I don't know if this has been asked her before. Any ways here it goes.

I was driving last week on 84 W towards Portland and doing about 68mph, overtaking a Semi on a sharp down hill right hand curve, and poof, my Power steering goes out, steering tightens and I hold the steering as tight as I can, braked gently before I got to the next left turn and eventually pulled over. Its scary how hard the steering gets when the P/S pump goes off. I filed a safety complaint. I just drove the rest of the way without the power steering.

I'm trying to locate a pump. I read posts that said that they got re-manufactured ones for about $400. But everything I find are around $650.

I also found there are 2 rebuild options, one from ebay and the other from BBA Manufacturing.

I'm trying to decide what's the best way to go about replacing my pump.

Where can I get a re-manufacture pump for $400 from a dealer?

If I go about rebuilding my existing one, who is better, ebay or BBA?

I will really appreciate your feedback.

 

@sujeemini,

Welcome to the club... My January 2005 built MINI Cooper S with only 21,000 miles on the clock (and the supposedly "improved" power steering pump) just recently had a catastrophic power steering pump failure in the middle of a high speed turn and it just about took me out for good. I spun off the road and nearly wacked a huge California Oak tree over on Ortega Highway 74 in Southern California.

I find it really hard to believe that MINI allows stuff like this to happen and doesn't put out a recall on these stupid pumps. I guess that it will (unfortunately) take someone actually dying in order to make that happen.

Anyway, I just replaced the pump myself using these well written instructions:

R50-R53 Mini Cooper Power Steering Pump / Fan / Duct Replacement and Installation

The work wasn't bad, but getting the pump out and back in again was a bit of a pain. I opted not to notch my subframe (as mentioned in the article), but I could see how that would definitely make it much easier.

I decided to do the work myself as my dealer wanted well over $1k to replace the pump. Ouch! I purchased a remanufactured power steering pump (part # 32-41-6-778-425) from a (different) MINI dealership for $564. The pump listed for $705 but I had a friend get me a bit of a discount.

It would have been nice to have gotten one for only $400, but I imagine that there aren't too many deals like that floating around for the average Joe. I also opted to purchase the pump from a MINI dealer since they will stand behind the pump with a solid 24 month warranty (which I doubt you'd get from an eBay seller).

I also picked up a can of the Pentosin CHF 11S power steering fluid (as shown in the first picture in the article) from the dealer for $18 (part # 83-29-0-429-576). I actually bought two cans, but only ended up needing about 3/4 of a single can.

I didn't replace my fan or ducting since the car is basically still brand spanking new (which is why I'm so flabbergasted that the stupid pump failed!). There's not a lick of dirt on the underside of the car. I kept laughing the whole time I was working on it as it looked like I was working on a brand new car just driven off the lot. I guess I really need to drive my MINI more.

My wife is so freaked out about the way that the power steering pump failed (catastrophically and without any warning signs whatsoever) that I can't even get her to ride in the car any more (which is very sad and unfortunately a very poor reflection on the MINI brand IMHO). Thus, I imagine that the car will get even fewer miles put on it now.

I did however verify that the pump fan was working by applying 12 volts of DC current to it. I also checked the fuse just to make sure that it wasn't blown. I've yet to see the pump fan actually turn on though. I assume that it is thermostatically controlled and that I'll just have to wait until I take the car out on a long drive and get it nice and hot in order to make sure that the fan is actually working as it should.

Anyway... Good luck with replacing your pump.

-- MIKE

 

The ones on ebay are likely the BBA ones. Check the seller's name to see. I got mine through BBA for around $400 since it was lifetime warranty. I've seen where a few BBA pumps have failed too, but from what I've seen they've replaced them without hesitation. Apparently they just replace the broken parts but not the electronic parts for these pumps. Regardless, a lot of people have had success with them. And if you do your own labor you don't have much to lose.

