Power Steering Pump Failure

Minimania · Post by **Minimania** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:47 pm

Are there too many failures of our power steering pump?
http://newmini.wordpress.com/2009/02/17 ... g-failure/

Post by **ragtopday Johnna** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:27 pm

I don't know how common it is, but I had a leak in the PS pump develop at 70,000 miles. Once the pump was removed for replacement, it was discovered that the associated fan was also failing. Pricey!

MiniGeoff · Post by **MiniGeoff** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:44 pm

My 03 MCS is on it's 2nd or 3rd cooling fan and pump, and it whines like a fiend all the time. I know that when my car wasn't yet my car in Atlanta MINIs, there was a time that about 50% had power steering pump issues.

I'd say it's a common problem. I think it's in the fan/cooling system, personally. It fails, and the pump burns out. But then I'm hardly a mechanic.

speed_racer · Post by **speed_racer** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:45 am

I had the pump go out, followed by the fan within a year. The pump was covered under warranty, the fan was not. Still, I'll take the price of the fan (we installed it on our own) over the price of the pump and installation any day! Ouch!

Minidave · Post by **Minidave** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:28 am

I've read that the issue is the debris from the road gets thown up into the fan, the fan fails, the pump runs hot, and then it fails too.

My car has some kind of skid plate or cover with holes in it that covers the fan from below. I don't know if this is an aftermarket part or an upgrade that MINI sells, but I've never had a problem with mine at 64K miles.....

JRutherford · Post by **JRutherford** » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:31 am

Believe Mini revised the design of the electric cooling fan beginning with late '04 / early '05 builds to integrate some shielding. That said, there still appear to be a number of issues noted with this particular component on these cars. Should one be interested in addressing the shielding of the earlier fan design, there are aftermarket options which help to protect the fan from sucking up debris and burning up. As for the whine at low speeds, it's common - mine has done it from the day I bought it new, was also described in a Mini FAQ marketing brochure when the gen 1s came out.

I've been pretty fortunate so far with my MCS - no real issues that were not the result of improper maintenance on the part of an unnamed dealer down in TX - other than deciding to have the crank pulley damper retrofit to the later OEM design in order to eliminate clatter

Soopercooperinfo · Post by **Soopercooperinfo** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:05 am

www.bba-reman.com is a source that remans PS pumps for $220.00. Have read reports that they are reputable.

saturn · Post by **saturn** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:17 pm

The trouble with the pumps failing is because the fans fail! Most people just automatically replace the whole fan when actually you can just replace the seized bearings for under 20 bucks!

Minidave · Post by **Minidave** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:31 pm

Well, you and I could, but most people can't or won't tackle such a project........

Soopercooperinfo · Post by **Soopercooperinfo** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:38 pm

saturn wrote:The trouble with the pumps failing is because the fans fail! Most people just automatically replace the whole fan when actually you can just replace the seized bearings for under 20 bucks!

Here is a link where the bearings were replaced http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/fo ... s-fan.html.