Yesterday, when I took the Mini out for lunch, I noticed the steering was all wonky. First stiff, then lose, then stiff. Never the same for more then a second. Same thing on the drive home, and then to the grocery store. When I parked at home and cracked the window, I could hear it whining when Id go to turn and figure like almost all Minis, my pump was dying.

However, today it's been perfect! No stiffness, no whining, no problems! Even went for an hour long cruise in the country after work.

So, is she dying, or was it just a hiccup or something? She has about 73,000 miles on her now and just had the serpentine belt replaced if that matters at all.

Thanks for any help

 

A hic-up, and just like most hic-ups they come back once in a while. Check the level when you have a chance and look for leaks on the hose from the tank to the PS pump just to be safe.

Guy I know with a MC40 had similar issue last year and has yet to return......

 

Keep an eye on it. You could have a pump failing, or a battery problem. If the battery dies it cuts the P/S first cause it draws the most amps.

 

Thanks for the relief guys. I'm taking it in to the shop today just incase. I called and made the appointment the day it went wonky, no reason not to have it checked just in case.

 

I'm having a similar issue! I hope you share what they find with your car.

My poor car has had a rough two weeks.

About two weeks ago I was driving home one night and the steering felt off, just a little harder to turn the wheel. It seemed better the next day, and then Friday my clutch died when I was 20 minutes from home (kinda distracted me from the possible steering issue). I got my clutch replaced, and driving it home and commuting the next day the steering felt normal again. 24 hours after picking up my car, I was making a left turn and a guy ran a stop sign and hit my back bumper. Fortunately it was drivable (I'm having it inspected tomorrow). Later that afternoon I was driving home and again my steering stiffened up. It was still stiff when I drove that evening to the office and back, but then the next morning felt almost normal. The last few days it has been "normal."

The night I was hit (and had the steering act up badly) I scheduled an appointment for the first possible day at the dealer - May 2- and figured if it was bad or getting worse I'd call and ask them to fit me in to make sure it was safe to drive. Since it's been fine I haven't called, but I will keep the appointment to have it looked at.

 

Sorry to hear about the dude not paying attention... Jackasses!!!

In my case, it ended up just being a lose leaky PS fluid hose. My mechanic threw a new clamp on refilled my fluid. Problem solved!

However, I've heard a lot of other people not being so lucky. From what I read it could be your PS Pump dieing slowly or the fan not working or some other stuff. I'd still have it looked at just in case. Better safe than sorry.

 

Yeah, it was my first collision. . . I'm glad the damage wasn't worse, but it still sucks. He was blazing through the intersection in a semi-rural residential area. I found it ironic that I didn't get a scratch driving out of some crazy-tight Pittsburgh traffic and then got hit out there.

I'm hoping it's a just a hose issue- when I had my car inspected in January (state and Inspection I) they said there were two things beginning to leak/seep, and I couldn't remember what they said, but one might have been the steering fluid. I did check at the fluid and it looked high enough.

Also, I did have the power steering fan replaced (maybe a year ago?)

 

A hose will be much cheaper than a whole PS Pump assemble, that's for sure! I think I got away with a 75$ bill or something like that. Lets hope you're as lucky as I was :P

 

I had to replace my power steering pump last weekend.

My steering was intermittent on and off for 6-9months. Sometimes it would last for months on end (daily driver) without any problems. Then it straight up died and would not come back, even with restarts.

It was whiny, the new pump is not.