I just started having issues with my power steering. 2004 early build MCS. The symptoms are a bit different from those listed above.

For example, I've never had the pump die out on me once the car is on. About 1 in every 4 times I start the car, the power steering "forgets" to turn itself on with the rest of the car's electronics, no ps whine, just no ps at all. To fix it all I do is restart the engine and it's magically working again.

I'm guessing that the ps pump is ok and that there must be a short, some frayed wires, a blown fuse, loose wiring, etc. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. When it does come on with the rest of the car at startup, it works just as it did when I bought the car a long time ago. It has never shut off while I was already driving. It only happens once in a while during startup and goes away by restarting the car. If it does decide not to turn on, leaving the car running does nothing, it just won't turn on. When it's "on" it works fine; I don't have the issue with the thing not shutting off when the car is turned off. It's only this occasional weird startup issue that is the problem. Turn the key back off then back on and they it's magically gone. wtf

I have no idea what to look for though, so I'm hoping you guys could help me to troubleshoot or maybe even diagnose the issue. What should/can I look for?

And is it bad to leave it like this for some time. I'm a student with on semester left, so money is tight for a while.

 

Doesn't sound like a fuse because a blown fuse will prevent the pump from ever coming on. Could be a corroded connection somewhere in the harness/fuse box/relay. I'm not familiar enough with this system yet to give you a better idea. I'd start at the pump itself and make sure the electrical connection is good, clean and dry. Work back from there.

Eric

 

Some mini's did have a chafing issue with the ps harness...
I'm guessing the electronics that controls the pump...mounted on the pump... Are failing....or perhaps the brushes are so worn, re-energizing it after letting it sit for a few seconds somehow let's the current start to flow...
I'd look at the wiring...but I think it is mostlikely the pump.

 

Agree with Zippy that it's probably the pump electronics internal to the casing. Probably not the brushes though as they are quite robust, but an early '04 pump motor is going to have a ton of brush dust packing the motor windings, armature, and (worst case scenario) working its way past the plastic brush housing and into the control circuitry contained in the motor behind the brush mountings (this circuit card is fed by the smaller 3-pin connector on the motor casing).

If the problem is due to the dust build-up in the pump motor, a strip-clean-reassembly might bring it back to normal operation. If the dust has worked its way behind the brush housing and is shorting out the controller circuit card, you may be looking at the need for a pump replacement (I have not heard of anyone having success trying to open up the housing to get to the electronics).

 

Thanks guys. It has to be electrical. The ps system runs flawlessly when it does decide to turn itself on.

Actually a few days before the power steering started giving me problems, I've been having problems with the battery connection. I'd put the key in, turn in to the on position and the electronics (and lights on the dash) would flicker then shut off immediately. It happens less frequently than the ps pump issue.

I had a close look at it, turns out the thick copper wire isn't seated correctly with the negative terminal. It looks a tad bit frayed at the terminal end too. A bit of a jiggle by hand gets the electronics to shut off. Maybe all the systems aren't getting adequate or consistent juice during startup. I'll replace that first, I'm sure a local auto parts store has that in stock; then I can clean up all the PS pump connections that I can access myself. Hopefully that gets everything sorted.

 

My turn to join the growing club of failed power steering pump owners. Mine failed two days ago in the middle of a sharp curve at 50 MPH. Only the grace of God kept us from going right into a deep drainage ditch. Luckily, the curve is near my house, so I went right home and called Way at Way Motor Works, who's worked on my '02 "S" (only 75K miles on it) previously (highly recommend Way!). He instantly diagnosed the issue and said my pump is on its way out...just a matter of when. Six hundred bucks to replace... ouch... Merry Christmas.

So the next day I called MINI USA to report this safety issue, after finding all the similar reports during web searches. MINI USA didn't acknowledge any awareness of the issue, and essentially told me (and I'm paraphrasing, not quoting): "Tough luck, buddy, you're on your own because we don't care if you die from a steering failure... we deny any awareness." Then I find out with more research that the NHTSA has had plenty of reports. MINI USA is a den of liars. They'll probably change their tune with some sharp lawyer gets a multi-million dollar judgment after someone dies.

If you haven't filed a report with NHTSA, you really need to get on record. This won't ever get recalled without enough reports.

 

Add mine to the list of power steering pump failures...

2006 R53
61,245 miles
09/19/2006 In-Service Date

The pump had been growing increasingly louder over the last few months and I brought it to the attention of the dealer on my last few service appointments (all but the last trip was while I was still under warranty). I was driving home from work last night (34 mile commute) and was getting off of the interstate. Complete power steering failure as I was coming to a stop at the top of the exit ramp (35 mph > 0). No issues controlling the car, though it was a bit unsettling especially since the road was snow covered. I'm old enough to have owned cars without power steering, so I immediately knew what was going on.

I called MINI and they will not do anything until the car is at a dealer. I asked them point blank if I would be wasting my time, but they lead me to believe that there might be some possible relief for me since I have documented concerns and my car is only recently out of warranty. I also filed a report on the NHTSA website to get it on record.

The car goes into Classic MINI on Monday morning, though I'm not holding my breath...

 

Anyone who had a problem with the power steering should go over to this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...p-failure.html
and file a complaint. If we push the issue enough, hopefully MINI will acknowledge there is a problem. I believe there is also a large thread over at MINI2.com where owners have power steering issues as well. Let's work together as a community to get this resolved!

 

I joined the club in Oct of this year also on my 04 Cooper.

