Most often the build up of excess used brush carbon is the culprit and the motor portion needs to be properly cleaned. Photos of how to disassemble pump are lower down the page in this link. Hope this helps.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-gen...yes-no-22.html

 

Thanks for the link! I looked through about 100 different webpages of info, and I saw that in my browsing, but forgot to bookmark it. That's pretty much what I have planned, I'll be sure to take some good pictures and detail my troubleshooting process in a new thread. I came across bluetraction.eu as a possible source of replacement components. They have a catalog here that shows pictures of internal components for the steering pump. I plan on writing them to see if they will sell parts to end consumers. I'm not sure what sort of company they are from looking around their site.

 

I just went out to check mine and here is what I heard from underneath the car:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=254965197921073

EDIT: Just the electric motor I'm thinking. Still thinking about doing as much preventative maintenance as possible on this issue.

 

Were you moving the steering wheel at all?

 

Ha ha, yeah, I was. Took that part out when I edited the post.

 

I too have that noise :( I thought the recall was for newer years than my 04. I guess I'll stop at MINI tomorrow to see what they have to say.

 

Keep us posted on recall!

 

Lost power steering at highway speed, pulled over had tons of smoke from under hood with key off could still here pump running, disconnected battery fire stopped, electrical side of pump melted, all electrical plugs melted

 

Sorry about your issue, but glad you got out okay.

You may want to consider adding a post over in this 1st Gen Engine Bay Fires thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...bay-fires.html

This thread has recently been diluted with a bunch of unrelated 2nd Gen posts that should have gone elsewhere, but if you can get past those you may find the history of 1st Gen fires and their relationship to the EHPS Pump quite interesting.

 

Well here I am again. Going to pick up my 4th power steering pump tomorrow from BBA remus in Taunton, MA. Replaced the previous one 7 months ago and that one came very close to cathing on fire. The electrical connections were melted and today as I'm walking towards my MINI I can hear the PSP electrical motor running. I'm at my wits ends with this issue. My next car will not be a MINI, which is sad I love driving this car I've had it for 5 years and recently turned 185k miles. But the thought of having to replace the PSP evry year or so does not sit well with me.

The best thing I did was to purchase a replacement pump from BBA Remus. They stand behind their warranty and are always pleasen to work with.

Well thanks for letting me vent. I do feel a bot better

 

I am so very glad that I bought an extended warranty when I bought May. She's an '06 with 67k miles, and mechanic just called to say that it was the power steering pump and the aux fan that went out.

Friday night when we got home (25 mile drive) we heard a fan still running quite loudly, after the car was off and the key out of the ignition. Turned the wheel a bit, and it got louder. I went "oh scheisse" and disconnected the battery and also pushed the car out of the garage onto the driveway (overkill, but better safe than sorry with potential fire hazard!). So glad that I had read this thread months ago, or I would have had at least a dead car Saturday morning, if not more.

Mechanic said about $1,200, but with the warranty I'll only pay $300. Big savings there. And ugh. My poor car needs to stay running well for more than a month or two at a time.

 

hi,had same problem with my '03.got in touch with nhtsa and made a formal complaint.if everybody does this we may force them to recall the pump and get our money back

 

The PSP finally failed completely on my 2004 mini after about a year of intermittent outages. Replaced it last night in about 2 1/2 hrs with a remanufactured pump from BBA reman. Looks like the old pump may have been leaking. $350 for the pump (with exchange) and about $20 for the fluid from NAPA.

 

My MINI passed 50K two weeks ago and the failure happened right before my exit. I smelled it before I realized the PS was gone.

My pump has been loud since I acquired the 2004 MINI in 2009 - the dealer quoted the fix for the pump and wiring harness at $1563 - but I have an aftermarket warranty... so $100 deductible.

 

Did anyone see any relief from this? I own a 2004 Mini Cooper Base. I bought it (2nd owner) in Oct 2009 with 73k miles. Five weeks later my power steering pump started going out intermittently. Sometimes it worked for months then died for a few days. Finally it stopped working all together and I bit the bullet to have it replaced at about $1,000. I contacted the dealership I purchased it from Gates in South Bend IN who basically just laughed at my request for help and Mini/BMW offered to fix it for $1400 (how gracious). I didn't know there was a consumer reporting section for this, it never appeared in any of my Google searches but I just submitted my experience now. Just wondering if anything came of it.

