1st Gen R53 Cooper S Battery Light On / No Power Steering

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by panaphobic, Nov 14, 2011.

  1. panaphobic

    panaphobic Club Coordinator

    Jul 19, 2010
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    So I went to the mall with my g/f yesterday. When I started my MINI back up to leave, the battery light was on. I checked the voltage on my ScanGauge and it was showing 11.3 constant (normally it was around 13.5-14.2) and I started driving and the power steering wasn't working at all. I went to Autozone and they tested the battery. They said the battery was good, but needed a charge. I'm thinking that alternator isn't charging the battery fully. Would a low voltage from the alternator cause the power steering to shut off though? Any help would be appreciated.
     
  2. jasonsmf

    jasonsmf Active Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    Sounds like a bad alternator is a strong possibility. The electric power steering pump will shut down when the system voltage drops too low. The same exact symptoms happened to a friend at MOTD this year, a new alternator was the fix.

    Jason
     
  3. CHKMINI

    CHKMINI Club Coordinator
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    Check the positive power stud (connection) located on the firewall, driver's side in a small black plastic box. These have been known to come loose on the R53 and create the problem that you describe.
     
  4. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    Both alternator and power steering pump are run off the serpentine belt. Check the belt, belt tensioner, and crank pulley, too.
     
  5. jasonsmf

    jasonsmf Active Member

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    On the R53 the power steering pump is actually electric, not belt driven.

    Jason
     
  6. BThayer23

    BThayer23 Well-Known Member

    Jun 12, 2009
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    Oh, right, my bad. I've been working on the other car too much lately.
     
  7. panaphobic

    panaphobic Club Coordinator

    Jul 19, 2010
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    yeah i figure it's the alternator going out. i put 2 and 2 together. i have aftermarket headlight assemblies and the caps for where the headlight washers (are suppose to be on stock MINI's with HID's) are missing. that's sitting right on top the alternator. water comes in and will run right down on top of the alternator. it didn't even occur to me about them causing an issue with them not being there. guess i'm gonna have to get them as well.
     
  8. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    May 4, 2009
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    How old is your battery? The OEM battery is well known to "check out" ok but still be bad.
     
  9. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Have the battery checked before going to the expense & agro of swapping the alternator. Always check the easy stuff first.
     
  10. Steve

    Steve Administrator
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    Apr 23, 2009
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    He said he had the battery checked (post #1). Is there a particular type of test Autozone wouldn't have done?
     
  11. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Guess if the fellow at Autozone knows what he is doing. Personally I like the folks at Interstate batteries.

    Missed the battery checking in the first post. Bad me no donut...
     
  12. DixonL2

    DixonL2 New Member

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    I was the guy Jason talked about, sounds exactly like my alternator failure... at the overlook on the Dragon. Try driving the Dragon and hellbender in a Mini with no power steering! Our steering geometry is designed for p/s, so every turn was a chore... but with Jasno's help and a VERY late night (and a large amount of money), it all ended well.
     
  13. panaphobic

    panaphobic Club Coordinator

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    Yeah I changed out the alternator and it fixed the problem. Again, thanks for confirming it guys and the other possible issues it could have been.
     
  14. minsanity

    minsanity Well-Known Member

    Sep 11, 2009
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    Just baffled why MINIs commonly eat up Denso alternators. They seem to be bulletproof on Toyotas & other Japs. :confused5:
     
  15. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Probably cause of the enviroment.....not a lot of room in the engine bay.
     
  16. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2010
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    I'm inclined to think the placement exposes them to extra heat in the mini...that and rapid rpm changes seem to play havoc with the built in voltage regulators, and be tuff on the bearing....afterall my wifes toyotda with 200,000+ miles on the denso sees pretty steady rpms....
    Also wonder what the effect of having to "push" the current (increased resistance) all the way back to the battery, and the extra load of the electric ps on the s does....
     
  17. jasonsmf

    jasonsmf Active Member

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    How common are these failures actually? (this is an honest question) With any make/model of car you are going to have the occasional alternator failures. I had just assumed that with the nature of internet forums, we are only hearing about these occasional failures all in one place. Knock on wood, but I'm at 125,000mi on my alternator, maybe I'm just lucky!

    Jason
     
  18. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    Good luck Jason. Hope it continues for you & me. Kim is now at 145,000 on her non-supercharged alternator. :Thumbsup:
     
  19. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

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    I'm inclined to say not very common...(much less common tha ps pump failure).
    some folls do have 2or 3...usually after having used a cheap lifetime warrenty'ed one...rebuilding an alternator properly can be $$ (denso remanfactures their own, sold on some web sites, only about $50 cheaper than new)...i suspect most aftermarket lifetime alternators, regardless of band tend to be rebuilt, and tested...cheap partd, good warrenty....so labour and relilibility becomes what you save spending the extra $$.
     
  20. SpR

    SpR Banned

    Sep 24, 2013
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    Happened to me

    The exact thing just happened to me, battery light.. Loss of power steering. I was up on Polaris I live about 3 miles away so I tried to get. Home overheated so I shut the car off. After a while I started heading home when the cat started making some terrible sounds. I'm praying. It's just the altnator. The other day my battery was dead I had to jump start the car. I swapped batteries 3 days ago. Now this, I think it's the altnator, thoughts????
     

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