IMPORTANT. Have you had a power steering pump failure? Please vote YES or NO!!!

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

Hi Andrew
Yes i did read the link supplied but was still unsure

OK, no worries, I'll elaborate.

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

Reading that about the labour - that iplies i should get some contribution to that 2 as well as the part - which they have not offered??

Offers are dependent on the age and mileage of your MINI. Higher age and/or higher mileage will reduce the value of the goodwill offer from MINI UK.

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

It doesnt state times, parts used etc

Thats my mane concern - as i can pailry afford an hour but they may fob me of with more WHICH i cant afford BUT i got 2 get it done!!

I've no idea how long it takes to be honest. It can vary depending on the individual mechanic assigned to the job and I've no idea what is 'normal' in terms of hours worked. Under an offer of 100% parts and 50% labour, I paid just under £100 (though cannot remember the amount exactly to the nearest pound) and with such an offer anything from £40-110 seemed 'normal' with £70 being about 'average' (inc. VAT).

As an extension on that logic, I'd postulate that if you've got the part free but no labour offer, I'd estimate that you could double that to about £80-220 as 'normal' with £140 being 'average' (inc. VAT). But that's purely a guess.

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

1. Mini use reconditioned pumps??

I think they would, yes. A reconditioned pump can be considered as good as new as all the bad components are changed. However, they are exchanged like-for-like so this will inevitably fail again in time.

Even if new pumps were installed, again the design is the same and failure is inevitable without the maintenance procedures detailed by MINIMANIAUK (see my summary post).

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

2. If you get the part paid for you don't get a guarantee

You have a two year guarantee on the power steering pump following replacement at a MINI dealer providing you made a contribution to the repair. It doesn't matter if your contribution was towards the pump or the labour, you've still contributed to the repair and thus have a warranty on the components installed.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do.

All the best,
Andrew.

[mini33]

Quote: Originally Posted by NeuroBeaker (original)

OK, no worries, I'll elaborate.



Offers are dependent on the age and mileage of your MINI. Higher age and/or higher mileage will reduce the value of the goodwill offer from MINI UK.



I've no idea how long it takes to be honest. It car very depending on the individual mechanic assigned to the job and I've no idea what is 'normal' in terms of hours worked. Under an offer of 100% parts and 50% labour, I paid just under £100 (though cannot remember the amount exactly to the nearest pound) and with such an offer anything from £40-110 seemed 'normal' wiht £70 being about 'average' (inc. VAT).

As an extension on that logic, I'd postulate that if you've got the part free but no labour offer, I'd estimate that you could double that to about £80-220 as 'normal' with £140 being 'average' (inc. VAT). But that's purely a guess.



I think they would, yes. A reconditioned pump can be considered as good as new as all the bad components are changed. However, they are exchanged like-for-like so this will inevitably fail again in time.

Even if new pumps were installed, again the design is the same and failure is inevitable without the maintenance procedures detailed by MINIMANIAUK (see my summary post).



You have a two year guarantee on the power steering pump following replacement at a MINI dealer providing you made a contribution to the repair. It doesn't matter if your contribution was towards the pump or the labour, you've still contributed to the repair and thus have a warranty on the components installed.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do.

All the best,
Andrew.

Cheers for that Andrew
I think that clears most of the points
I will just have 2 see how i get on - there saying there shouldn't be any additional cost over 1.5 hours labour unless anything unforcene comes up (which it prob will!! knowing my luck with my mini money pit @ the mo :-( )
Just wanted to be fully informed - being a young female with a 'flash' mini & no mechanical knowledge - i know what garages are like!! hence why i dont use them & my bruv normally does all my work.
I have stressed that i cant afford anymore - as it is i have had to borrow more money to pay for this as it is so i am a little anxious

Thanks for the rest of the info thats clears the rest of my questions

Will see how it goes

Will let you know 2morrow how i get on

Thanks for the advice - greatfully receieved

Best wishes

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by mini33 (original)

Will see how it goes

Will let you know 2morrow how i get on

Good luck!

All the best,
Andrew.

