Hi All,

I am doing my clutch right now and I have the subframe dropped. It'd be easy to do the power steering pump, but I wanted to get your opinion on whether it is necessary yet.

I have a 2005 MCS with 81k miles on it. No weird issues with PS at all, just a small leak that has developed on one of the hoses that goes up to the reservoir. It seems it's not if, but when these things will fail, and I plan to keep my MINI for the foreseeable future. I was definitely going to do a flush of the fluid, but would that extend the life of the pump, or am I still on the verge of having one fail with my tiny girlfriend behind the wheel with no upper body strength. Let me know. Thanks!

Adam

 

would be to take the pump off, and take off the big black housing on the motor. Then you can get all the built up dust out of the housing and the stator. This will give you a very extended life of the unit.

Matt

 

If the hose is leaking or weaping, replace it asap.
Getting the carbon dust blown out might be a good idea, but spending $500+ to fix an issue that may not affect you is a tough sell IMO...swapping out the pump is pretty easy...can be done on a lift or jacks...
I guess if the car will be down for a few days you could have your pump rebuilt...
It seems many failures occur in the windings or the electronics... So a rebild may not help....
In any eventuality, be sure to use the correct fluid... If the wrong stuff is used, you may need much more $$$ parts replace...lilt the rack!!

 

PS
The oem hoses can get pretty $$$, but you can have perfectly good ones made..some vendors sell the premade pretty cheap. I think wmw had some for a good price!!

 

Awesome! Thanks for the advice. I was about to pull the trigger on a new pump. As for fluid, which is a good one to use, only the MINI recommended stuff?

The car will be down for a while. I am waiting on parts and I am a pilot who works out of a different city I live in. So i get a few hours of work on the car, then am gone for 5 days, etc.

Thanks again for all the great advice.

 

Wow! Thanks for the WMW tip. I about had a heart attack when I saw the 250 price tag on a hose.

Edit: I need the intake manifold hose as named by realoem.com.

Why would it be leaking at the fitting at the top? Just a dried up hose or what?

 

Lucky to still be working...I'm a pilot looking...ATP and all, 7000 hrs...
WMW can get any oem parts needed...often cheaper than dealers...if you go to PDK, you can get a crew car, and drop in to see him..it is a 5 min drive from Signature, like 8 from epps.
Maybe the clamp was loose...I think it is mostly like a standpipe from the pump to the resiviour...
Petrosin is the mini ps fluid...it does not seem to mix well unless the system gets a full flush....
The ps " rebuilds" for the mini is basicly a cleanout, new brushes, and new impeller... The motor and electronics are kept, and not rebuilt or changed...if they fail..new unit time...that is why so many folks have failures with the rebuilds...if the heat has caused problems in the windings or circurits ( it sits in a hot spot), there is not much to do. The ps duct kit is a good thing...costs about 85$, is oem, and was on some late gen1 s's..costs less than 1 ps fan...sonic it just saves the fan....it paid for itself. It does keep grit out of it.....and ensures a supply of air...works better than the aftermarket screens.

 

Wow. Not sure if you are interested, but Pinnacle and Compass are hiring right now. Delta was hiring a few months ago and at that time they were talking something like 600-800 pilots next year. Sorry to hear you are out of the biz right now. I am just starting my career and was at Mesaba for a year, then furloughed, now at Pinnacle since they offered Mesaba Furloughees jobs after Pinnacle bought us. Fun times...

Makes sense. I may take a look at that duct kit. I ordered a new hose as I've seen other NAM members have had this issue as well, and I'll get a regular screw type clamp. Looking at checking my SC oil now, etc. God, lots of maintenance to be done now, but I am hoping to keep this a while. staying at the bottom on regional pay is tough....