Must Read About time Power steering pump failure !!!
#76
$660??? Geeez....... So you should be okay for the next ????? thousand miles??? Yes, I'm sure it could be worse. They gave you a loaner??? Nice dealer. Did you buy your car from them?
#77
#80
I'd still call the other dealer for a quote. Heck, I'd drive 400 miles to save $400. That's about 1 tank of gas to make the trip?? A full tank of premium is $44 where I am located. Call them anyway. Or order the new pump and fan from another dealer where its cheaper, have it shipped to you and just pay the labor at your local dealer if you don't want to (or can't) make the drive.
#82
$660 isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't purchase my car new or from that dealer. The loaner was nicer than my car so its hard to complain about that and it was free. Just put $10 of gas into it. The pump lasted almost to 90k miles so as long as it doesn't go out before that number I'll probably never have to worry about it again. Problem is because the pump didn't stop running and drained the battery twice it killed the battery. Its having a hard time cold cranking now.
#83
$660 isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't purchase my car new or from that dealer. The loaner was nicer than my car so its hard to complain about that and it was free. Just put $10 of gas into it. The pump lasted almost to 90k miles so as long as it doesn't go out before that number I'll probably never have to worry about it again. Problem is because the pump didn't stop running and drained the battery twice it killed the battery. Its having a hard time cold cranking now.
#84
#85
How can it be $340 more than what I paid at a dealer? You in downtown NY or LA? Did they quote you for a new steering rack or pump or pump and fan...
#86
See below from earlier in this thread. Maybe you should call this dealer in NY and see if you can buy the part from them, have it shipped to you and just pay for labor at your local dealer.
Thank you Mr CooperS , I finaly bought a pump from BMW of Westchester they are real cool people to deal with and gave me a fair price as the pump cost has gone down to about $400.00 think BMW is telling us something
Anyway it will be put on the car maniana by a mini tech and friend the pump has a 2 yr unlimited miles warranty and should it fail they will replace and cover the cost of the labor for install. If you live close to White Plains NY I recommend you call them. Also had a diagnostic done on my car @ Prestige Mini no problems found fair labor rate of $80.00 hour for 2005 and below yrs. BBA is refunding me my money as I did not want to go through more pumps sure no fault of their's it's a tricky electronic device. Let's push this for a recall.
Anyway it will be put on the car maniana by a mini tech and friend the pump has a 2 yr unlimited miles warranty and should it fail they will replace and cover the cost of the labor for install. If you live close to White Plains NY I recommend you call them. Also had a diagnostic done on my car @ Prestige Mini no problems found fair labor rate of $80.00 hour for 2005 and below yrs. BBA is refunding me my money as I did not want to go through more pumps sure no fault of their's it's a tricky electronic device. Let's push this for a recall.
It's worth a try. $400 for the pump instead of whatever they're overcharging you for......
#87
Exactly, hey FS-Mini,
See below from earlier in this thread. Maybe you should call this dealer in NY and see if you can buy the part from them, have it shipped to you and just pay for labor at your local dealer.
It's worth a try. $400 for the pump instead of whatever they're overcharging you for......
See below from earlier in this thread. Maybe you should call this dealer in NY and see if you can buy the part from them, have it shipped to you and just pay for labor at your local dealer.
It's worth a try. $400 for the pump instead of whatever they're overcharging you for......
Not sure is due to this visit to fix, now my right hand side HID headlight leveling is not working, just found tonight the left hand side is working but the right hand side one is pointing down all the time. :( All the sudden I am getting all the issues one at a time and my MCS is relatively low mileage (~47K for over 6yrs)
#88
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2006s are not immune. Add mine to the list of 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 (a 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 tomorrow morning, though I'm not holding my breath...
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 (a 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 tomorrow morning, though I'm not holding my breath...
Finally heard back from Classic MINI after taking my car in and paying $60 just to hear that my power steering pump is non-functional (o'rly?)
MINI HAS DECLINED to be of any assistance on the repair because I am now out of warranty. That is true, but shouldn't the fact that I mentioned the noisy pump on 03/18/10 when the car had 47,865 miles on it and again on 07/21/10 when the car had 54,540 on it mean something? That and the fact that there is an open investigation on the car specifically because of the high number of failures on this specific part?
