Power Steering Fault (yes, another 1!)

[aml]

Hi all,

was driving my 03 mini one today, parked up, turned engine off, got out, and noticed the steering whine was still 'on', luckily i work part time in a garage, took it straight there, put it on the ramp, had a look underneath, the pump was fairly warm but not hot, thought could be a stuck relay or something, checked all fuses and relays etc, were all fine, went on the computer and looked at the faults and fixes section and found other peoples problems, got scared ! , disconnected my battery and rang up mini williams rochdale (nearest dealer)
i plugged in the diagnostics computer at the garage and came up with no faults etc.
i am taking the car to the dealer tomorow for them to have a look at it, but i am pretty sure from what i have read and the symptoms that it is a new pump but i will see what they say, i will get a quote from them, but before i book it in for the work,
is it worth buying a pump through the garage / BBA reman. ABS, ecu's, throttle bodies, air mass meters, and catalytic converters, and fitting myself??
neither i or anybody else who works at the garage has done a pump on a mini before, but i have read a thread on here saying it is fairly straight forward, any ideas anybody?
sorry about the long post, but like to give the full story

cheers

[aussie11]

Had the pump done on my 02 Cooper was around £490, had the work done at Mini but if you can do it at work it should be alot less. There was something in Modern Mini magazine the other month showing how to do it.

[oldnell]

Since the pump has not yet failed, I'm wondering if it can be saved. There is another post on this forum which seems to indicate that the reason the pumps fail is that carbon dust fills up the inside of the pump, causing it to short. Since you're handy with mechanical stuff (I'm not), it may be that you can dismantle the pump and get rid of the buildup of carbon dust.

It's worth catching this one early, as if the pump does short, it can take the wiring loom with it (so my MINI dealer told me had happened to mine).

Just an idea. As I said, I'm no mechanic, but it might help.

Oli

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by aml (original)

Hi all,

was driving my 03 mini one today, parked up, turned engine off, got out, and noticed the steering whine was still 'on', luckily i work part time in a garage, took it straight there, put it on the ramp, had a look underneath, the pump was fairly warm but not hot, thought could be a stuck relay or something, checked all fuses and relays etc, were all fine, went on the computer and looked at the faults and fixes section and found other peoples problems, got scared ! , disconnected my battery and rang up mini williams rochdale (nearest dealer)
i plugged in the diagnostics computer at the garage and came up with no faults etc.
i am taking the car to the dealer tomorow for them to have a look at it, but i am pretty sure from what i have read and the symptoms that it is a new pump but i will see what they say, i will get a quote from them, but before i book it in for the work,
is it worth buying a pump through the garage / BBA reman. ABS, ecu's, throttle bodies, air mass meters, and catalytic converters, and fitting myself??
neither i or anybody else who works at the garage has done a pump on a mini before, but i have read a thread on here saying it is fairly straight forward, any ideas anybody?
sorry about the long post, but like to give the full story

cheers

Quote: Originally Posted by oldnell (original)

Since the pump has not yet failed, I'm wondering if it can be saved. There is another post on this forum which seems to indicate that the reason the pumps fail is that carbon dust fills up the inside of the pump, causing it to short. Since you're handy with mechanical stuff (I'm not), it may be that you can dismantle the pump and get rid of the buildup of carbon dust.

It's worth catching this one early, as if the pump does short, it can take the wiring loom with it (so my MINI dealer told me had happened to mine).

Just an idea. As I said, I'm no mechanic, but it might help.

Oli

Ever heard the saying "If it isn't broke don't try and fix it" .

Seriously as yours hasn't gone completely it may be worth taking off and having a auto electrician or experienced mechanic look at it (electric motors can fly apart once took apart / or break putting them back together if your unsure how to do it), or when you get your new pump ask for the old one back providing there is no surcharge and get it looked at, and you'll have a spare for next time , as when they have totally gone they are sometimes beyond repair.

I'm in the trade myself and I have known of a number of MINIs catch fire under the bonnet while being driven, but due to the nature of fire cause is sometimes hard to pinpoint as all evidence can be destroyed.

Another saying springs to mind "Prevention is better than the cure"

And as stated it's better changing just the pump rather than changing the pump, wiring harness, and other damage that may be caused .

Worth doing if you're a mechanic, saving on labour and all that, & you'll know it's been done properly .

[mab01uk]

This is the thread from NAM in USA from someone who has opened up (and photographed if you search through the thread) a pump motor for repairs and suggests the failure is often due to build up of dust from the motor brushes and or failure of the internal electronic controls.
PS Pump rebuild - LINK

[oldnell]

That's the post. Thanks mab01uk.

[oldnell]

Quote: Originally Posted by Randall Raines (original)

Ever heard the saying "If it isn't broke don't try and fix it" .

