Happy Thanksgiving. Hope your turkey was delicious. Me, I missed out on a turkey dinner. I was traveling to visit my family 300 miles from home and about half way there I lost the power steering on the cooper. Needless to say, since a fix is required and I do not want to be stuck 300 miles away from parts and service, I turned around and returned home. (

So, since I got home I have been looking for information on the PS fuse and PS pump. I have established it will cost between 200-300$ for a replacement pump, that the fuse is a 100 amp and it is hidden under the fuse box. Still, what I have not found is any photos or repair/replacement procedures for the PS. Without a service manual (which I heard really doen't say anything about this anyway) I am up $hits creek without a paddle. I don't even know if the mini dealer is open at all this weekend. $ucks to be me. Why is it you only need a plumber on a holiday weekend? grrrr.

Of course, I am pretty sure my car is out of the warranty period. 45k and 4 years old. I could argue that I questioned the incessant whining from the PS and was told that it is normal, Only to discover that it was not exactly normal but louder than normal. But barring a battle, the car needs fixing and I have only 3 days to get it done. There go all my weekend plans. The summer car of course is away for the summer so there is not alternative.

So... Does anyone have diagrams, illustrations, photos, instructions, scanned manual pages or anything of that sort that might help me? All my searches have been fruitless.

HELP!!!

 

Looks like the pump sits right in front of the rack...

and the pump assembly with fan...

 

The warranty is 50,000 and they are well aware of this problem although it is ususally just the fan and not the pump too. You are lucky that you didn't overheat as that also comes with this.

Let us know how you make our with the dealer.

Rich

PS-We have plenty of turkey left over here if you want to stop by. <G>

 

How handy are you with tools? The 4 years may very well have you out of warranty. Based on the Real OEM pics it doesn't look too complex. Did you check you fuses already, I think my MINI came with at least one spare in the under bonnet box should I have an emergency and need to fix it. I know Smokey had to do this on his MINI around Dragon time, I'll see if I can find his thread, but I don't think he'll be on much this weekend. HArdest part is getting parts, I'd be at the dealer tomorrow to get the pump and possible fan of course thats assuming they have it in stock.

Have you gotten the car on jacks and inspected the pump yet?

 

Pay attention to the last post in this thread

 

Thank you to each of you who replied to this message. The information provided as well as the information I found in a search here was excellent.
I contacted New Country Mini in Hartford last night via their dealer website to schedule service. I received a call from the NCM first thing this morning (Darin Stricker) asking when I would like to bring the car in. I called him back and said right now! (Ok, so I was sleeping when he called) He said bring her down and I did. I explained what happened and went over the past history of the car (whining PS and a few other things) with my SA Mike Fischer and he said that my warranty was up last month (4 years) but will see what they can do about it, work something out. Well, while we strolled around looking at some other dream cars (I love the M5, what a gorgeous interior) for a while and then went back inside and had a seat. A short time later our SA came out and said that they would cover all of the work, no charge!!!

NEW COUTRY MINI in Htfd RULES!!

Not only did they replace the PS pump, fan and fuse, but they also replaced my dome light (push button fell out), backup light switch (wouldn't come on when you shifted into reverse) and D/S window relay because I mentioned that one day it refused to work during the summer. They also washed my car (great job for a change) and topped off my fluids. They did all of this at no charge (goodwill).

Since I just changed the oil at 45.5k miles (10k since the 36k change) so I am good to go for a while. Tonight after getting the car home we did our own close inpsection to see if there might be anything else that needs attention. The rear tires are developing some cracking so I want to replace them. I figure I might as well replace all 4 even though the front tires only have 20k on them (if that).

What do you think of Yokos? AVS?

OF NOTE: I would like to mention that the incessant whining/whirring sound that the power steering has always made is no longer. It is sooooo quiet now. And yes, I was extrememly lucky that I did not overheat. I can thank the cooler temps and my decision to turn around and return home instead of continuing to NY/LI yesterday where I was sure to hit some major stop and go traffic. I hit negligible traffic and for that I am extremely thankful.

Thanks again to each of you who responded to my cry for help. You guys are the best!

Deb

 

Thanks for the turkey offer Rich, but no charge for all that service work is better than a Christmas present! I can't beleive how helpful this forum was, instrumental in educating me so I arrived at the dealer informed and armed. Though as it tirns out, I didn't need the guns afterall. JUST TOO COOL!
The mini drive/handles better than new!

Partsguy, those diagrams were extremely helpful and if the work was not covered, I know they would have proved invaluable to both my SO and I as we would have had to preform the work ourselves.! I ordered the service manual CD's just in case I have any trouble now that I guess I am considerred out of warranty "officially".

 

Glad you got everything taken care of. The guys at NC are great. My car will be there soon for some warranty stuff.