I've read the forums for hours, but I can't find a similar problem. When I turn my steering wheel, every half turn, the wheel gets really hard to turn then normal then hard. The power steeling pump is working. You can hear it whine during the hard parts of the turn. The wheel will not return to center without help.
As for history that may or may not apply to the problem:
The car has 80k miles, mostly to and from work. straight farm roads little stopping.
Had the car in for it's first repair a month ago. The shifter was stiff. A local trans place replace the shift cables ,which fixed the shift problem for one day. Since then the shift and and now the steering started getting stiff, then normal, at random times unrelated to outside weather, or whether the car was hot or cold. The shift could become stiff form one stop to the next. The steering has just become progressively worse.
One strange thing though, going home from work one day this week, I drove though a flooded section of road(about 5" deep). The next morning going to work, the shifter and the steeling were both loose (may be a coincidence).
Any help would be appreciated. Long time reader. First time poster.

 

Just cause you hear the pump whining that doesn't mean it's good. From what your describing I'd say your pump is bad. I've seen this same problem before it seems the pump internally leaks causing this. I see so many power steering pumps fail I keep a couple in stock.

 

Is there any way to test the pump? I hate to change it and find out that it's not the problem. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Youd have to put a pressure gauge on it....but that's more like something the factory would do for quality control. Easier and cheaper in the real world to put a pump on it and go from there. Like Way said, these pumps go bad all the time.

 

I ordered a pump and new cooling fan from carsteering.com. I'll let you know if that fixes the problem. I found fuse #41 blown and replaced it. That didn't change anything. The manual says it is for the power steering pump. I'm guessing it supplies the control circuit.

 

sounds like what you need is the lower section of the steering shaft. it connects from the steering column under the dash directly to the steering rack. it's pretty common for this part to wear out eventually and causes the notchy steering while turning.

 

Thanks Minitech. I'll check into this right after I change my pump and fan. It sounds like this is more likely than the other solutions. But what doesn't figure is that the pump seems to whine more when I hit those hard parts during turning and that one day when it all was better on my ride to work. One other symtom that had showed up first is the hard shifting which also comes and goes. Could they be related? Could the trans guys that replaced my shift cables have mucked up my steering somehow? I'm not an Idiot when it comes to mechanical stuff but this one has me stumped. It's hard finding threads about steering problems with so many pump issues. Again thanks for your input!!

 

^^^ well the whining is definitely from the pump so it's possible you still have to replace the pump. whining noise is usually from not enough fluid in the system and if it never got topped off the pump will eventually go bad.
the hard shifting is not related at all to the power steering pump. probably just need to lube and free up the shifter linkage on the trans which is what the shifter cables attach to.

 

The whining sounds like the pump is under load, like it does when you turn the wheel to the stops. Fluids good, clear and at the mid mark. Shift cables are new and lubed. Just mentioned the shift problem because the steering started going bad after the trans place replaced the cables.

 

Well I replaced the steering pump and cooling fan. The steering seems easier but I still have those stiff spots in the steering about every half turn of the wheel. Maybe I damaged the steering column by driving it with no power steering. Any idea how hard it is to change out the steering column? How much is it going to cost?

 

it's not the whole steering column. just the lower shaft. i'm not sure the cost of the part but we charge 2 hours labor for the job (which is like $250 in my area).

 

I guess the notchy description should have been the clue...like the u-joint in the shaft going bad somewhere

 

Do you have to remove the whole steering column to replace the lower half?the Hayes manual describes disconecting the air bags ect., but I don't know if that is nessesary. Any advice on this?

 

no. u have to remove the panel under the dash and the panel that surrounds the steering column. there is a bolt 13mm i believe that holds the lower shaft on. remove that. then from underneath the car, above the subframe on the passenger side there is a 13mm nut and bolt holding the u-joint end of the lower shaft onto the steering rack. remove that. then back to the inside of the car pull the boot off where the steering shaft goes through the firewall and the shaft should come out. i wouldn't recommend doing this yourself if you're not mechanically inclined because the new part MUST be installed in the exact same position the old one was. if you accidentally move the steering wheel or something during the install, the steering will be messed up.

 

Thanks. I would have someone else do it but do not know of a shop around here, I trust, that works on Mini's. I had so much trouble with the dealer service that I did my own maintenance while it was still covered under the service contract. If anyone knows of a good shop near Morris, Illinois let me know. I'll be happy to let someone else fix this mess.

 

Hi,

Do you have the part number or photo for easier to know which part?

Or are those part u refered is in the photo? Which number?



Thanks

 

^^^ hey Vodka, it's the 2nd pic. that whole part. #1. the round thing at the end is the boot i was talking about where the shaft goes through the firewall.
see how there is a u-joint at the end? that's what gets worn out and causes the notchy steering while turning.

 

Took the Mini to work yesterday. The hard steering is worse than ever. It would seem that there was no problem with my old steering pump. If anyone is interested in buying it, I'm going to hold off a few days before returning it for the core fee. I'll be taking the lower steering column out tomorrow. I hope that is the problem, though I'm not getting my hopes up. I have a bad feeling that the pinion may be bad. Does that sound possible?

 

I removed the lower steering column today and MiniTech you were right, half the u-joint was seized. I managed to free it up and reinstalled it. The hardest part of it was re-installing that rubber boot. I will be looking for a new lower steering column as I don't trust this one not to seize up again. Minitech I wish I had heard from you before I bought a new pump. Thanks for your help on this problem.

 

Glad you got it fixed. I have some used steering columns if you need one.

 

glad to be of help. yes i would suggest getting a new one unless you can keep lubing the u-joint but still it's probably not going to last that long.
sucks about the pump but at least you know your old one is fine.

 

Installed the lower steering column I bought from Way tonight. That fixed my steering problem for good, I hope. Thanks everyone for your help with that. Now if I can only get my hard shifting problem fixed. It's getting worse!

 

Brought the Mini back to the trans place. They had to grease the shift linkage at the transmision. The tech said that when he changed the shift cables the linkage moved smoothly. But when he tried to move it this time it was very tight and the area behind a nylon bushing was rusted causing the hard shifting. He used white lithium grease on the area to free the linkage up. I have not read any theads that mention this problem. Now the shifter and the steering moves so easy I have to relearn how to drive the car. And now I'll have to do it with the driver side window all the way up. It stopped working this morning.

 

^^^ good to hear.
as for the driver's window, what is the problem exactly? because its not uncommon for the window motor to go bad. try banging on the door panel real hard while pressing the window switch up and down, if it works while hitting it, you need a new window motor.

 

The window goes up and down to clear the molding, but will not go down with the switch. I hear a relay click, similar to the sound when you try to close an already closed window. I pushed the down button three times the other day(out of frustration) and the window started working again. I had read somewhere that you have to reset the limits on the window after disconnecting the battery by holding the up switch for five seconds. I did this with both windows. So far the windows been working for four days. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.