At least GM issued a recall for their PS failures. Includes 1.3 million vehicles.

 

Hello all. I bought an 05 MCS two weeks ago and noticed that the power steering comes and goes. I found out about this recall and ran the VIN through a decoder and see that mine was manufactured in 03/2005. I also read that the recall/extended warranty (Canada) only applies up to 02/2005. Does anyone have a copy of the letter or know if 03/2005 would be valid? Service is closed today at the one dealer in Ottawa, On, Canada.

Thank you!

 

 

Thanks, that looks like the American letter.

I called the Mini dealership in town with my VIN, my car does not fall into the applicable cars. I noticed that the power steering is sticky at certain points and know that the car was sitting quite a bit. I'm going to try to flush the fluid and add some seafoam power steering cleaner and hope for the best!

 

Has anyone in Canada with a US car had any luck having the power steering pump covered under the extended warranty? I have contacted MINI Canada and they say neither MINI Canada nor MINI USA will honor the warranty as it is void once the car has been imported from the US to Canada.

 

Just an update. I followed a Scotty Kilmer (a character but lots of great info) youtube video on using seafoam tranny and power steering fluid to clear up the valves in in the power steering system and it worked!

My car had been sitting for a while and I hoped my issues were related to just a build up. I ran the car for half an hour and set a timer so that ever 3 min I'd turn the steering wheel back and forth a few times. It was less sticky when I was done but after a day or two of real world usage, it's smooth as butter. If you have any questions, just let me know.

 

Two questions, hopefully someone will know the answers.

To set the scene: I drove 1500 miles in my 2004 Cooper from Colorado to sunny Crestview, Florida after having my 100k service performed by the great team at Import Auto Tech in Colorado Springs. Apart from some weather issues (sandstorms in Texas, mainly), the drive was flawless and little Jubilee performed well. Then the car sat for a couple of days, one of which saw a terrible lightning storm that knocked out three vehicles in the driveway - Jubilee included. (The others were a Penske rental truck that had the computer get fried, and my father-in-law's Honda Odyssey which has just been totaled due to the amount of electrical repairs required.) My Mini is now afflicted with a glowing battery indicator light (I'm guessing a bad ground) and what sure feels like a failed power steering pump (very heavy steering, no fan noise). I'm not sure if the failure came from the long drive or the lightning strike, but either way, it worked fine before, and now it doesn't.

Since I'm currently in Florida's Gulf Coast, I've had the car towed to Techmaster in Fort Walton Beach, which has been noted as a quality independent shop by Sooper Cooper Info, but now I'm thinking of going the warranty route for the power steering pump - which Mini kindly informed me over the phone must be handled by a Mini dealer (closest is in Pensacola) or at least a BMW-certified repair facility (there's a BMW dealer in Walton). First question: has anyone had experience with either of these two dealers, or with Techmaster, and will BMW try to screw me out of the warranty claim if I use an independent shop (or even the BMW-only dealer) instead?

Second question: I have an insurance claim filed due to the lightning, which may or may not have caused the failed pump, but I'm not sure if I'd rather just go the way of trying to get it reimbursed through Mini rather than have to pay my deductible's worth of repairs (1k) and try to fight it out later. Should I back off on the claim, then?

Thoughts, opinions, grumblings are all happily accepted.

 

My suggestion would be that you have a MINI dealer ascertain the full extent of your damage. The lightening may have fried your BCM (electronic brain) in which case you will need to involve your insurance company.

 

I need a 3rd power steering pump and Mini won't cover it under the recall.

 

I have had intermittent power steering failures for 6 months or so ('04 MCS). Returning from a longish trip, the power steering failed about 150 miles from home. Previously, I had been able to shut off the engine, wait a minute, and restart with the power steering back in business. Not this time.

Fortunately, I was almost entirely freeway to home, so the car was driveable. I got home, called Mini of Fairfield Country (where I bought the car), they confirmed the extended warranty, gave me an appointment the following morning, and replaced the pump and the fan under warranty. I have 120,000 miles on the car.

Mini of Fairfield County has been spectacular. Until recently, I had not been using their facility for regular service, but all of the convenient oi-change chains have stopped servicing Minis recently. MOFC not only does the oil change, but it is priced competitively, and the service people are very helpful. Kudos to them.

 

Duncan, a dead alternator, batt or bad ground will shut down the pump. Check those 2 1st. I've had my alternator & crank pulley go at different times. Once the electrical system isn't getting any juice, there won't be power steering. Yours may still be good.

 

Just some good news here. My 2003 Mini with 125,000 miles finally gave it up on the power steering. It's been problematic for a while but about 3 months ago it just stopped. Of course the thing is a beast to drive without power steering.

Finally got it over to the dealer a couple of weeks ago (I've owned it since 2007 and have NEVER had them service it!) and it was a rather pleasant experience, especially since I wasn't going to be paying for this. They even provided a rental car free of charge.

