From day one I've heard this pump/fan noise from under the engine and really never bothered about it as I was new to the car. Now the Mini is finished I thought I'd investigate the noise. If I turn on the ignition but not starting the engine I can hear this noise. I found out it is the power steering pump working. I can tell because the steering is easy to turn. The pump seems to increase and decrease in speed without moving the steering wheel. The pump is basically running most of the time and sometimes not running resulting in no power steering. So what controls the pump to make it work? if the pump is defective can I get another with the letter I got front Mini?
:cornut: I'm an R56 type and we have electronic assist as opposed to 'hydraulic power steering' in the R50/52/53 sense so I'll bump you back to the top and we'll await the R50/52/53 gurus. Jason
i'd try to get a free one first! I've never had a problem with either my street car or the race car. pump is relocated in the boot in the race car. I don't remember exactly, but I think that most PS pump problems are related to the fans. fans (resistors) die, then PS pump overheats and dies. not sure if this is R53 specific or not....glad I could help.
Some good info here..Power Steering Pump DIY - MINI Cooper Forum - MINI2 Mini Cooper Forums Mine most likely needs cleaning.
Did the clean yesterday. The only difference in the procedure I made was the seperate the pump part from the motor under the car so i did not have to drain the PS fluid. Fluid does leak out the shaft hole, so I plugged in with a rubber glove. I could not turn the shaft by hand, my motor bushes were half worn and the module board a little dirty with carbon dust. Once I put the motor together I could turn the shaft by hand but I counldn't test the pump as I have the fuel filter out for replacement.
That computer board is what controls the speed of the pump, I've had good luck just taking it apart and cleaning the accumulated dust out from brush wear and have gotten a lot more miles out of one of these, but if you can swap it for the new style under the warranty you'll never have to buy another one. If the board is bad or the armature shorted you'll be getting a new pump.
Still waiting on the dealership, SA said he would call when they got replacements in. 4 weeks next Tuesday.
Thanks for the info. I fitted a new fuel filter which canceled out the P0313 error. The filter was tolally blocked up. So now I could test the PSP which after the clean still did not work but the crazy electrical issues are gone which must have been related to PSP pump. Actually running without the pump does not affect the feel of the steering wheel, just parking requires a little more effort. haha I'm going to see it I can get a new pump for free from the dealer, if not I'll run without it.
Seems the dealer here does not have the extended warranty for PSP Dear Chris, My guarantees partner tells me that this vehicle has no campaign to tell us replace this pump, so we cannot make any changes by guarantee, if any local campaign to USA this is valid only in that country. Greetings.