Hey everyone, I have a 2003 R53 with just over 150k miles on it. Lately, I have noticed a constant whining noise while driving the car. I assumed this to be a dying power steering pump, but I hadn't experienced any power steering losses so I disregarded it for a week or so.. Well, just this morning I tried to start the car up after it had been sitting overnight. The car started up very rough, lights were flickering in the cluster, there was also a beeping noise, my headlights were flashing as if they were not getting enough power to stay on...Also, as soon as I go to turn the wheel, the car stalls. Could a bad power steering pump be sucking the power from the battery and be causing these issues? Also, given my mileage, I am assuming im not covered under any warranty or recall am I? Thanks!
Check your lower crank pulley, when they fail the alternator doesn't work - or the A/C, water pump and supercharger if it's an S and so on......
sounds more like an overall electrical issue. Alternator, belt, battery first places to check. Powersteering does use a lot of power, so if the battery is weak and the alternator doesn't charge it any longer, it could be a likely "consumer" to bring everything down. Noise is somewhat normal - my dark silver car did that before the recall replaced the pump, but it worked just fine. Check fluid level in the power steering fluid reservoir. It may be noisy if there isn't enough hydraulic oil in there.
My wife had problems with our R52 when I was at the dragon. Battery light came on and then the engine would not turn off with the key. After she got the engine killed she heard the power steering pump continue to whine with the key off until she and the neighbor got the battery cable disconnected. Here are pictures of that power steering pump motor. These are fed with a 100 amp fuse and can overwhelm your charging circuit. Please note the cooling fan works as expected in this car.
Is that how Minis burn to the ground? I recall carrying a fire extinguisher on longer trips because of PS related fire stories I read.
Yikes! My power steering has been very slow to respond lately... for the first 10-20 seconds after starting the car, it's like driving an old unassisted car, then it spins up OK and steering is much easier. Those burnt-out photos are freaking me out!
Yeah I waould say that was the culprit. Do you have a direction as to the cause? The last issue I had with my PS I was expecting to see the same thing when I got into it, at least I would have known the problem. That was not the case, I ripped it down further and found nothing. I checked all the fuses including that 100 amp, that was a PIA to get to, along with all related connections, nothing. On some friendly advice from M/A I checked the alternator and this is what I found.
I have to assume this is the reason some MINI's have burnt. This is an '06 built in 10/2005 with ~82k on the odometer, not covered by the recall/extended warranty. It's a sealed motor and the brushes and commutator are very worn. My guess is that the conductive dust lead to a short. (There was a lot of dust.) I'm just glad my wife recognized the pump still running and I answered the phone when she called wondering what to do!
LOL. I'm planning to have Sal at Kintech, my new local MINI mechanic here in Charlotte, do the clutch and maybe a LSD later this year. I might as well add this to the list as the subframe will be on the floor for the other work already.
This will leave 1 less hazard to worry about... https://www.condorspeedshop.com/products/mini-powersteering-delete ...& bigger biceps than desired. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Every time I see something like that, I think of my elementary school bus driver. She had retired from her first job, so she was well into her 60s. The bus had a manual door with a sticky mechanism, so it took quite a good deal of force to open and close it. She had a MASSIVE bicep... on her right side! The left side was pretty normal for a petite older lady. Welcome to the gun (singular) show!