I had a mushroom problem with the front stuts. My mechanic put new ones in along with the support braces underneath and on to of the tower and I still hear a grinding noise when I turn.
Is this a common occurrence. Is there a possible fix?

 

Moving you to the Stock Problems/Issues section.

Sounds like the grinding was there before the new struts, who thought the struts were the issue?

 

It was there. What else could it be? The steering rack, pump fan have all recently been replaced.
Hub bearings have been done as well as new bushings

 

Both Detroit Tuned and Way Motors, both of which are vendors here, have shops where they work on MINIs. Perhaps they will have some ideas.

Can you feel it in the steering wheel?

 

No, more noticable in cold weather.
I have heard that silicone spray underneath the wheel could. solve the problem.

 

No, more noticable in cold weather.
I have heard that silicone spray underneath the wheel could. solve the problem. Bad bushing in rack.

 

I bet its the maybe the steering, I sprayed mine at the U joint to buy some time, but after a while it will need replaced.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-column.html

 

Or the strut support bearings are shot. You would not believe the condition of some of these strut supports.

damn! those pesky ECS images are everywhere on the web

 

Were the strut mounts replaced at the time of the strut replacement? And if so, were they OE or OE equivalent, or were they auto store specials? We only recommend OE or OE aftermarket mounts as the cheap parts store ones fail almost the second the car comes off the lift.

Usually a grinding or rubbing like that comes back to the strut mounts, but a gritty steering column can give a slight groan while turning. I've not seen it on a MINI yet, but contaminated outer ball joints can give a groaning when turning low speed too.

 

Yes KYB stuts, MOOG heavy duty upper strut plates and lower kit.Plates were intstalled six months later. The lower steering shaft was replaced after the struts as well as a new CV axle assembly.on driver side.
I went to a shop today and he sprayed the steering shaft with lithium grease. Feels better but noise is there..
He could not detect the exact problem but said the CV axle on pasanger side was coming out a little.
The driver side was replaced..He gave me a price of $550.
My mechanic friend replaced the other one for $280.00.
Only has 64,000 miles, I love this car after the CAI ,New Pulley,replaced the runflat tires, powerflex bushings, awsome alpineamp/kickersub/pioneerbluetooth.and more.
Any more Posts?

 

I would get rid of the Moog mounts, they fail miserably quick. Go OE or OE aftermarket, but short of that I would wonder if the struts are assembled correctly.

 

How quick can they fail? Less than 10,000 miles. I paid over $600 the new plates and I thought MOOG is good. He said he would give me a lifetime warranty. Could it be a CV axle?

 

Moog ones have had issues in the past. Did not know you had that brand, most go with Lemforder. Watch out for Monroe ones also.

Monroe:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ut-mounts.html

Moog version:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...s-rubbish.html

 

Yikes, $600 for strut mounts? We have the OE aftermarkets in stock and they are about $86 a piece and we charge $100 per side labor.

I'm not a fan of the sale by warranty. You shouldn't make your selling point of a product that it has a lifetime warranty, not to mention that nobody warranties the labor, so you're still out the time it takes to have them replaced every time they fail. Moog quality has gone down over the past decade, and was never really where it should be for the niche markets like MINI. When I work on domestic vehicles on the side I steer clear of Moog and go either OE or with say Precision or XRF brands, because for whatever reason they have proven to last longer than the Moog equivalents.

 

Eric, I have the exact same issue as you do. It's more than likely that your drive belt (power steering belt) is failing. The "grinding noise" is the sound of a worn out belt that's about to snap.
Check for any cracks on the belt.

 

THANKS HC I will have it checked out, When mini had the recall the dealer put in a new pump and fan, all new hoses cost me $700 bucks. I guess those nice guys at MINI are too cheap to throw in a new belt? Yes that was 18 months ago.
The money I spent on girls before being married is now spent on my car. The only difference is that my car does not scream and heartbreak, it just makes noise and provides me with lots of fun.
Going back 20 years when I bought a new MX-5 Miata, That was A fun car too.
The mazda seemed a little small and not as safe or powerful as the mini, but it handled like a dream.

 

The powersteering on these cars is electrohydraulic, there is no belt driven pump. If the noise is only present while steering, I would limit your search to either the pump whining or steering/suspension components.

 

I also have a grinding/whining noise like a bad bearing when turning, but only when turning left. The slightest turn of the wheel to the left of center will cause the noise. It's quite loud and sounds like it's getting worse.

I had the power steering pump recall 15V-660 about 18 months ago, where the dealer replaced the pump, fan, added fluid and bled the system. The car had 99,970 miles at the time, and now has 107,000.

Any ideas why it would make the noise on left turns but not on right turns?

 

My guess is that its the wheel bearing. The wheel bearings will make a growling noise and it gets louder when you speed up. When you turn and push the bearing out it will make noise, when you put force against it and turn to the other side the bearing comes back together and makes less noise. It's a very minimal amount of play in the bearings but enough force to make it loud then smooth. Mine did the same thing when it first went, after a while, it will growl all the time no matter what.

Watch when you replace it not to bump or damage the abs sensor head.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...acement-2.html

 

Update: I found out this morning what the issue is. One of the u-joints on the steering shaft has seized. The technician said he could replace the u-joint without needing to replace the entire steering column. Not sure what the cost would be.

Unfortunately, the car has two other major issues right now:

1. low compression in cylinder #3 causing a misfire and Service Engine Soon light to be constantly on. Compression is between 185 and 195 for the other cylinders, but #3 is 90. Head needs to come off and taken to a machine shop. I have several prices, from $1600 to $2500.

2. noise coming from transmission bearings starting to go bad. Noise is worse in cold weather and almost goes away after car is warmed up. The noise has been there for at least 10,000 miles. No estimate yet on this repair.

Given the 3 issues, and a bit of rust starting to appear at the bottom of the driver's door, along with 107,000 miles on the car, I'm thinking it's time to just give it up as is, and let someone else deal with it if anyone wants it for $500 or so. Or just get the salvage value from a junkyard.

 

Oh no sorry to hear that :(

 

That stinks!

See what Carmax will offer, might be $1,000