[MC Blue]

My 02 Mini Cooper has had many problems previous to me getting rid off my beloved vehicle last week!
Firstly i had a so called electrical wiring fault which ended up costing me £300, Then the fault re-occured i.e speedo needles flickering, clock failed to display and then total loss of speedo and gauge needles! i took it back to Stephen James BMW/Mini who told me i needed a new ABS Sensor so at £1200 this was fitted! but three months later the fault came back! so back to stephen James who tested the car at good will and said there was no fault showing on the onboard computer so they couldnt assist until it appeared! so i continued as the fault was just the needles flickering every now and then at the ignition start up point.....Until Jan 11th This year i was driving my car around a round about, i got half way round and then i dont know what happended but i went half way round the round about going forward and then car span and i continued the rest backwards until i hit the kerb to the grassed central reservation full on sideways with the nearside wheels and jumped the kerb landing on the grassed reservation - passenger side airbag filling the car with dust! Was this a steering failure? The car was towed as undriveable, both nearside wheels smashed under, luckily no bodywork damage at all! The car was in repair for 6 weeks new drive shafts, steering rack suspension, wheels, tyres, etc as far as i could see! Then the speedo fault seemed to disapear until i noticed that my heater wasnt working? the car went back to the repair Garage and they said it was down to a previous electrical fault and they wouldnt touch it! However when my car returned the speedo fault came back with it!
So the Car sadly had to go!
In 3 years it cost me nearly£3000 in repairs & tyres etc! I hope this is helpful to some of you please be careful and check your car for faults as i was lucky my car could have rolled when it hit that kerb and i might not be here today to tell this story.Please dont let this happen to yourself!

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by MC Blue (original)

My 02 Mini Cooper has had many problems previous to me getting rid off my beloved vehicle last week!
Firstly i had a so called electrical wiring fault which ended up costing me £300, Then the fault re-occured i.e speedo needles flickering, clock failed to display and then total loss of speedo and gauge needles! i took it back to Stephen James BMW/Mini who told me i needed a new ABS Sensor so at £1200 this was fitted! but three months later the fault came back! so back to stephen James who tested the car at good will and said there was no fault showing on the onboard computer so they couldnt assist until it appeared! so i continued as the fault was just the needles flickering every now and then at the ignition start up point.....Until Jan 11th This year i was driving my car around a round about, i got half way round and then i dont know what happended but i went half way round the round about going forward and then car span and i continued the rest backwards until i hit the kerb to the grassed central reservation full on sideways with the nearside wheels and jumped the kerb landing on the grassed reservation - passenger side airbag filling the car with dust! Was this a steering failure? The car was towed as undriveable, both nearside wheels smashed under, luckily no bodywork damage at all! The car was in repair for 6 weeks new drive shafts, steering rack suspension, wheels, tyres, etc as far as i could see! Then the speedo fault seemed to disapear until i noticed that my heater wasnt working? the car went back to the repair Garage and they said it was down to a previous electrical fault and they wouldnt touch it! However when my car returned the speedo fault came back with it!
So the Car sadly had to go!
In 3 years it cost me nearly£3000 in repairs & tyres etc! I hope this is helpful to some of you please be careful and check your car for faults as i was lucky my car could have rolled when it hit that kerb and i might not be here today to tell this story.Please dont let this happen to yourself!

Sorry to hear about your difficulties during your MINI ownership.

If a power steering pump fails, the steering will become very heavy and difficult to move quickly - I've not known any circumstances in which this has resulted in a car spinning. I would suggest that the fault might lie elsewhere in this instance - and from what I gather from your post, there was a great deal wrong with your old MINI.

All the best,
Andrew.

[Gil-galad]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gil-galad (original)

Has anyone been able to track down part numbers/sizes and online suppliers for the PS pump parts recommended for replacement during overhaul? In particular, it would be nice to replace the O-ring on the high pressure outlet side while the pump is disassembled, but I have no idea where to access this part. Specs on the brushes would be appreciated too.