I am not looking for a freebie, but something along the lines of them paying for the defective part and me covering the cost of installation. I wonder if this is worth escalating or if I would just wasting my own time...
#89
I'm having the same issue. Pump Failure that is. It's been going on for quite some time, but I didn't realize what it was, just that the power steering was going on and then coming back on etc... What finally kicked me in the butt to research it (i'm NOT a car person) was the fact that I now hear a high-pitched 'wheee'ing sound and my battery (pretty new) was completely dead this morning.
I called the only Mini Dealership in WA and they quoted me 1300$.
I called a local mechanic here in town and after he called around he quoted me 1095$ He says the part, new and updated, is 800$. Installing it isn't a problem, the cost is almost all associated with the part.
Is this something I need to call it, as it says on the first page of this thread? Is that still working?
Also, big question here, can I continue to drive the car just disconnect a lead from the battery so that it won't drain?
I called the only Mini Dealership in WA and they quoted me 1300$.
I called a local mechanic here in town and after he called around he quoted me 1095$ He says the part, new and updated, is 800$. Installing it isn't a problem, the cost is almost all associated with the part.
Is this something I need to call it, as it says on the first page of this thread? Is that still working?
Also, big question here, can I continue to drive the car just disconnect a lead from the battery so that it won't drain?
#90
I have a 04 Mini Cooper S with 138,000 mi. that had this problem. The pump would stay on all the time. Even after the car was shut off. The pump is supposed to run only when you are turning the steering wheel. This is a good gas saver when it works. But after running the battery dead or not running at all it is a big problem.
I fixed the problem my self but it takes a bit of work. The main problem is that the electric motor that powers the pump is a totally sealed unit with no vents like a normal motor. This is probably because of where is located under the car and exposed to water and debris. This is also why it has to have an outside fan blowwing on it to try to keep it cool. Most electric motors have a fan built in to the end of the housing to blow air over the inside to cool it. But with no vents, the outside fan is used. As the brushes in the motor wear the graphite dust from them has no place to go. The housing packs up full of this dust until it can get the to circuit board that controls turning the motor on and off. Because graphite dust is a great conductor it shorts out the board and then the pump can get stuck on or off. I took my pump apart and found it packed full, I mean full of dust. I had a pile about an 1” deep on my bench. I fixed mine by blowing out the dust and cleaning the circuit board. It has been working good for about 8 months now.
Warning. It is quite a little bit of work to do this repair. You have to remove the pump and take the electric motor apart from the pump and then to get to the circuit board you have to clip the main wires that are attached to it. These wires will then have to be soldered back together. So while this might not be a job for many it will give you some of the reasons for the pump not working right. Im sorry but I don’t have many pictures as I was in a hurry to get my car running. But I do have a few bad cell phone pictures. One picture is of the top of the electic motor where the brushes are before I cut the wires to remove it an one that shows the main red wires after I had cut them to remove the top to get to the board. The gold bars in the first pic are the holders for the brushes. All 4 of the dust makers. LOL The next picture you can see the circut board in the back.
Hope this can help some.
I fixed the problem my self but it takes a bit of work. The main problem is that the electric motor that powers the pump is a totally sealed unit with no vents like a normal motor. This is probably because of where is located under the car and exposed to water and debris. This is also why it has to have an outside fan blowwing on it to try to keep it cool. Most electric motors have a fan built in to the end of the housing to blow air over the inside to cool it. But with no vents, the outside fan is used. As the brushes in the motor wear the graphite dust from them has no place to go. The housing packs up full of this dust until it can get the to circuit board that controls turning the motor on and off. Because graphite dust is a great conductor it shorts out the board and then the pump can get stuck on or off. I took my pump apart and found it packed full, I mean full of dust. I had a pile about an 1” deep on my bench. I fixed mine by blowing out the dust and cleaning the circuit board. It has been working good for about 8 months now.
Warning. It is quite a little bit of work to do this repair. You have to remove the pump and take the electric motor apart from the pump and then to get to the circuit board you have to clip the main wires that are attached to it. These wires will then have to be soldered back together. So while this might not be a job for many it will give you some of the reasons for the pump not working right. Im sorry but I don’t have many pictures as I was in a hurry to get my car running. But I do have a few bad cell phone pictures. One picture is of the top of the electic motor where the brushes are before I cut the wires to remove it an one that shows the main red wires after I had cut them to remove the top to get to the board. The gold bars in the first pic are the holders for the brushes. All 4 of the dust makers. LOL The next picture you can see the circut board in the back.
