I’ve just picked up an ‘06 R50 with “issues”. Willing to work through them though, it’s just a fun project. Last year the PO had a catastrophic gearbox failure that blew oil all over the underside of the car including the PS pump. Shortly after the gearbox replacement the PS pump stopped working. His mechanic cleaned the lube soaked PS electrical connection and all was well again. However excess lube continued to drip off the undercarriage and the PS pump stopped working again. He drove it like that for a while before parking the car due to other service requirements. Now I have the car and would like to clean the PS pump connection to see if I can revive it that way. However I’m unclear as to the best way to access the connection? All the research I’ve done shows removal of the pump but not just the connector access. Could the PS fan also cause an issue like this? I could use some insight…
PS I owned an R55 S a few years back and rebuilt the top end and associated turbo/vacuum related issues so am not a newbie when it comes to Mini pain. Just hoping there’s an easier way than disassembling the front end for this.
Cheers!

 

Hello,

Lots of PS info here and how it works.

Clean all the connections with die electric cleaner. Make sure the fuses or relay did not go. Their are main block fuses under the main fuse box. The P/S fans like to stick and rust. Thus the fan will not kick on when the a/c runs or the car or pump is hot. Most people just test or get a new fan. Quick fix.

Hope that helps.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...se-pics-3.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-question.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-key-off.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ring-pump.html

 

Thanks for that info. I “think” I’m most interested in the actual pump wiring? How to get to that without a front end service position? I’ll be looking at the relay/fuse next. I just got the car yesterday so todays order of business was a general clean up and overview of what’s needed.

 

Front end service mode won’t get you anywhere with the pump. Put the car on stands and pull the inner fenders. Then you can go in from the sides and the bottom.

 

No Service mode needed. Get the front up as high as possible.

this is the guide I followed.

get a used pump from a reputable dismanteler.

get 2 o rings for the high pressure fitting. My first o ring broke. - warmed the second one in hot water.

it’s not fun, but not too hard.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/MINI/47-SUSPEN-Power_Steering_Pump_Replacement/47-SUSPEN-Power_Steering_Pump_Replacement.htm?srsltid=AfmBOo rsDDKm7OX-c9kow9lHtx04GpdZxQw2nXHglP489-aQFYhaUDcP

 

Power steering pump mounts to the subframe. If you need to do other work in the area it might be easiest to drop it. If not too rusty the subframe comes out pretty quickly/easily.

 

How is the work going?
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Thanks to everyone who replied on this thread. Access to the pump is pretty simple if the front end is lifted high. I was able to get easy access to the electrical connections this way. Unfortunately the connections were not the issue with my pump. I sourced a used one and again lifted the front end high so I could slide underneath on a piece of cardboard. I had watched a few YouTube videos on how to do this so was confident in the process which is 2 electrical connectors, 2 bolts, 1 nut and the two hydraulic lines, after the fan is removed (2 nuts). I was surprised how smoothly it all went. New pump in and now have power steering again. Mission accomplished. Now on to the other deferred maintenance items!

 

Here wiring diagram