It took them 3 days to fix it but we're back in business! Woo Hoo!!

I'm sure glad they provided that warranty extension. I had almost bought a new PS pump off EBAY for about $800 and now I'm glad I waited it out.

 

Fear the fire hazard, hate the leaks, the intermittent steering, the cost & all the problems that come w/ your gen1 Powersteering? No budget yet?
Here's your $50 permanent or temporary fix from the Bimmer guys, Condor:

http://www.condorspeedshop.com/colle...teering-delete

Hurry, initial stocks are limited. Many have this kit ordered for present or future use.

 

How is the steering with the delete part? I found the steering incredibly difficult when the pump failed!

 

Steering resistance will be between a good pump & a bad 1. On a scale where:
Bad pump=1
Good pump=10

At highway speeds, actual tests came out favorable, more connected & some might even prefer it over having PS.
On city drives & parking, probably rated 3-4. Heavy but definitely better than having a bad pump.
At $50 minus the worries of parts failing, not much to lose. This kit just needs a lil getting used to, a lil more muscle or a larger aftermarket steering wheel.

 

Very cool to see an official delete kit.

My pump died today for the first time at just over 145k miles and 11+ years. I'll be taking the free replacement this time around, but if there's a next time, I'll probably go for that delete kit.

 

According to what I have heard, it is 13 years and/or 150000 miles.

Motor on!

 

Yup. Taking it to the dealer tomorrow...

 

Are they still reimbursing a repair done on the outside? I didn't know about this until my car was already at my mechanic and was almost finished. Thankfully the job only set me back about $750. Either way I'd like to get at least a good chunk of that back. I'm the third owner and never had any notices from Mini in the year I've owned the car.

 

As long as you're under 150k miles, yes.

The letter I received gives these two contacts to reach out to:

1-866-275-6464

MINI.Assistance@askmini.com

There are some other phone numbers and emails a few pages back that folks have shared too.

I'm guessing once you reach out to them, they will include you on any further MINI notices related to your year.

 

Took my 02 mini with 102k miles to my local dealer and asked about getting my pump replaced.

They would only look at it for $119. They told me I would not have to pay if the pump was bad. The pump currently works fine with no leaks. It is going through fluid, and is a little noisy sometimes.

I called mini usa beforehand and they told me my warranty is up in September.

Just wondering if anyone has some advice for me. Should I just not worry about it and hope my pump lasts as long as I have the car?

There is another mini dealer about an hour from my house that might be more helpful. Just dont want to waste my time if I get the same response.

 

If the pump is working, I'm doubtful they would replace it. If it has been coming on and off, there may be a code stored alerting them to the failure, but a working noisy pump that always works they won't touch in my experience (I tried to get mine replaced before it finally died stating noise and stiffness as concerns).

Its almost certain it will die within the next 100k miles (has anyone gotten over 200K without replacing it?). My original pump made it just over 145k miles and was always noisy, so you could potentially be waiting a number years...

I'm guessing your power steering fluid lines are leaking, which aren't covered under the warranty. If those are leaking, why not go ahead and replace them? Then, if the pump fails before September, they can't blame it on owner negligence, etc.

When they replaced my pump under warranty, they verified that it was due to overheating and not fluid loss. I'm not sure if it really makes a difference though...maybe others will chime in.

 

Thanks for the quick response.

That's pretty much what the unfriendly service manager told me, and your experience confirms they aren't going to replace it if not broken.

Was under my car a lot last week doing the clutch and while the lines are pretty rusty, they are also dry. I have no idea why I'm going through fluid but it's not that much. Maybe a pint and a half in the one year ive owned it.

I've only got a little time left for it to fail. Draining the fluid crossed my mind but that's just bad karma lol.

Hopefully mine makes it to 145k like yours did. That would give me at least another 4 years of use.

 

So this has now arisen on my recently acquired 134K mile '05 MCS (9/04 build date, manual trans). Unfortunately it is intermittent at this point.

Today, I was caught in heavy Atlanta rush hour traffic, and by the time I made it to my destination the power steering was no longer operational. (Not pleasant trying to park this thing without power steering...) When I came out an hour later, everything worked correctly and has not been a problem the rest of the day.

The fluid is correct, fresh, and at the correct level. There are no signs of leaking. The pump was replaced by the previous owner about 6 months ago, not at a MINI dealer. I am attempting to find the details of the pump used (new, used, rebuilt, aftermarket, etc...).

I'm still trying to process what to do next, but I had no luck calling a MINI dealer's service department to find out more. I have sent emails to MINI Customer Service as well, but it is probably too soon to expect a reply from that.

 

If its anything like mine, it will die sooner and sooner after starting the car and driving around. You're still covered under the extended warranty for the pump (150k miles, 13 years), so the dealer should do the repair for you for free as long as its not working when you bring it in.