Hope this can help some.
Last edited by Iron-Iceberg; 01-20-2011 at 03:18 PM.
#92
#94
Plus my brushes had about half left, so if it went 100,000+ on half the brushes by 200,000+ miles I'm thinking you would probably need a rebuilt pump too. Although the pump looked really clean inside with no scoring so who knows.
Although if you know a place that does electric motor repair they might be able to get some new brushes for you but I'm not sure. Like I said I just needed to get back on the road.
#96
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. My '05 Cooper S, with 51,000 started to have a power-steering issue about 2 weeks ago. I will basically be driving when all of a sudden my steering wheel will really tighten up, and make steering damn near impossible. I took it to my mechanic who has a 04 Cooper and an '11 Countryman. He said I had absolutely no oil in my car, even though my mini said I still had about 2500 miles before one was needed, also, no warning lights ever came on. In researching my issue, I was directed here, read all the previous posts and immediatley put in a complaint to the NHTSA, I also emailed Mini as well wondering why no recall has ever been called for.
Right now the issue comes and goes with no warning...I am extremely disgusted at BMW, I had thought better of them. I guess it will take someone getting into a fatal accident to have them investigate this. And that's just a damn shame.
Thank you for letting me vent...
Right now the issue comes and goes with no warning...I am extremely disgusted at BMW, I had thought better of them. I guess it will take someone getting into a fatal accident to have them investigate this. And that's just a damn shame.
Thank you for letting me vent...
#97
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Finally heard back from Classic MINI after taking my car in and paying $60 just to hear that my power steering pump is non-functional (o'rly?)
MINI HAS DECLINED to be of any assistance on the repair because I am now out of warranty. That is true, but shouldn't the fact that I mentioned the noisy pump on 03/18/10 when the car had 47,865 miles on it and again on 07/21/10 when the car had 54,540 on it mean something? That and the fact that there is an open investigation on the car specifically because of the high number of failures on this specific part?
I am not looking for a freebie, but something along the lines of them paying for the defective part and me covering the cost of installation. I wonder if this is worth escalating or if I would just wasting my own time...
MINI HAS DECLINED to be of any assistance on the repair because I am now out of warranty. That is true, but shouldn't the fact that I mentioned the noisy pump on 03/18/10 when the car had 47,865 miles on it and again on 07/21/10 when the car had 54,540 on it mean something? That and the fact that there is an open investigation on the car specifically because of the high number of failures on this specific part?
I am not looking for a freebie, but something along the lines of them paying for the defective part and me covering the cost of installation. I wonder if this is worth escalating or if I would just wasting my own time...
I replaced my power steering pump this weekend. Fairly easy install, with the biggest challenges being the low pressure hose and the general lack of room to maneuver. I bought a reconditioned unit on eBay for just under $390 and did it on ramps in my garage.
I am still very disappointed in MINI/BMW for not helping me out on this. I did not expect them to cover the repair fully, but would have liked them to do do something like pay for the clearly substandard part and I would have covered the labor. I also would have liked them to give more than one damn attempt at returning my calls and emails!
#99
Mine went out while still in warranty. Nearest dealer is 150 miles. So they truck came out, loaded her up, when she arrived, of course, it was working fine, and since they couldn't get the problem to replicate, they sent it back.
About a month later, happened again. Sent car back up to the next state. Told them to keep it until it happened. Four days later, it did.
Oy. I guess the point of my long tale is unless it failed for the dealer, and mine always failed intermittently, they weren't going to fix it. This was back in... '06. When it was already a well-known problem. I found the attitude rather wanting even though I was lucky enough to get it fixed in warranty.
About a month later, happened again. Sent car back up to the next state. Told them to keep it until it happened. Four days later, it did.
Oy. I guess the point of my long tale is unless it failed for the dealer, and mine always failed intermittently, they weren't going to fix it. This was back in... '06. When it was already a well-known problem. I found the attitude rather wanting even though I was lucky enough to get it fixed in warranty.
#100
Does your power steering pump whine?? Did it whine before it failed??
Sorry all: I think I found my answer on another post!
Last edited by 03M1N1; 01-28-2011 at 08:18 PM. Reason: Found my answer in another post