I experienced an odd thing yesterday. I was driving my July '02 build MCS hard (following a standard 911 C4 and a turbo C4, both friends of mine) on Angeles Crest Highway here in So Cal. It was at about 11:30 in the morning and a very hot day (100 degrees). The ASC was off the whole time. At the 5000-6000 foot level, my power steering simply went away. The only warning I had was at the exit of one turn, I felt like I had a tire going down. As I slowed and set for the next corner, I went to move the wheel and... NOTHING! Instead the wheel felt like the steering lock was engaged. Fortunately there was no one coming in the other lane and there was a turnout on the opposite side of the road so I pulled in there without any drama. Got out and looked around at the tires (again thinking this was the issue), saw all were up properly, got back in and tried to turn the wheel. Found the steering VERY heavy. Popped the bonnet, no smoke, no smell, fluid at the correct mark. I waited for my friends to turn around (about 5 minutes), discussed my problem and decided to try to continue with the unaided steering. I got back in and viola, power steering retruned. Drove at a moderate pace for another 2-3 miles and it went away again. This time, we parked the car, I continued the run in the turbo and returned after stopping for lunch at Newcomes Ranch. Drove hard down the hill in even hotter temps (105+) without a hitch.

Does anybody have any ideas? My thought was the pump simply overheated and ceased to function. I have auto-crossed on hotter days and spent the weekend at Willow Springs on a not quite as hot day and had no problems.

Your Thoughts?

Title Edited by DiD to make it more descriptive

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Dark Silver/White roof MCS, Prem Pkg, Lapis Blue leather (my kids liked it), 16", last seen blasting around Angeles Forrest Highway

 

>>At the 5000-6000 foot level, my power steering simply went away.
>>
Maybe the air was too thin.

 

>>Maybe the air was too thin.

Anybody from the Denver area want to comment on this?

 

Have you verified that you PS fan is working properly? Maybe something was overheating...

 

>>Have you verified that you PS fan is working properly? Maybe something was overheating...

Help me out here... where is the fan located?

 

It's in a sort of odd spot - underneath the engine, more or less in the center, facing the ground. The location of this fan makes it vulnerable to debris, which is why a number of folks (myself included) have opted to install an aftermarket skid plate under the car to sheild the fan.

On the earlier cars, this fan shared a fuse with your radiator fan. If the PS fan sucked in something and got jammed, it would pop the fuse and both fans would stop, leading to an overheat. However, on recent cars, I believe they changed this so the fans are on independent circuits - not positive, though.

 

>>On the earlier cars, this fan shared a fuse with your radiator fan. If the PS fan sucked in something and got jammed, it would pop the fuse and both fans would stop, leading to an overheat.

As I am now reading in other posts, there appears to be a recall for this issue.

MY car did not overheat, and the power steering has worked fine ever since. I can't imagine my dealership being able to deal with this without a recurring problem or some sort of evidence of occurance... sucks

 

Don't worry, the PS will quit for good in a short period of time. Went thru a deep puddle with my MCS and had the same problem for about 10-14 days. Then the PS motor simply quit entirely. Dealer replaced under warranty. No idea what really happened.

 

My PS unit went out more than three weeks ago and I just got back my Mini this week. My service manager stated that he's not positive and can't prove it but he thinks the cause was the skid plate I installed. He claims with the skid plate on the PS unit is'nt getting enough air flow. The new PS unit was still covered under warranty however. When my PS unit went bad it also burned up the PS wire harness which caught fire and deposited soot throughout the engine compartment. I, believing that the service manager is wrong, called up Moss Mini where I bought the skid plate and talked with the technical adviser and he stated that he worked with Mini to develope the skid plate and never has he had any complaints about the skid plate causing a PS unit to overheat and fail.

 

>> My PS unit went out more than three weeks ago and I just got back my Mini this week. My service manager stated that he's not positive and can't prove it but he thinks the cause was the skid plate I installed. He claims with the skid plate on the PS unit is'nt getting enough air flow. The new PS unit was still covered under warranty however. When my PS unit went bad it also burned up the PS wire harness which caught fire and deposited soot throughout the engine compartment.

.

Tom

 

>>:x I had a similar experience a few weeks back, as I reported here on MCO.

Tom,

How did your car behave prior to the pump flat out not working? Did you encounter any steering-interuptus? Please let me know...

Thanks!

 

>>Tom,
>>
>>How did your car behave prior to the pump flat out not working? Did you encounter any steering-interuptus? Please let me know...

Not a bit of funny behavior. We were on a ~600 mile trip which had been flawless until one morning when it felt like a truck. :evil:

My first thought was that the power steering fluid was low and I searched for a reference in the manual. There is none! The reservoir is grayed out. But it was full anyway.

My second thought was that the fuse had blown (on 2002's, the fuse also runs the engine cooling fan), but it was intact.

The dealer replaced both the pump and wiring harness and that seems to have fixed the problem.


Tom

 

I had the same problem on the 4th July driving in the local parade with 21 other MINIS. I think I had the only car in the parade with the Mania skid plate. It was a 100 degree day and after about an hour of driving at a walking pace, I lost my power steering. The odd thing was that it started working again and then quit and returned a couple more times. No problems since, but I actually have not driven the car for the last two weeks as it's been sitting in the dealership while they fly my ECU back and forth to MINI for the stumble problem. :???:

Graham

 

I had my power steering fail on my a few times over the weekend. It wasn't even hot at the the time. The fuses are all ok and there is fluid in the tank. I'm taking the car in on Friday.

 

>>I had my power steering fail on my a few times over the weekend. It wasn't even hot at the the time. The fuses are all ok and there is fluid in the tank. I'm taking the car in on Friday.


Do you have a aftermarket skid plate on your Mini?

 

I had the moss plate on for about 3 months. I have been back to the stock plastic plate for the last 5 months or so.

 

>>I had the moss plate on for about 3 months. I have been back to the stock plastic plate for the last 5 months or so.


Did you change back to the plastic plate because you have reason to believe that the metal plate caused your PS unit to fail?

 

Sounds like the skid plate may be causing an overheating problem. With the extreme heat we've had for part of summer and the plate covering the fan, this may be an issue.

 

I changed back because of the weight difference. Also, when my power steering went out over the weekend it was only 65 degrees outside.

 

Power steering pump on my 02 MCS failed at 9K and 11 months. No warning that it was about to fail. Was towed 80 miles to dealer and according to them, it was caused by "corrosion." I have no sort of protective plate installed; the car is basically stock.

 

I have not altered my MINI in the least other than tires. I would suspect this is a high heat issue when combined with high use. Again, very hot here is So. Cal. no further issues. Anyone in AZ having this issue?

 

4 PM yesterday 95 degrees power steering works
6 AM today 70 degrees no power steering again

it goes in to the dealer tomorrow.

 

From reading this i do not think Heat is the issue. I have driven my car in 90 plus degree weather sitting in traffic for 3 hours and not had a problem (I am running the skid plate cause we have crappy roads around here).

 

Agreed. I don't think it's heat (outside ambient temperature) related either.

 

I think you can rule out tempurature as a major concern: I was driving 12 to 14 hour days recently with temp's in the high 90's and low 100's (early mornings started at 88!) with no PS problems ... i've had a skid plate for several months.

What was of concern to me more was cooking the A/C system for that long ... !