I don’t know if this subject has been covered before. I have a 2004 S with about 18000 Kilometers. It is about to have it’s second service. I just discovered that the power steering fluid bottle is empty. There appears to be no information in the hand book on the power steering and indeed no illustration of where the bottle is in the engine compartment. I see no sign of where the leak is, but it is hard to see under.
Anyone with a similar experience, or where it is likely to be leaking other than where the hose is clamped to the bottle? Is there likely to be any damage to the power steering pump?

 

OLIVEOYL:
Same thing happened to our '05 MCS...last month with 16,000 miles on it.

It uses a synthetic hydraulic oil (number is on the cap of the power steering bottle behind the engine) NOT ATF, or standard power steering fluid and it's expensive, $16 or more for a can. We lost our fluid because the seals on either end of the power steering rack were slowly leaking the fluid. You can check this out by turning the steering all the way to lock and look at the rubber boot at the end of the steering rack, look for the tie rod end that attaches to the lower suspension. If the rubber boot is wet or saturated with "oil" the rack is leaking. Classic MINI in Cleveland replaced the entire rack under warranty. Let me say it could be something else in the P.S. system but it is my understanding this is a common problem with MINIs.
I hope this info helps.
Dave S.
Bedford, OH
MI MINI S
electric blue '05 MCS
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