 

Just plan on a replacement every 70-80,000 miles unless the replacment pump is new and improved and keep an eye on the PS fan.

I would not expect any reimbursment since the car is now 8 years old.

VW with the 1.8 Turbo had the timing belt maint. interval at 105,000 miles, many have failed around 60K, worn rollers and/or water pump seized.
TB job before about 750 to 950 , after failure 2K to 3K...

 

Having an issue with our power steering as well. Just stopped working altogether a couple of days ago. Thanks to help here and at MINI2, I was able to pull the motor and pull it apart:


Closeup of motor commutator


Wider shot of armature


Brushes- compare the length (or lack thereof) to the pictures in the MINI2 writeup


The wear is so great you can see it even when the motor is together

Needless to say, a rebuilt has been ordered. As you can see, the wear is excessive on the commutator; much worse than the commutator on the MINI2 writeup. I suppose if I was in some third world country I'd just throw a set of brushes in there but I know I'd only get a few more thousand miles out of it. I'll be lucky if I get my core charge out of this one. The car has approximately 92,000 on it and is an '03 R50. It would be nice if MINI offered some compensation of some sort (recall, warranty extension) but I'm guessing this would be normal wear. I'm thinking that the motor should have been designed to last longer, but it seems as if ZF is making junk (see the CVT fiasco) these days.

Val

 

Please be sure to let us know whether you get your core charge back or not. Like you, I suspect they will contend yours is not rebuildable.

 

Hello Everyone.

I found this thread while doing a google search, and I'm glad I did. I have an '04 Mini with about 88k miles, and the other day I was driving on some city streets when the power steering went out. It was incredibly hard to turn.

Can anyone please post a link, or some instructions on how to diagnose the steering pump? I already suspect it is the pump, but how can I be 100% certain that its the pump? Also, are there any other parts I need to inspect? This definitely seems like it would be a costly fix through the dealer, and I am looking into my options for a rebuilt pump through BB Reman.

I will definitely be lodging a complaint, and hopefully a recall will be issued.

 

I'm new with the whole engine compartment deal, so bear with me in my descriptions!

I have an 04 S, so far I have NOT had any problems with the steering itself. However, when I'm idling, say, in a drivethru, I can hear the pump whining at me. Should I call the NHTSA about this while I'm ahead, or do I have to wait until it's actually broken? And someone please tell me if I can top off fluids and the whining will go away? And the last, most important question, WHERE is the damn reservoir at?!?!

 

Resovior with the PS fluid is straight back on the firewall, dark black plastic container with a screw on top, it is to the right of the coolant tank with two hoses going straight down with aluminum covers.


Make sure you get the correct fluid.

 

Whining is normal. Be sure to use Pentosin CHF-11S.

 

Thank you!

 

In April 2012 I received a letter from Mini Canada concerning:

Consumer Notice: Electro-Hydraulic Power Steering Pump and Related
Pump Cooling Fan, Warranty Coverage Extension.

The letter goes on to say, "BMW AG has determined that a defect, as outlined below, exists in certain 2002 - 2005 Mini Cooper Hatch and Cooper Convertibles..." Outlined problems states awareness that the power steering pump could fail temporarily or permanently ....."due to either a problem with the elctronics that control the function of the pump, or a mechanical failure of the pump cooling fan or pump power supply cable".

Mini Canada is extending the warranty coverage for a period of
12years/200 000km. (120 000 miles), from 1st in service date.
My '03 Cooper S Vin fits this extended warranty coverage.

Detailed info. can be found in Transport Canada Road Safety Recalls Data Base #2012029 dated 2012/01/30.

You would think that BMW AG's accepting that a defect exists on cars sold in Canada would naturally extend to a similar admission in the US of A.

I thought this info. was common knowledge but didn't see it referred to while scanning previous posts.

Cheers Ed

 

My mechanic told me that BMW apparently has a "new" power steering pump part. It sounds like it includes the reservoir as well. All for the price of $750.

Anyone else hear about this, or is this old news?