[quote=Ancient Mariner;2415912]47°13'29.45"N - 122°10'28.83Wquote]

First try mistakenly placed you in Mongolia. Now, I have you in the middle of a lake by Tacoma, which appears to be reasonable given your name.

Couldn't add in tenths. Are you on a houseboat or ashore?

I went through my initial Army training at Ft. Lewis and drove a Gold Duster, if anyone remembers those.

 

[quote=rrcaniglia;2416037]I prefer to think Tacoma is by the lake (lake was here first!). No, not on it, just near it. And yeah, I remember the Gold Duster -and my eight miserable weeks @ Ft Lewis. (never go thru basic in the winter in Washington -you stay wet all the time )

 

Ninja,
The struts should not have gone that early! I'm at 103k miles on my MC and my original struts are just now getting bad...I'm pretty aggressive with my car...

You are dead on about the window motors I'm afraid! There are some ridiculous design flaws in our cars...and the windows are definitely one of them.

As for the power steering, it definitely does not burn out the battery, and it definitely is not designed to break at 50k miles! You will find that most people are on their original PS pump well over 80k miles. It does have a weak link though...the power steering fan is located in a retarded place. It's a plastic fan under the car and it can ingest things like plastic bags etc from the road. It will then stop working and the pump will overheat. From my research, that is the main cause of it going early. I've gone through 4 batteries in 103k miles. 2 of them actually burned out because of the radiator fan (another design flaw!), not the power steering.

It sucks that you have had such a bad experience with your car! I have had some persistent problems with my clutch, so I've been in those shoes. The difference is that I have done all of the work myself, so I haven't been floored by the insane prices the dealership charges for simple things like diagnosis! When you have problems with your car, it is often the amount you have to dish out that determines how bad of an experience it will be. Since you are out of warranty, the dealership is no longer your friend...at least that is the philosophy that I live by. Find a good reasonable mechanic and you can get the power steering fixed for less than $800. If you have a driveway, I'd even help you out if you are willing to fix it yourself!

 

I have an excellent independent MINI mechanic in Miami and well respected in the South Florida MINI community for his experience and honesty. He has owned 3 MINIs and is a seasoned Autocrosser and track junkie. Aside from the dealer, he is the only other human being allowed to get near my MINIs.

Send me a PM and i'll give you his contact info.

 

bad egg.... im at 54k on my 04 MCS, the power window sucks but other than that i have verrrry few complaints.... sorry man

 

Actually, it does. When the power steering fan fails, and the power steering pump gets cooked, it will continue to drain the battery. This happened on my R53. As soon as I pulled the plug on the failed power steering pump, my battery wouldn't drain. Obviously the failed power steering bump was replaced and a failed PSF fuse the original problem for me--not the PSF itself.

 

hahahahahahahahahahaha...i LOVE IT!!!

 

My '05 MCS now has 88,000+ miles on it and I've had an independent (MINICorsa) work on it since 65,000 miles or so. Although I had the PS fan replaced, my PS pump is still fine, but I just replaced the water pump after a recent problem with a broken pulley belt that sent my car overheating.

I'm the second owner of my MINI, the first owner had it for about 37,000 miles.

As for bad struts---finding OEM struts here on NAM shouldn't be that hard for cheap, of course FSD's, Megans, or Cross Coilovers are all nice upgrade options should they need replacement.

 

Drivewire.com sells OE struts as well. I believe they are $142 a piece.

 

But it won't drain the battery unless it has a specific failure....I believe this is poorly written by the O.P. of this comment. It leads one to believe that the P.S. pump will "always" pull current from the battery. And BTW, I have only seen two such failures of these pumps that caused a constant drain since 2002, and both of them have happened in the last 1 1/2 years.

To the Starter of this thread, it sounds like the guys in your service departments are idiots, find somewhere else to go...Replace all 4 struts when one of them is leaking????! I'd like to see them do that on MINI's dime, can you say rejected claim. I wouldn't propose for the customer to pay for anything he/she didn't need, and that goes for MINI USA as well. We are to be good stewards to customer and manufacturer alike. A advocate for both without bias.