Bump...for a well intentioned, DIYer wanna be.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gil-galad (original)

Has anyone been able to track down part numbers/sizes and online suppliers for the PS pump parts recommended for replacement during overhaul? In particular, it would be nice to replace the O-ring on the high pressure outlet side while the pump is disassembled, but I have no idea where to access this part. Specs on the brushes would be appreciated too.

Quote: Originally Posted by Gil-galad (original)

Bump...for a well intentioned, DIYer wanna be.

Sorry, missed that earlier.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer... the man most likely to know is our resident technical guru mab01uk.

In the meantime, here are a few diagrams of the power steering pump (selected march 2004 build for these US models):

1st Generation Cooper

1st Generation, Cooper S

For the special edition, I picked July 2006 build for the Cooper S JCW GP:

MINI Cooper S JCW GP

Not sure if the information you're seeking is in there somewhere, because I'm not actually sure what components you're referring to.

Good luck!

All the best
Andrew.

[EssexMini]

Hi all, just joined the site on seeing the issue with the power steering pump. My cars an 03 reg with 53k on the clock and on driving up to Yorkshire from Essex it went on a roundabout causing me to force a car in the outer lane of the roundabout onto the kerb.

I drove the remainding mileage if not with a bit of difficulty and then called the AA who diagnosed the faulty pump. The next day I drove back to Essex some 250 odd miles which was interesting. I searched oon the web and found out its a fault. Being Easter weekend I had to wait till Tuesday but so far this is what Ive done/been offered:

• Called BMW customer services who told me to book my car in
• Booked car in with local garage was told would have to pay £47 minimum fee took car in with letter addressed to Services Manager
• Got a call from the garage asking if I thought about upgrading to a new mini as they have a new engine in found this funny and said yes depending how BMW deal with my car this time
• Ended up calling the garage myself then next day to be ttold that customer services would only offer a 50% payment on the part as goodwill. I said I was not happy with this so was told to call customer services who would contact the dealer again.
• So far I'm still waiting to hear back from them

Anyway as said I am waiting to hear from them, I will be going to VOSA with what happened on the roundabout if they dont resolve this (I did mention this after their pathetic offer). If they still dont budge on their offer I am going to purchase the pump myself from them (With their 50% discount) and fit it myself is there a guide to fitting it anywhere? Im fairly mechanically minded stripping down engines and rebuilding (Ok lawnmowers not cars bey hey) but is it easy to get access to I believe its on the underside, does it require any special tools/parts?

Thanks
Olly

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by EssexMini (original)

Hi all, just joined the site on seeing the issue with the power steering pump. My cars an 03 reg with 53k on the clock and on driving up to Yorkshire from Essex it went on a roundabout causing me to force a car in the outer lane of the roundabout onto the kerb.

I drove the remainding mileage if not with a bit of difficulty and then called the AA who diagnosed the faulty pump. The next day I drove back to Essex some 250 odd miles which was interesting. I searched oon the web and found out its a fault. Being Easter weekend I had to wait till Tuesday but so far this is what Ive done/been offered:

• Called BMW customer services who told me to book my car in
• Booked car in with local garage was told would have to pay £47 minimum fee took car in with letter addressed to Services Manager
• Got a call from the garage asking if I thought about upgrading to a new mini as they have a new engine in found this funny and said yes depending how BMW deal with my car this time
• Ended up calling the garage myself then next day to be ttold that customer services would only offer a 50% payment on the part as goodwill. I said I was not happy with this so was told to call customer services who would contact the dealer again.
• So far I'm still waiting to hear back from them

Anyway as said I am waiting to hear from them, I will be going to VOSA with what happened on the roundabout if they dont resolve this (I did mention this after their pathetic offer). If they still dont budge on their offer I am going to purchase the pump myself from them (With their 50% discount) and fit it myself is there a guide to fitting it anywhere? Im fairly mechanically minded stripping down engines and rebuilding (Ok lawnmowers not cars bey hey) but is it easy to get access to I believe its on the underside, does it require any special tools/parts?

Thanks
Olly

Welcome to MINI2!