Definitely, but the symptom aml describes is one that a lot of people whose pumps subsequently fail do experience. For others, the volume of the whine increases prior to failure. For most of the others (me included), the pump just fails without any warning.

Oli

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by oldnell (original)

Quote: Originally Posted by Randall Raines (original)

Ever heard the saying "If it isn't broke don't try and fix it"

Definitely, but the symptom aml describes is one that a lot of people whose pumps subsequently fail do experience. For others, the volume of the whine increases prior to failure. For most of the others (me included), the pump just fails without any warning.

Oli

Please take the comment with the rest of the text, I have seen people try and fix things when they are not quite sure how to do it and totally mess things up turning a simple cheap repair (If you can replace the brushes & clean the motor up it will turn out to be a cheap fix, especially if you can do it yourself & have the parts needed ready to replace) into a very costly one.

No offence was intended at all, Sorry if you took it that way , .

Quote: Originally Posted by Randall Raines (original)

Ever heard the saying "If it isn't broke don't try and fix it" .

Seriously as yours hasn't gone completely it may be worth taking off and having a auto electrician or experienced mechanic look at it (electric motors can fly apart once took apart / or break putting them back together if your unsure how to do it), or when you get your new pump ask for the old one back providing there is no surcharge and get it looked at, and you'll have a spare for next time , as when they have totally gone they are sometimes beyond repair.

I'm in the trade myself and I have known of a number of MINIs catch fire under the bonnet while being driven, but due to the nature of fire cause is sometimes hard to pinpoint as all evidence can be destroyed.

Another saying springs to mind "Prevention is better than the cure"

And as stated it's better changing just the pump rather than changing the pump, wiring harness, and other damage that may be caused .

I was agreeing with you,

[oldnell]

Quote: Originally Posted by Randall Raines (original)

Please take the comment with the rest of the text, I have seen people try and fix things when they are not quite sure how to do it and totally mess things up turning a simple cheap repair (If you can replace the brushes & clean the motor up it will turn out to be a cheap fix, especially if you can do it yourself & have the parts needed ready to replace) into a very costly one.

No offence was intended at all, Sorry if you took it that way , .



I was agreeing with you,

No offence taken at all (sorry for giving that impression) and, yes, I know exactly what you mean. Wouldn't have dreamt of suggesting what I did if the original poster hadn't have said he was in the trade.

Cheers

Oli

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by oldnell (original)

No offence taken at all (sorry for giving that impression) and, yes, I know exactly what you mean. Wouldn't have dreamt of suggesting what I did if the original poster hadn't have said he was in the trade.

Cheers

Oli

No worries .

[lisasamanthacoopers]

hi, my 04 mini coopers power steering pump worked intermittantly, sometimes it worked perfectly, sometimes it didnt work at all !!!, took it to sytner mini in sheffield - very very helpful, quoted me £605 to replace , my cars done 27k - i made a fuss & got the price down to £250 in 10 mins - (they gave in too easy, so i got in touch with bmw direct (through sytner mini)) they agreed 100% parts & 50% labour - it cost me £43 ! unbelievable - bmw . . . . . . recall the mini for the pump replacing before someone gets killed. sytner mini in sheffield were fantastic, i will shop there next time.

[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by lisasamanthacoopers (original)

hi, my 04 mini coopers power steering pump worked intermittantly, sometimes it worked perfectly, sometimes it didnt work at all !!!, took it to sytner mini in sheffield - very very helpful, quoted me £605 to replace , my cars done 27k - i made a fuss & got the price down to £250 in 10 mins - (they gave in too easy, so i got in touch with bmw direct (through sytner mini)) they agreed 100% parts & 50% labour - it cost me £43 ! unbelievable - bmw . . . . . . recall the mini for the pump replacing before someone gets killed. sytner mini in sheffield were fantastic, i will shop there next time.

If you don't ask, you don't get, that goes for the dealers as well.

[rgore]

Has anyone had intermittent power steering failure???? Just got my mini out of the BMW shop, they said it was the power steering fan. Replaced it and no sooner had I gotten it home... it did it again! Just goes out all of a sudden then comes back. Anyone with similar problems?

[oldnell]

Do some searching on this site, rgore. It's been covered many times.

Meanwhile avoid driving the car as it's possible to cause more damage when it's in this state.

It's almost certainly the power steering pump. If you continue to drive it, it could fail and take the wiring loom and possibly other components with it.

Many people have had goodwill payments from BMW where the car is low mileage or only just out of warranty.

Oli

[julie kurek]

my power steering has failed on me this morning , i dont have any idea where to take it , i love my mini so much iam in the higham / rochester area of kent , please someone help me

J2 BOO