Known issue with faulty power steering pump

[Gavstar]

I guess you guys are aware of the common issue with steering pumps packing up on Minis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/02/mini_s...

Well it happened to me last night and i had to be towed home by the AA. The general message on the Watchdog forum is that if you're lucky, Mini/BMW will pay a goodwill gesture of some money towards the estimated £800 bill. However my local dealer will not commit to paying anything until they've seen the car to diagnose it but said I would probably have a good case.

What bugs me is that is a known fault so surely Mini should be responsible for the whole lot? Does anyone have any experience of this issue, and any advice on how to get Mini to pay the whole amount?

Thanks guys

[ROBTVR]

My Ps pump failed on my 02 MCS whilst on holiday, called my local Mini dealer to find out what the latest is on the failure's and what they are doing about it after the watchdog show, i was told that they had only changed 12-15 pumps last year and didnt really think this justified "common Failure". As i was on holiday and quite desperate and that fighting BMW wasn't much of an option at the time,i searched the interweb and found on ebay BBA Reman in Rochester Kent, they remanufacture these pumps, promptly ordered one ready for when i got home, Fitting was very easy and took me no more than 1 hour. So BMW, not only will you not release a recall for these pumps but you charge £800 for the privelage, I done mine for £200 including fluids.

Edited by ROBTVR on Saturday 9th May 15:29

[jcwuk]

We had the same problem but threatened legal action against BWM uk which they then agreed to supply and fit but here the joke...

Unless we paid something towards the part they would not guarantee the pump for 2 years ! What a con!

So we paid 10p towards the part and received a 2 year warranty.

This happened to us last year and having the steering shut down without notice is quite scary.

The steering still works but really is too heavy.

[okgo]

Ridiculous really the way they go about it.

As said going from PAS to not that quickly will catch everyone out. I have a car that has had its PAS removed and its hard work, you get used to it but it takes time..

[jcwuk]

okgo said:

Ridiculous really the way they go about it.

As said going from PAS to not that quickly will catch everyone out. I have a car that has had its PAS removed and its hard work, you get used to it but it takes time..

Hi okgo (-:

I could not believe what happened when we tried to turn a corner at approx 15mph.
Its a wake up call thats for sure!
But..... for owners who have experienced this stand your ground and do your legal work and they will back down.

This is a serious problem thats not funny when it happens.
God help anyone who is Driving on a B road and this happens!

We were furious when this happened and told the Dealer and BMW what we thought.
Dealer was very good in supporting us.
Have to say BMW were ok but I feel its how you approach this problem.
Hope this helps?

[SteA]

jcwuk said:

okgo said:

Ridiculous really the way they go about it.

As said going from PAS to not that quickly will catch everyone out. I have a car that has had its PAS removed and its hard work, you get used to it but it takes time..

Hi okgo (-:

I could not believe what happened when we tried to turn a corner at approx 15mph.
Its a wake up call thats for sure!
But..... for owners who have experienced this stand your ground and do your legal work and they will back down.

This is a serious problem thats not funny when it happens.
God help anyone who is Driving on a B road and this happens!

We were furious when this happened and told the Dealer and BMW what we thought.
Dealer was very good in supporting us.
Have to say BMW were ok but I feel its how you approach this problem.
Hope this helps?

This happened to our 02 MCS when we bought it a few months ago.

I made a very polite call to BMW UK then the same to BMW Bolton. BMW UK were happy to cover 80% of the bill, which to be honest on a 2002 car was excellent in my eyes Everything was done promptly with minimal fuss, maybe I just came across excellent staff, or maybe polite and gently persistent pays off

[Gavstar]

Thanks for all your replies so far. I spoke to MINI/BMW UK customer services this morning, and they said the same as my local dealer. They will consider a good will payment once the dealer has looked at the car, diagnosed it, and then they take into account the age of the car, mileage, ownership history/service history etc.
It seems I cannot do anymore until they come back to me with their decision. Interestingly, MINI do not accept it as a known fault, and certainly not a common fault - only a small number of cases have come up, which is why, outside of warranty, a goodwill gesture is all they are willing/obliged to do.

[AndyM31]

I read this thread and I am wondering if it is worth me giving Mini a call to get the car looked at to try an prevent any such nasty surprises.

Anybody tried contacting the dealers to get the vehicles inspected as a preventative measure? What response/experience have you had?

When I read these experiences, I get images of me driving my first car (1981 Toyota Land Cruiser) that was as manual as they could come. The steering was like trying to turn a steel beam in a limited space. At times you almost had to hang from it to turn it if the ground was bad.

