Failed Power Steering Pump on 2002 Cooper S
Discussion
Hi Everyone,
I've been away for a while - work getting in the way of PHing, but just had to pop back to ask about the power steering pump on my Mum's 52 plate Cooper S - it's been noisy since she got it a few months ago, but we just thought they were all like that, and then yesterday she came out from work and the alarm went off when she tried to get in.
After much arsing about today, I've got it restarted, and found the problem was due to a flat battery. I then found out, after taking the car for a run to charge the battery
that the battery was flattened by the power steering pump staying on after the engine was switch off. The pump stays on until the battery is totally flat and the alarm goes off!
Does anyone know of a quick, cheap fix for this, or am I looking at the £400 odd quid a guy on MINI2.com paid???
Cheers,
Fatboy
I've been away for a while - work getting in the way of PHing, but just had to pop back to ask about the power steering pump on my Mum's 52 plate Cooper S - it's been noisy since she got it a few months ago, but we just thought they were all like that, and then yesterday she came out from work and the alarm went off when she tried to get in.
After much arsing about today, I've got it restarted, and found the problem was due to a flat battery. I then found out, after taking the car for a run to charge the battery
that the battery was flattened by the power steering pump staying on after the engine was switch off. The pump stays on until the battery is totally flat and the alarm goes off! Does anyone know of a quick, cheap fix for this, or am I looking at the £400 odd quid a guy on MINI2.com paid???
Cheers,
Fatboy
Theres a good chance that the main connector on top of the pump has suffered water ingress.
Its the big 2 pin connector-live and earth baulk wires.
If you pull the connector off(will be tight)you may find its been half eaten by corrosion,at worst the pins come off from the pump.Its at this point the water also enters the pump which shorts the motor out and keeps it running.
If you only have a small amount of corrosion then you may be able to clean out the connector and fill it with a water proof grease and hopefully it will be ok.
If its badly corroded then its a pump.At worst also the short loom.
If its all ok-no corrossion then its going to be the pump-I say this because it has never been anything else-I must have replaced a few hundred by now.
Just to check,when it stays running are all the dash lights out?Just in case its an ignition switch(very unlikly any lights will be on).
For parts-a dealer or second hand try www.fabdirect.com
The oil you need is CHF 11s most places sell it-dealer,halfrauds etc
You will also need a j.clip(19-24mm i think)
Tools 13mm spanner,ratchet,extention,10mm and 13mm socket,torx 40 socket,screwdriver,side cutter(snips).You may need to undo the engine stabilizer next to the pump-16mm socket(dont worry the engine wont fall out but it helps you bring the pump down through the gap).
When the pump is off you may need to rescue the mounting bracket attatched to the pump.
Ps theres 2 bolts and a nut that hold the pump on to the subframe-the 2 bolts are under the down pipe if your stood underneath(feel the back of the subframe)
Its the big 2 pin connector-live and earth baulk wires.
If you pull the connector off(will be tight)you may find its been half eaten by corrosion,at worst the pins come off from the pump.Its at this point the water also enters the pump which shorts the motor out and keeps it running.
If you only have a small amount of corrosion then you may be able to clean out the connector and fill it with a water proof grease and hopefully it will be ok.
If its badly corroded then its a pump.At worst also the short loom.
If its all ok-no corrossion then its going to be the pump-I say this because it has never been anything else-I must have replaced a few hundred by now.
Just to check,when it stays running are all the dash lights out?Just in case its an ignition switch(very unlikly any lights will be on).
For parts-a dealer or second hand try www.fabdirect.com
The oil you need is CHF 11s most places sell it-dealer,halfrauds etc
You will also need a j.clip(19-24mm i think)
Tools 13mm spanner,ratchet,extention,10mm and 13mm socket,torx 40 socket,screwdriver,side cutter(snips).You may need to undo the engine stabilizer next to the pump-16mm socket(dont worry the engine wont fall out but it helps you bring the pump down through the gap).
When the pump is off you may need to rescue the mounting bracket attatched to the pump.
Ps theres 2 bolts and a nut that hold the pump on to the subframe-the 2 bolts are under the down pipe if your stood underneath(feel the back of the subframe)
Thanks very much for your replies guys, I'll give that a bash before shelling out for a main dealer!
Finger crossed it'll just be a salvageable connector, but the car's been through a lot of floods (roads round my Mum flood a lot) so it'll probably be knackered...
No lights on the dash remain on when the pump is running and the engine switched off - everything is off but the pump, and the red led on the right hand side stalk flashes a lot - but I assumed that was just the low battery alarm warning...
Finger crossed it'll just be a salvageable connector, but the car's been through a lot of floods (roads round my Mum flood a lot) so it'll probably be knackered...
No lights on the dash remain on when the pump is running and the engine switched off - everything is off but the pump, and the red led on the right hand side stalk flashes a lot - but I assumed that was just the low battery alarm warning...
This happened to me but whilst i was driving, the steering went dead just as i was pulling it on to my drive, i turned the engine off and took the key out and it was still on, buzzing away loader than usual! and it moved the wheels full lock to the left!so i started the car again, forced the wheel to the right all the way over hard down and held it there! and then it went away! turned the car off and then off again problem solved!
This was due to a valve sticking due to the power supply being incorrect because of water getting in and corosion on the plug! clean up the connection and should be fine!
This was due to a valve sticking due to the power supply being incorrect because of water getting in and corosion on the plug! clean up the connection and should be fine!
Loui said:
Pumps are quite common, seem to be a bit of a weak link
They were upto 52 plate but now not so bad-They have refined the pump to a point now where it is almost quite,when I PDI'd the first MINI I wondered what the hell was wrong with the pump.
There was a time when we were replacing 2-3 a week,thats down to 1 every 3-4 months now
blackspider said:
Loui said:
Pumps are quite common, seem to be a bit of a weak link
They were upto 52 plate but now not so bad-They have refined the pump to a point now where it is almost quite,when I PDI'd the first MINI I wondered what the hell was wrong with the pump.
There was a time when we were replacing 2-3 a week,thats down to 1 every 3-4 months now
My 03 cooper had 2 pumps, my 54 plate S has been spot on so far
Loui said:
blackspider said:
Loui said:
Pumps are quite common, seem to be a bit of a weak link
They were upto 52 plate but now not so bad-They have refined the pump to a point now where it is almost quite,when I PDI'd the first MINI I wondered what the hell was wrong with the pump.
There was a time when we were replacing 2-3 a week,thats down to 1 every 3-4 months now
My 03 cooper had 2 pumps, my 54 plate S has been spot on so far
From 04 the MINI has been like a new car-we dont get many problems with them at all,not compaired to the first 3 years of MINI.Mind you they were being built by ex rover workers.....Then BMW AG made a few changes
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