I have owned my 03 S for a few months now and I love it. It has some quirks though which I have found the quick fixes on here (THANK YOU, to all that have contributed). My question is whether anyone has diagnosed the root cause for these problems so we stop chasing symptoms and fix the "right" part?

One example I can think of is my power steering. The pump was recently replaced by the previous owner, so I thought it would be uncommon for me to be having PS problems. Through reading on here I found that my problem was actually the lower joint on the steering shaft was binding. It was an easy fix to replace the shaft but I wonder if the binding of the lower joint causes the PS pump to overwork resulting in the PS pump failure. I also wonder if the problem is misdiagnosed in many cases. I see that some PS pumps are replaced multiple times.

Another quirk is that my drivers side window sticks in the up position. A little banging on the door panel (above the speaker and below the handle) frees the window. I did notice that there is a residue on the bottom of the window about a half an inch high (about the travel of the window when opening the door. It is like the rubber for the window seal leaves teh residue (like that of a decal that is removed before using "goo gone" to remove teh residue. Could the window seal be sticking to the window causing the issue? I do notice that the problem is more prevalent on the hotter days. Does anyone else see this?

My Navigation system, I have not figured out. It wont even read the DVD.

Also, I've noticed that my PS cooling fan will start up about 10-15 seconds after shutting the car off. What is causing this?

Thanks for listening, I hope this thread leads someone to some answers in the future or advice to fix my Navi and PS cooling fan.

 

lots of E problems are caused by funky grounds

 

Sounds like the result of 10 years of age, weather, etc.
things do not last forever....
the oem duct on the ps fan stops the grit from getting into the bearings and causing failure...many ps pumps fail from wear...worn out brushes/dust shorting out the ekectronics from the brushes...
Sounds like typical stuff on an older mini...cars are not built to last, but built to be "good enough"...
My suggestion, have an monk bless your car, drive the evil spirits out....might help!! Lol, but 10 yeats of salt, sand, etc is hell on a car....just look at most any 10+ year old car still on the road...the fact the mini is a bit higher tech, and the first desgin from a new desgin team (actually both a rover, then a mini team) makes the point the car was pretty much rushed...early 02 cars were often built with a few preproduction parts....and some systems, like electric ps were pretty cutting edge...escecially on a car of the mini's $$ catagory.

 

The root cause of the power steering and power window motors failing is that they are DC motors and the brushes wear out.

I think it's very possible that sticking in the window tracks and the possbile steering joint failure could certainly contribute.

Regular maintenance of these items should help considerably.

But that's why MINI changed the system on the power steering, and I haven't heard of anyone with a 2nd gen car having either the window problem or the power steering problems that the 1st gen cars did, so either they changed that motor as well or redesigned the tracks so they wouldn't stick, some 2007 models are going on 6 years old now.

 

those streaks of residue you are seeing are a cause of the wires inside the door rubbing against the window as you open and close it. this makes me wonder if it is also the cause for your window to get stuck in the up position. which is why it would make sense that hitting the side of the door would fix this problem