Driving into Las Vegas something odd happened that I haven’t seen before. The battery light on my MINI came on and my idle speed increased to almost 2K RPMs. I thought that was weird, but when I turned the car off and back on again, everything was back to normal.
Then I start my drive home. Big show that night and all that.
About half way home, the battery light came on again. It was still light out, so I wasn’t worried. I made a final stop for gas in Barstow and started back on the trek home, except something wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t barely see and the battery light was on again.
Once again I tried the restart. Except this time, restart didn’t happen. Crap. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of the desert, I bump started Roxy to get her moving again. Barely any headlights, so I start making calls as I try to get closer to home.
Got almost to Victorville. I had no headlights, no power steering, no dash lights and the windows didn’t work. And it was too dark to continue so I excited the freeway and did my best to find a spot to pull over.
Amazingly she was still running. But as soon as I turned her off that was it. I was officially broken down in the middle of nowhere. At least I had cell phone coverage.
A ride and battery was procured and I finished the drive home, but just barely. Headlights were very dim, power steering was gone again, but I made it home.
A new alternator has been ordered and as soon as I finish typing here I will be removing the old one. And no, it won’t be a dealer/OEM part since they want $500+ from the dealer and some of the online vendors.
So, for those of you wondering, an alternator in your MINI should last to 200K miles. Or 10 years, whichever comes first!
More on the 200K coming later this weekend.
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No fun indeed DB. Hope the alternator transplant goes smoothly.
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Well you certainly got the full life out of the old alternator. It must have a timer on it or something. Where did you end up getting the replacement? new or used?
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Parts plus has it for me today. Every where except the dealer and online places were way too expensive and you have to wait for a replacement.
Old unit is out. Waiting for a call for the replacement now.
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DB,
Saw your comment on GBMINI – glad to hear all is well with her once more; 200K on an alternator seems not too bad, really.
What’s next then? 250K?
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250k? I’m hoping for 300!
After quite a few repairs, of course. More on that coming soon
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My alternator just went out as well. I am in a 2003 standard mini. At 198,000. And right after getting that fixed my check engine light came on. Therefore I went to the nearest auto zone to get the code, to only find it dead. Meaning no longer will crank. Which finds out I need a fuel pump.
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My fuel pump went out 30k AFTER the alternator. Read about it here. The repair was pretty straight forward and I was able to complete it, with assistance, in less than an hour.