Way Motor Works also sells a new OEM pump for a lot less than you can get from the dealer. http://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-pow...ring-pump.html. You've got to mail back in your core on that one too...not sure why, but maybe he sells the cores to have them rebuilt.

 

TheOfficeMaven,

You should really file a report with www.safercar.gov. Maybe one day we will get our money back on these stupid pumps.

 

If I recall correctly Dr Obnxs wrote something about cleaning the brushes in his power steering pump and bringing it back to life. I did a quick search hear on NAM but can't find it. Maybe it was in MC2. Try PM-ing him.

 

@hexon,

Thanks for the heads up on the www.safecar.org web site. I just filed a complaint. While I was there I did a quick search and there are a crazy number of reports of failed power steering pumps listed there for the MINI Cooper. WOW!

I guess it's a bit of a relief knowing that we're not the only ones having the problem. I just hope MINI steps up and does something about it (or that the NHTSA forces them to do something about it).

 

@chilicon,

I'm not sure about everyone else, but I wouldn't want to go through all the hassle of removing the power steering pump and then just cleaning/replacing the brushes and putting it back in. That's a whole lot of labor to risk having the pump fail again a short while later. Unless you're really in a financial pinch, it would be much better to just replace the pump with a new one and not risk having to go through all the labor of pulling the pump again a few weeks or months down the road. No?

 

The electric motor service attempts to address what fails......the motor. This is what fails on the pump.

 

Wow! Thank you everyone!

I made my complaint with the safercar.gov website too.

Thank you Mike for DIY link. I think I will replace the part my self. the link has plenty of details and pics. You are pretty lucky to get away from your spinning incident. When I lost my power steering, the road was slick, and during the rest of my drive I was hoping that my car didn't slide for any odd reason, cause that would have been the last thing I needed at that moment.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback. "hexon" thank you for the link. I think I'm most probably going to save my money and purchase a new one from them. Since the price different is not that different from a re-manufactured one.

As my second option, I might consider BBA if they will offer life time warranty. But I think I might lean more towards the new one.

Oh and the guy who re-builds the pump on ebay, is from Moscow, Idaho. So I don't think its the BBA manufacturing.

However, I dont have the money to purchase a new or re-manufactured any time soon. I moved from to my new job 4 months ago to Olympia, WA, which made me broke.

Until few mins ago, I though I had to keep my car parked for couple of months. But then fortunately, few minutes ago, when I was browsing ebay, I came across a used P/S pump from a junk yard in Alabama for just $50 + free shipping. I felt like it was my green ticket to fix the issue immediately. It does come with a 90 day warranty, so that should give me plenty of time to save up the money for a new one. Providing that it works properly. But if it doesn't cause any problem for a long time, it will be a bonus.

 

I used BBA and if i remember correctly the price was about 275. It went out once and they made it right quickly. They have been good to me and I would recommend them to anyone looking to get their pump rebuilt.

 

Unfortunately, they are now almost $400 through BBA.


Just make sure you use the correct fluid when you refill the new unit. It tells you on the cap for the reservoir. Otherwise, you'll have to replace that thing again.

And since you're doing the labor yourself I can give you a few pointers. You'll need an extension to get the bolts on the back of the pump. All of the bolts came out pretty easy, and I'm a weakling. I had the hardest part getting of the metal O-ring on the vacuum hose. I had to pry on that thing forever until it got loose enough to move out of the way. Then it takes a bit of force to get the hose off the pump. If you have the tools, it'd be easiest to cut away the frontside of the frame where the pump is held in by one bolt. The instructions may call this "slotting." Otherwise, you have to find the correct angle to pull the pump out. Also make sure you grab a replacement 1" O-ring from your local auto store.

 

Thank you for the tips. I'm now prepairing to get the job started. Just got the oil extractor, and oil. Just need the get a ramp and once the pump arrives next week I should be good to go. Will keep you updated. I hope taking the pump off wont be too much trouble