Sorry to hear about your power steering pump difficulties. I've made a sort of 'guide' to try to help fellow MINI owners in similar circumstances. Primarily, as I'm not exactly mechanically apt, my contribution was to the parts for approaching customer services to effectively present your case for goodwill assistance. However, others have contributed specific technical advice and I've tried to consolidate their posts into my guide.

Consolidated Power Steering Pump Advice - Updated: 19th March 2009

I think the section you'll find most useful is called: "Is there anything I can do myself to stop the pump from failing again?" (scroll down in the link above to find it). It's not really a self-installation description for a new pump, but does detail how to maintain an existing pump. If you've been brave enough to strip down lawnmower engines, perhaps you'd be able to apply the information to a power steering pump installation too?

If you need further information, mab01uk is a great guy to ask for help as he's our "resident technical guru". Good luck!!

All the best,
Andrew.

[EssexMini]

Hi well after my previous post BMW/MINI came back with an offer of 50% parts, I have it booked to get repaired... in a week as they seem to be unable to get hold of a power steering pipe from the pump. Its funny how even after a 50% discount it still comes out at £600 odd labour doesnt even account for that much.

Anyway I am still deciding if I will have another MINI, I appreciate that they cant cover parts for ever but this was clearly a design fault in the first instance so when/if it ever went wrong they should replace FOC nobody would mind the costs of labour for this Im sure but for the sake of £200-300 they may have lost a customer. I was in discussions with the sales team about the purchase of a MCS and the service team/manager were aware of this but obviously a £22000 purchase of a car was not worth a £200 discount.

Anyway rant over, I will attach a letter I sent in with my car it was only the first draft and cant find the final one I sent but you get the idea.

My car was 03 with 56k on the clock.

[mab01uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by EssexMini (original)

Hi well after my previous post BMW/MINI came back with an offer of 50% parts, I have it booked to get repaired... in a week as they seem to be unable to get hold of a power steering pipe from the pump. Its funny how even after a 50% discount it still comes out at £600 odd labour doesnt even account for that much.

Anyway I am still deciding if I will have another MINI, I appreciate that they cant cover parts for ever but this was clearly a design fault in the first instance so when/if it ever went wrong they should replace FOC nobody would mind the costs of labour for this Im sure but for the sake of £200-300 they may have lost a customer. I was in discussions with the sales team about the purchase of a MCS and the service team/manager were aware of this but obviously a £22000 purchase of a car was not worth a £200 discount.

Anyway rant over, I will attach a letter I sent in with my car it was only the first draft and cant find the final one I sent but you get the idea.

My car was 03 with 56k on the clock.

Sorry to hear of your problems. If you do decide to buy a later Mini you will be pleased to know the latest Mini's (2007 on) use fully electric power steering with no electro-hydraulic pump to go wrong!

Fitting a new PS pump is not a very big job on a Mini...........here is the DIY method so you know what is involved:-
Power Steering Pump replacement - Forums

[PTrenholm]

My question is that can you claim anything for a power steering fail retrospectively? My Mini is a Jan 02 model and the power steering pump went last September/October when the car had done around 48000 miles. It cost me around 400 quid to get it sorted, but I had no idea at the time that it was a common problem, or that Mini were prepared to pay towards fixing this type of problem. Any one else done this?
Thanks in advance
pete

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by PTrenholm (original)

My question is that can you claim anything for a power steering fail retrospectively? My Mini is a Jan 02 model and the power steering pump went last September/October when the car had done around 48000 miles. It cost me around 400 quid to get it sorted, but I had no idea at the time that it was a common problem, or that Mini were prepared to pay towards fixing this type of problem. Any one else done this?
Thanks in advance
pete

I don't know of anyone who has done it, Pete. Unfortunately, I suspect the dealership and MINI UK will consider the matter resolved as you've previously accepted the outcome and they will not want to readdress the issue. You could always ask (never any harm in that) but I wouldn't be too hopeful...

All the best,
Andrew.

[PTrenholm]

Cheers Andrew, I might email them anyways...you never know.
Pete

[StuartA]

I have just had this fault at the same time as the airbag. What luck with a nice bill - Im willing to help get this changed!