Please help....

Hi All.....

Had a little bit of a scare last night on my way home. For those of you in Aus you'll know VIC is going through a bit of a heatwave. Anyhow as I was driving home I ended up in some slow moving traffic.

I had my air con on low 2nd speed on the fan, and the temp reading was 47 outside. Anyhow I noticed the air con turn on and off intermittenly and the engine temp gauge flew all the up to the red line. anyhow I turned off the air con and was on my way again and the temp dropped back down and all was good.

Back on the freeway, turned the air con back on and it was ok again, kept a close eye on it, until i came off the freeway and I noticed the steering was very very heavy. Turned air con off again and radio and was missing the whine. Anyhow, had to park up at a shop, not far from home, came back out to the car and all was fine again.

What the hell happened? Any ideas? Haven't checked fuses or fluids yet, tooooooo hot so I open the bonnet put it in the garage and it is still there this morning (another 40+ day). What should I do first?



My car is a 2002 MCS 85K kms

Help appreciated thankyou!

 

I don't have much time at the moment (cooking dinner), but check your ps fluid. If low add some. Also make sure the ps fan is working, to keep things cool...

 

Looks like it was the PS/Rad Fan fuse blown....hope thats it and not a symptom of something else.

 

BBA-reman.com,
i recently had dealings with these people on behalf of my girlfriends Nissan steering pump,a new one is USD$2750.00.They said send it up as they wanted to giuneapig this pump,fixed for free shipping was $150 total and had it back in 5 days international shipping,how can i say anything about these people other than brilliant service.I own a Mini and they carry our pumps in stock.

 

After having my fan replaced it seems that the P/S pump is on its way out as it is now intermittant. i.e. it is not working when I start the engine. Turn the car off and on again and it works.....so I am thinking it is an electrical fault. It has happened twice now, and it doesn't happen everytime I use it....

Any Ideas? A new pump is going to cost me well over $1000 inc labour......help?

 

sorry can't find the MINI one on there!

 

Pull up the website and give them a call,they are very helpful folks.I have seen the mini pump listed on thier site.Realoem.com can find you your part # for your model year mini.On a side note i'd like to thank Chad and Tori Miller from Detroit Tuned for thier service great people to deal with.Peter

 

Everyone on this site with a power steering problem in their Mini needs to go to the following site and post a complaint. I cannot believe this many people have the same problem and MINI won't recall it! United we stand or divided we fix our own cars at our expense!

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

 

Thanks everyone for your posts. I just joined and posted in another thread, I am a frustrated Mini owner with a brand new power steering problem but now I see the light at the end of the BMW tunnel (and it won't cost $1500)

I am considering disposing of my beloved car, however, after seeing other issues owners face which are all too common such as transmission and clutch replacement at a way too early age in Minis :(

*sigh*

*gets out wrenches*

 

Always take what you see on these forums with a grain of salt - issues appear VASTLY more common than they really are - because a relatively large percentage of owners with issues seek out the forums and post about their problems, but a relatively small percentage of satisfied owners with no issues are on the forums. For every owner that reports a major problem here (tranny, clutch, engine, electrical, etc.) there are MANY silent, happy owners...

 

+1

 

The mini does not have a stellar reliability record...this car takes more work than any I have owned to keep it running well - and it's expensive to repair as well...it's not a Lexus or a Honda in either regard.

It does have really nice driving dynamics and the trade off is found here in my opinion.

FWIW I am approaching 170,000 miles on the original clutch...and this car was tracked quite a bit a while back. Driving style or luck? A little of both.

 

Well said and true. Of course, the advantage of the issues being disproportionally highlighted in these forums is the fact that it makes one much more knowledgeable of the MINI's idiosyncrasies, weaknesses, and strengths and allows you to be better prepared to address them.

Armed with the knowledge available here, I am more attuned to the sound that my EHPS pump makes and how it performs and will be better able and ready to react to gradual changes that may signal an impending failure. When my passenger side motor mount failed, I was prepared for it and knew exactly what to point out to the SA. I pull up my door sill seals after every detailing to permit drying and check for the beginnings of any rust. I use STPs as a precautionary against mushrooming.

I guess I'm agreeing that the problem posting may give one the impression that the issues are more common than they really are, but it's nice to know what the cross-section of issues are and at least their relative prevalence if simply for the sake of being more aware and ready to react.

 

Hi all,

I opened my hood and managed to find my reservoir and check it, the fluid is smack in the middle of the two lines so I am assuming this is good. (This is in cold car.)
I turned on my AC and listened for a fan, one came on. I have no idea if it is the correct one but since it only came on when AC was turned on, I assume so.
Next stop was to look for a Mini Manual. Pep Boys doesn't have one. They suggested I check Barnes and Noble. Nope.
Went home and checked online and found a couple of manuals, Bentley is ridiculously expensive. Found a Haynes which uses the right side steering as its model so I am considering purchasing this one from some guy on Ebay in New York.

My baby is an '05 MCC. Supposedly for the mechanical stuff this manual should be okay, it just doesn't list anything to assist with the convertible parts which is fine with me. Anyone use this book and should I buy it?

I also saw online a Tim Lundy book, anyone have any input on that? That one seems more for fine tuning and racers but the description it is vague.

Looks like I am going to order the Haynes manual but until I get it I am garaging my car (of course the steering works at the moment) and was wondering: I know the steering pump and fan are connected and beneath the car, but is there anywhere I can find an engine diagram to see exactly where it is so I can double check the fan is working properly?

Also - are there any special tools I need to do the job? I have a pretty decent ratchet set.

Thanks, all.

 

Are there any Mini owners in SoCal as in Orange County in this forum?

 

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