A week to go until we have to leave home for Sydney for the Oz50 Mini Carnival (yes we are going up a week early) and I've finally got some time to get the Mini and Moke ready - now a problem.

I seem to have a dead short somewhere in the electrics and I can't trace it - I'm no auto elec.

Brand new battery fitted, but the car won't turn over - sounds like the battery is almost dead. When I pulled the battery out again, the positive lead was very hot. I put an Ohm meter over the wire and found it seems to be shorting to earth somewhere. Checked the lead thoroughly but it appears to be fine. Disconnected it from the solenoid and it seems fine, but there is a short to the solenoid - so I checked each of the wires from the solenoid and the short appears to be coming from either brown only wire or the brown wire with yellow trace - or both.

Every time I think I've found the problem it leads me somewhere else.

I am now quite confused by it.

Clearly, as I said already, I'm no auto elec.

Any ideas would be appreciated, but more importantly, if someone is able to swing by to help out, that would be better.

PM, email or call me on 5250 4842 if you can help. Respond here if you just have some USEFUL advice.

Thanks,
Watto.

Points aren't fused together?

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

If you've an alternator fitted make 100% sure you are connecting the battery -ve to Earth. Use your Multimeter to check the battery terminals are in fact marked correctly (ie -ve is -ve, I've had 2 that have been wrong way about). If the battery has been reverse connected for a period of time (minutes), it may have damaged the diodes in the alternator so making a permenant short.

Or the Alternator may be shorted in any event.

Disconnect all wires from the Alternator and check for shorts again. Also, with the alternator connected when checking for shorts, check with the multimeter leads one way and then check again with them reversed

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watto, here is a copy of the circuit diagram for your moke with a table of items and wire colours. It may help.



now item 5 is the solenoid and there are 3 brown wires ,one to the ign switch [21] second to the light switch[22] third to the alternator[1]
the brown /yellow comes from the ign switch thru the charge light and to the alt.

now if you remove the wires [note where they came from] from the alt, and the light switch and connect the battery with a light globe between the battery terminal and the lead then as you re-connect each wire in turn if there is a short the globe will light up. Just make sure nothing else is turned on.

If it is the wire from the ign switch to the fuses[9&10] there is a wire off the positive side to the coil and then to the dist /points. To test these use the light globe and see if they are going to earth. IE disconnect the wire between the coil and dist and connect the globe with the other side to earth. if this lights the globe then the coil has shorted .do the same with the dist and open and close the points manually.

sorry if it is a clear as mud but best I can do.

to check that it's not the starter jambed in put the car in gear and rock it back and forwards. If it is free and the other parts check out then it could be the starter motor going to earth

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

Thanks for your help people.

I haven't had a chance to get back to it until tonight, but have had another look - always better after a break.

It appears that the main power lead and the starter solenoid get very hot when the ignition key is turned to start. There are no problems with any fuses blowing or smaller wires melting, so I suspected the culprit had to be either the starter solenoid or the starter motor.

I disconnected and removed the starter motor and ran power directly to the power input and earthed the body of the starter motor. The motor should have spun, but it didn't. Instead there was a lot of sparking and the motor almost welded itself to the car body work. I removed it from the car completely and tried the same procedure directly onto the battery. Again, no turning of the motor but almost welded it to the battery - very hot (and that was only for a split-second).

So, tomorrow I am off to the auto elec to have the starter motor checked. If it is faulty and they cannot repair or replace it for me same day, then I will take a trip to my usual Mini parts supplier for a new/reco one.

I hope this is the problem.

Of course, nothing is ever so simple. Somewhere along the line I have managed to now have no headlights or parkers, or dash lights. Clearly I've disconnected something or connected something incorrectly. I will try and find that one tomorrow as well.

Cheers,
Watto.

Let me know if ya need a starter. I'm sure there's something here that can get ya by (probably for a long long time).

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Thanks Poeee.

I'll see how I go, but might give you a call. Can you PM me phone number again?

Cheers,
Watto.

Hi Watto, please let me know if you need me to mail you a starter moltor. I have Reco ones on shelf ready to go. Or Ring me

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

Hi people.

Thanks for all your help, especially Poeeeeeeeeee!!

The Mini lives again.

Cheers,
Watto

Glad my junk pile could help.

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what was it?? I have a simmilar issue with my Cooper S

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Ah yes, sorry about that. See your other thread about your probs, Brett.

Yes, it was simply a dead short in the starter motor.

Everything turned out to be my silliness in putting it all back together.

Cheers,
Watto.

thanks mate! Yeah mine had the fibre washer damaged from possibly the soda blasting! Put a new one on and its working great!

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