Mini News Most liked posts in thread: MINI Extends Power Steering Pump Warranty on 1st Gen Models

Thanks for the help Nate.

 

My letter came as my pump was on it's way to Module Master in Moscow, Idaho

Yesterday I send Mini a letter asking for reimbursement for my expenses.
I include the cost of my eBay cooling fan and PS fluid ( no labor charge).

 

I just got home (2:15 AM), turned the MINI off and the pump was still running, had to disconnect the battery to shut it down. I did the low speed fan fix with a resistor a while ago. Just before that, when I was in town the steering went stiff for a moment then returned to normal. From your experience, is my pump dieing? Is this a symptom of the pump about to fail completely?

 

It has already failed if it will not turn off

 

Thanks Mr. Jim, two thoughts come to mind. What I was thinking last night as I was panicky about getting all my junk out of the boot to disconnect the battery then finding the right socket to disconnect the ground wire. Thoughts of that burned up justa I saw in salvage yard last week, not pretty.

Since this is a warranty issue, I hoping for flat bed service to the dealership, what do ya think?

 

That just happened to me yesterday (steering went stiff, then came back), and now I'm worried about a ticking time bomb. I have a 2006 R52 that won't be covered under the warranty extension.

For the past couple of weeks, after extended city driving, the fan might turn on for a couple of minutes after parking. This never happened in the past. The car was in the shop yesterday for brake work and I asked about it. They said the steering pump may be starting to fail, and overheating and kicking the fan on. Well it just happened that after I picked up the car and drove to my destination, the power steering died while I was parallel parking into a tight space. Not a good feeling. It was back to normal an hour later when I left.

Should I try to get it replaced right away? We drive mostly in the city and it would be bad if it went out, especially for my wife.

 

"Should I try to get it replaced right away? We drive mostly in the city and it would be bad if it went out, especially for my wife."

If you have the use of one car and the wife shares it, absolutely.
I called my dealer this morning, he told me they are waiting on pumps from Germany and they would have some in two weeks.

 

Get it taken care of right away otherwise you'll have to disconnect the battery every time you stop.

 

True that.:crazy:

 

I got suspicious and called the parts department to get a price on a pump, $816.88 . So I asked if they had it in stock, they replied that, they have plenty in stock. So now that I have been lied to, I don't trust my MA.

So, what are the differences between the old pump and the new?

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

They installed the new harness too? I was under the impression that this is a new version pump, fan and wiring harness. Does it mean that because your 2006 isn't covered, that it already has these parts?

 

I had it done at an independent shop and they only replaced the fan and pump. My 2006 already had the newer 2005 power steering (still failed anyway) and I don't know whether MINI has updated these parts yet again.

 

So are you saying you did or did not have an appointment?

 

Same story I got.

 

power steering/dealer issues

My steering failed less than 2 months after I bought my 2012 Countryman. I called the service manager who told me,"There's absolutely no reason for that to happen. Are you sure you didn't stall the car?" He told me it would be a waste of time to bring it in. After trying every hour or so it was fine. Two weeks later I brought it in for a myriad of other issues. After 8 days (!) they told me I needed a new "module" but wouldn't tell me what it was for. The service manager told me I wouldn't understand. So I called MINI USA and they told me it was for the power steering. Turns out it is a very common problem in MINI's. So why wasn't the dealership aware of it? Why would they dismiss something potentially dangerous? NHTSA knows about it. The WSJ had an article about a month ago - MINI was #1 in safety related complaints out of all cars sold in the US. Power train problems, steering failure and seat-belt/restraint system failure.
I love my MINI - the dealership, not so much.
katie5k

 

Wow does your dealer suck. This & the fact in another thread you said it was 5 days before they could sell you a tire. I suggest you find a better dealer. Ask around & someone should be able to point you to a good one.

 

Where do you live?

 

Somewhere in Massachusetts Mark.

 

:cornut: I always watch for Ms Kitty's posts. They're great and to the point. Please keep it up Ms Kitty. I'd call her the female DaveO. but Ms Kitty can read and write(hope they're both laughing at this):lol::lol:

Jason