Hey guys, just got done working on a 04 MCS. Came in initially with no power steering, replaced pump and fan, all was well in the land of minis. Two weeks later, car comes back with stiff steering, saying it feels the same as it did before the pump was installed. Steering did feel stiff and the steering wheel would not return to center after cornering, if you didn't yank it back to center the car would continue on whatever line it was on. After sitting overnight the car developed a "Popping/clicking" noise that would occur when sitting still and turning the wheel lock to lock. Initially we thought it was the steering rack, we could feel the popping/clicking if we had our hand on the rack. Luckily we didn't replace the rack right off the bat. I contacted our local mini dealer and was told about a 13mm nut on the lower steering shaft cv that may be causing the popping sound. Sure enough, tighten that nut about two turns and voila, no more popping sound. Next to address the steering wheel getting "stuck" and not returning to cent I removed the lower steering column plastics and lubricated the bearing of the steering shaft, as soon as I backed it out of the shop I noticed the night and day difference. Steering wheel returned to center and steering side to side was smooth as silk. Hope this helps anyone that has steering problems with their mini!

 

It's posts like this that may save me hours of time and stress in the future. I really appreciate you taking the time to share the solutions to your problems, that is exactly what I love most about this community. Thank you.

 

No problem! Glad to help anyone I can, these minis can be nightmares sometimes!

 

The original post sounds a lot like what I just went through (2004 R53 with 110K miles). My steering pump was replaced a few months ago, then 2 days ago (1,300 miles) the steering assist went out just as described, fortunately I first noticed it at under 10mph and was never in danger. I never heard any clicking, however, and just got back from paying for the lower steering shaft replacement. That makes about $1,600 in steering repairs this year. Ugh.

 

Great post. We need this more often. I may go check that nut for the hell of it.

 

Hello there, thank you in advance for your time. Can you explain in detail what you mean by this? "I removed the lower steering column plastics and lubricated the bearing of the steering shaft". Stupid question but are you refering to inside the car? Don't suppose you could post of picture of where you lubricated? Regards Simon

 

I don't have pictures available unfortunately, and I haven't seen this repair since this one particular car but the bearing I lubricated was a 6 or 7 ball ball bearing with the steering shaft going through it, it was up near the back of the steering wheel and I accessed it from underneath the steering column.
That was causing the stickiness of the steering wheel and causing the wheel to not return to center.

The nut that I tightened was very close to the firewall, on the flex joint for the steering shaft. I believe I accessed it from outside the car but I can't remember for sure. I believe #4 is what I tightened here

model=RC33&mospid=48014&btnr=32_1279&hg=32&fg=30[/url]

 

The clicking noise can come from the number 1 in the diagram from the knuckles or from the center section. Also the U joints on the bottom can bind since they are exposed to the elements . Note MINI calls it the repair kit for section. #1

You can access the nut from the driver side wheel well and its a little eccentric bolt #4. And hex nut #5. Turn the steering column and you can access the bolts from there.

This gives you picture of the main part.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/32306763722/



Thanks

 

I feel the ticks and pops in my steering too and thought it was the power steering pump being flaky. I notice it while turning the wheels sharply and slowly backing in around the steps to my garage.

Will the correct position (setting, rotation, whatever) of the eccentric bolt be visibly obvious before tightening?

Thanks.

 

I had the stiff steering that wouldn't return to center too, my mechanic lubed it up and it would be fine for a week. after 3 weeks of lubing constantly he replaced the U-joint and it's been fine since.

A new problem started in the fall and I'd appreciate any ideas that could solve this:
only when the temperature is above 10 Celsius (50F) I will hear a creak at the 10 O'clock position when I turn the wheel. Doesn't really affect anything, but when it creaks there's a very tiny rough spot in the wheel.

Basically,
-I can turn the wheel smoothly.
-At the 10 O'clock position there's a creak. If I do a full rotation I can hear it at the 5 o'clock position too.
-at this position you can 'feel' where it creaks, as it's not so smooth right there.
-only happens between 10 and 30 degrees celcius, when its cold or really hot, it's smooth and silent.

 

The eccentric bolt has a side that sets the top of the steering rack flush. With the eccentric bolt in and tightened down, when you move the steering wheel they should be no play in the connection from the eccentric bolt to the head coming out of the rack. The bottom of the part by the U joints is squared off to receive the squared off side from the top of the rack junction ( the part i linked ).On one side its flat where the eccentric bolt sets correctly against it.

Here is the diagram. You can see the head connection on the steering rack to the upper right.




The orientation to tighten the bolt from the wheel well , you spin the steering wheel to you see the end of the nut point towards the driver wheel well, then with a long extension and socket tighten the nut.

I hope that Answers your question.

Thanks

 

here is a picture of the bearing, it is inside the vehicle. You pull hard on the kick/knee panel and it will pop out. after that there are 2 screws on the underside of your steering column close to where it meets the steering wheel (about an inch or 2 back) then when you get those out reach your hand down to the end of the plastic that was covered by the kick panel and pull down. it will start to come off, I find it easier to pull the steering wheel adjustment lever down to clear the opening for it after you pull the plastic loose. Where the ignition is the surrounding round part of it is rubber and you can slide that off of the ignition and it will pop out of the plastic and give you more room to clear the steering column, then just pull the plastic out kind of to the sides so the clips clear and it stretches so you can clear the steering column . After that the bearing in the picture along with the joint for the intermediate shaft are accessible. And you can grease that bearing with your favorite grease. Doesn't hurt to add a little to the ujoint on the steering shaft as well. HOPE THIS HELPS!

 

So I have had the stiff steering along with the need to correct during a turn back toward center otherwise the car continues further into the turn. I will be replacing some suspension items but I’ve narrowed the steering issue down to the rack, pump or shaft. Obvious issues. I tried the path of least resistance and sprayed some WD40 on the shaft U joints both inside and outside the car. The steering immediately became less stiff but still stiffer than all other cars I own. But the over correcting in turns has disappeared. I have discovered one more interesting situation. If I move the steering wheel up or down I can change the amount of stiffness and “feel”. Basically I’m changing the angles of the U joints and increasing or decreasing those angles which causes a difference. Highest seems to be the most stiff and the lowest is the least stiff.

 

Most of the time its the steering shaft. Pump will only create this if it does not work and does not make the (whirl noise) I have hit those with grease and WD40 but after a while they get worse and stiff.

The rack itself rarely goes bad. I still have my original, with newer end, as the end links go bad and clunk in the suspension.

 

It's the shaft. I had the same exact issues. Mine looked ok until I loosened it and tried to move the end around. It was frozen. Swapped in a new one. No more issues. Probably fought with the PS pump for no reason. Cheapest piece of the puzzle. Look at it first. Pull it out, don't just eye ball it.

 

Wow that's rusty on the right.

 

^^ yes it was! However I was able to remove it from the PS assembly and reinstall it with no issue. Then, I noticed that it did not wiggle about freely. I hit it with some lube but that didn't solve the problem. The replacement was cheap and easy to do and works perfectly!!

 

Well another update. I have had the subframe off to replace various suspension parts. I decided to remove the power steering housing and blow it out. Massive dust cloud as I did this. I also attempted to replace the steering shaft, once the subframe was all back together. However the new shaft is about 1/2 inch shorter from the oem version. I had them both fully extended and the new aftermarket one is too short. So I put the original one in. Side note, both u- joints are free and are not tight. Not sure if my wd40 loosened them up a bit. The steering is back to a normal feel. Not as light as other cars but a significant difference from where it was earlier. So in my case the solution was cleaning out the power steering.