My silk green Cooper lost all of its power steering fluid after one month and 800 or so miles. The manual says nothing about power steering fluid type and it was three AM in Williamsburg, VA so after getting nowhere with the Mini emergency number, I bought some convenience store stuff, poured it in and everything was fine. Well, then I called the dealer in VA Beach who told me that the workshop instructions specified "Pentosen(sp?)" and that I shouldn't drive the car until a week later when they would fix it. I ignored him, they fixed the steering rack which leaked out the fluid and all is well. But I still remember that the servo motor for the power steering was queiter with the wrong stuff.

 

Hmmm very interesting. These machines seem to have a mind of their own.

Good to hear your MINI is running fine.

 

This just happened to me. The Dealer caught the leak and replacement parts are being searched for. (Rack)

This is only one of 2 posts on power steering leaks/failures I could find. I guess that is a good thing.