 

Hello to all!
I noticed on New-years eve that I had a very large leak under the car. It happen to be power steering fluid leaking all over the floor.
After doing some research on NAM for power steering pumps.... I decided it was time to send the leaky pump out and get her serviced. So I went ahead and called BBE (Mini Cooper Power steering rebuild service company) to rebuild my pump. The service off of ebay is the least expensive way. It was $200 with free shipping and lifetime warranty on the pump.

Orlando Mini quoted me $900 for a new pump alone thats without labor cost.

Taking off and putting it on is a pain in the butt but its pretty straight forward. I also replaced a very large hose that connects to the pump and reservoir. After sending my pump to BBE, several days latter I receive a different pump back. This pump looks really beat up compared to my old pump but it should work.....

Today I installed the new pump myself having the car on ramps.
The install was not to bad and I also put in a new fan (purchased from Outmotoring).

Cost: $200 for rebuilt pump
$148 fan
$45 for 2 1ltr power steering fluid containers from Mini
$62 for the hose (reservoir to pump hose)

Well..... After the whole install I noticed a weird noise from the inside of the car in the drivers seat that's very faint but there. Its a hum that oscillate (very weird). Also I noticed that when I move the steering wheel the dome interior light dims. When I turn off the car (with the key in the ignition) the Power steering fan stays on until I remove the key.
-Is there something I did wrong????
-Should I check anything?
-What should I do?

 

That sounds like you have a dodgy pump!
if your lights are dimming, that would suggest that there is too much internal resistance or friction. The pump is working harder than it should and this will cause overheating.
I would ask the rebuild company to give you a different one. They won't cover cost of installation/fluids but should cover at least half the shipping cost.

 

+1

BBE is a solid company. They will help you out.

 

Changed mine out with the cross ship option from BBA Reman. Great company by the way. $350 100% paid ship. Pump would run when ignition was off, and keys out of the car. Would run and kill the battery. About 4 hours. I had to cut the member holding the pump in, which was mentioned somewhere else. It wasn't difficult once the front support was cut to slide the pump out.

 

Um, I think I have this issue. It started with a strong vibration in the steering wheel when going straight, then no issues and two days later, I have the same issue as the original person of this thread. I have a '10 Clubman S with 7100 miles on it. Would it be bad if I drove it for at least the couple of days before I took it in? issues started last week.

 

Is this a problem with Gen2 MINIs?

 

I'm a bit confused...

I've been reading all about PS pump failures on first gen minis but today while reading a Steering and Suspension Overview.pdf (see photo) I got from the web on the very last page I got the following, and I quote:

"The pump motor is activated only if the engine is running. If the pump overheats, the pump will reduce output to 80%. If the temperature keeps rising, the pump will eventually shut down to protect itself (electronics) from damage."

What I don't get is how come we see so many PS pump failures if the pump supposedly has a built-in protection system?

Or could it be that many failures we've seen the pump was actually shutting down to protect itself due to something else failing (like the PS Fan for instance?) and it was just a matter of replacing the PS Fan of leak or whatever caused the pump to overheat?



Cheers!
RayanMX

 

Put simply... If it were just overheated and in protected mode because the fan wasn't working the pump would return to working order if the car was left off and allowed to cool for a few hours. This is actually an indicator that something is wrong and sometimes you can save the pump by getting the fan replaced quickly (or so I've heard) and sometimes they just die. Mine was acting up prior to "rigor mortis" and I didn't catch it before it failed.

 

From what I've read on this subject, it appears there is also a problem as the motor brushes wear and the dust has no place to go. It eventually migrates into the circuit board section of the motor where it causes havoc with the electronics there.

I'm planning on pulling my pump soon (has 60k on it) and will disassemble and clean the interior. I'll take photos to show what I find. My pump is working perfectly at the moment but I'd like to do some preemptive maintenance to keep it that way.

Eric

 

Excellent point. So, the lesson is, I guess, try replacing/fixing the cheaper parts first (i.e., fan) and see if the pump works OK. Unfortunately, as EricF points out, sometimes the pump itself is indeed kaput!

 

just as a note... supposedly (according to my local trusted shop) the power steering pump fails because the fan stops working and also because the fan only kicks in when the high speed radiator fan does it to, so this causes the pump to over heat and fail overtime...
so they recommend to get a new wiring for the fan, which connects the PS fan to the two of the radiator fans (high and low) this makes the power steering fan kick in not only with the high speed radiator but also with the low speed radiator.
Also make sure you upgrade your PS fan with the one with a grill, the old version (like my 02) has no protection so it makes it easy for debris to get in there.

 

Interesting!

I rather have my PS fan fail prematurely because of frequent use than my Pump because frequent overheat... I'll dig some more on this... definitely!

This is what's on my 02 MCS... Is this the "new" upgraded fan?

 

I don't think this is the reason most pumps fail. Really 95% of the pumps we replace actually have good working fans, the pump was the failure.

 

Well, dang, Way, you're always ruining the fun of Internet speculation with hard data.

 

I have a small leak right under the power steering fan, my power steering is working fine but I noticed that the two hoses from the reservoir are wet. Could just these hoses be leaking?

 

it is now my turn for my PS pump to fail. I have an '04 MCS with 98k miles on it. however from reading most of these posts my situation seems a little different.. like most others, my ps pump started to became louder and louder indicating that its starting to die, just last week as i made a turn it shut off completely and i turned on/off my car to get my power steering to work again. since then its happened once more. the weird thing is now my power steering seems much lighter and more fluid and my ps pump is much quieter. does this mean its slowly giving out or simply working again? also would i be doing any damage to my car by continuing to drive on a failing ps pump?