it went and battery has never gone flat since.

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88 Rover 1.3i "Reggie"
99 Rover 1.3i “Grover”
12 Mini Cooper S "The shitter"
17 Mini Clubman JCW “Noddy”

in my clubman which is negative earth my brother hooked up the battery the wrong way round. It subsequently blew my alterator up and let the smoke out of some of my wires.

So i wouldnt advise just changing battery round for the sake of it. find out which it is before you do anything.

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