Thanks,

Andy

Edited by AndyM31 on Monday 11th May 16:31

[ilikecars]

AndyM31 said:

I read this thread and I am wondering if it is worth me giving Mini a call to get the car looked at to try an prevent any such nasty surprises.

Anybody tried contacting the dealers to get the vehicles inspected as a preventative measure? What response/experience have you had?

When I read these experiences, I get images of me driving my first car (1981 Toyota Land Cruiser) that was as manual as they could come. The steering was like trying to turn a steel beam in a limited space. At times you almost had to hang from it to turn it if the ground was bad.

Thanks,

Andy

Edited by AndyM31 on Monday 11th May 16:31

I didnt call the dealer to get the vehicle inspected as such. I just called up and said my power steering doesnt seem 100% right. They made a slot available pretty much immediatly and the pump was changed foc when it went in.

I dont think there was anything wrong with it, but the car will be out of warranty in a month or so's time, so wanted to get it done free before I had to start going through putting claims in with BMW.

I have had 3 MINI's and so far all of them have had the power steering pump replaced.

[Gavstar]

Well, the outcome is BMW/MINI will pay for the part and 50% of the labour costs which I'm pretty happy with.

[jcwuk]

Gavstar said:

Well, the outcome is BMW/MINI will pay for the part and 50% of the labour costs which I'm pretty happy with.

Glad to see they have helped out mate.

Did you get the 2 year warranty on the part ?

[Gavstar]

Yeah I'm pretty chuffed - it's costing me about £100, and I get the 2 year warranty. Plus they gave the car a check over too, FOC, so can't grumble. Thanks for your advice guys.

[jenpot]

I'm facing this problem right now. power steering has been dodgy for a year and a half, refused to come on a couple of weeks ago and last night refused to turn off. Phoned my local BMW garage (not their affiliated Mini place, as they are tw@s) and I'm booked in for diagnostic next week. I've already asked for a contribution if it is proven to be this known issue, based on cars age et.c. Here's hoping....

[Ston1]

Hi All

Top advice on this, really useful. My power steering decides to turn itself off after long journeys, or whilst in heavy traffic (I have a 53 Cooper S). Laughable that Mini won't accept this as a common problem. £100 is not too bad - props for getting it done for 10p though JCW! It seems to differ depending on the dealership.....

[CooperD]

I had two power steering pump failures with my first 2003 MINI Cooper. The first one after only having it about two months from new. It started to go intermittently when the car was stopped for a few minutes like filling up with petrol or shopping in the supermarket. I took it back to the local dealer who replaced the pump. Then after about three months the new pump failed and the car was recovered back to the dealers as it failed whilst I was at work, 35 miles from the dealer. The recovery man deemed the car undriveable. They again replaced the pump. I had no problems with this pump in the 2 1/2 years I subsequently had the car. I'm now on my third MINI and have had no problems, steering pump wise with either of these. I think that at the time there were a few faulty steering pumps in the system. I must say, the steering never failed whilst the car was moving which must be very frightening for anyone. It was always after the ignition had been switched off.

[Defcon5]

What is the actual problem with these, do they just randomly stop working or what? The OH will be getting an early one (probably a Cooper S) soon, and preventative measures would be gratefully received!

[< FORZA WEST]

Defcon5 said:

What is the actual problem with these, do they just randomly stop working or what? The OH will be getting an early one (probably a Cooper S) soon, and preventative measures would be gratefully received!

Several issues... The most common is water ingress into the main power connector on the pump, the terminals corrode and break away.

Also water passes into the pump motor and shorts it out, water also gets into the control side of the pump.

The pumps do suddenly stop and its always when loading seems to take place-ie corners or parking.

The only measure that can be done is to undo the connector and check,if its clean then add a water proof connector gel to the terminals-however you cant tell if water has ever entered the pump...

[weezie]

jcwuk said:

We had the same problem but threatened legal action against BWM uk which they then agreed to supply and fit but here the joke...

Unless we paid something towards the part they would not guarantee the pump for 2 years ! What a con!

So we paid 10p towards the part and received a 2 year warranty.

This happened to us last year and having the steering shut down without notice is quite scary.

The steering still works but really is too heavy.

Hi, what year was your mini, we've just had the same problem,Mini wont pay a penny, we had to pay 686.00, the mini is a 53 plate with 44,000 miles on the clock, 1 owner and fully serviced

thanks

[bazking69]

£600-£800?? The dealers are taking the biscuit.

[BeeGeeTee]

Anyone else see Watchdog last night?

My Cooper's PAS pump is everso noisy (even without turning the steering wheel) and the steering sometimes gets heavy and then returns to normal again. The pump also occasionally runs when the engine isn't running.

Sounds like mine could be on the way out?