 

I never owned a car i hated.... if you hate it sell it....

 

Cars are machines, machines break down. In 20 years of being in the automotive repair business, I have yet to come across a car that does not break, rust or fall apart in some way.

 

I’m with MINI USA. Check your inbox for our offer of assistance.

 

One of my first cars was a 1986 VW GTI with about 60,000 miles on it--passed on to me by my brother--within 5000 miles I had hot coolant spewing the interior and steaming up my windshield making it unsafe to drive--fortunately I was on campus when this happened and not on the freeway. A number of other failures happened that just made it too expensive to own and sold it to a wifes cousin who later told me that he spent way too much money in repairs, lol. Shortly after that I inherited the family Volvo Turbo Wagon--a lemon year, and I got stuck with a car that had to be constantly in the shop--not a fun thing to do while in school--3 years later, I was able to afford an Acura Integra--my first Japanese car, and wow, what a difference---I had that car for 10 years and 160,000 miles. I loved that car, but not in the same way that I loved my MINI. In less than 2 years, I've put over 50,000 miles on my MINI and while it hasn't been bulletproof like my Integra, the community, the modding, the customizing, self maintenance (brake pad changes, etc), and past history of knowing that BMW's are not inexpensive to maintain or at all like Japanese engineering--to me, it's all a part of the experience.

However, the fear of a $6,000 Midlands tranny replacement on my '03 Cooper was reason enough to fear owning an '03 Cooper, so I can see where you're coming from--but regardless I never hated my MINI's.

 

If you are mechanically enclined, there is a shop here in Mass They will ship an OEM Remanufactured one, put it in and send them your old core. They are a reputable company. Should cost you about 200 clams....

BBA Reman: http://www.bba-reman.com/catalogue/D...edProduct=1414

I got this DIY off another post here in NAM. Seems pretty straight forward.

Good luck

Tools and supplies needed:
10, 13mm sockets with ratchet and extension(s)
Medium side-cutters (6" or so) to remove the crimped hose clamp.
Floor jack and pair of jack stands
New hose clamp
Small screwdriver to release the tabs on the power connector
Medium screwdriver to install the new hose clamp
Drain Pan to catch the mineral oil
1L can of Pentosin CHF 11S
Optional: new O-ring for the high pressure line
De-greaser to remove spilled oil

Procedure:
1. Remove the two 13mm nuts that attach the fan bracket to the PS pump bracket

2. Disconnect the fan electrical connector and set the fan assembly aside.
** This would be a good time to check the fan to make sure it spins smoothly and easily.**

3. Remove the two connectors from the PS pump. - The small connector has one retainer that can be released by squeezing the tab toward the connector body. - The large connector has two tabs that need to be released by gently prying them away from the connector body. It is easy to break these tabs.

4. Remove the hose clamp from the hose that goes to the reservoir. Since it is crimped on it can be a PITA to remove. I have successfully at removed these by putting a screwdriver in the crimped area and prying the crimped area apart. YMMV

5. Remove the 13mm bolt that holds the high pressure line to the pump.

6. Position the catch pan to catch the oil that will spill when the hose is removed from the pump. - You may want to have some rags handy to keep the oil off the sub-frame. Clean up will be easier this way.

7. Remove the two hoses.

8. Remove the 13mm nut and the two 13mm bolts that attach the PS pump bracket to the sub-frame - The two bolts are visible (barely) at the rear of the sub-frame in the area of the down-pipe.

9. Drop the pump far enough to remove the wire retainer clip.

10. Remove the pump.

11. Remove the four 10mm nuts that hold the pump to the mounting bracket.

12. Installation is the reverse of removal.

 

The funny thing is you'll still probably be able to get a decent price for it if you try to sell it.

_

 

Lovely how the OP sets the "tone" and then vanishes. Trolling in its finest form.