Power steering problems!

[kim85]

Please can someone help me! I've just brought a mini cooper 2002 with 47,000 miles.
The first week the water pump pulley came off costing me £310.00 for a whole new pump.
Since then the power steering had gone so heavy i could'nt turn the wheel. After turning the engine off and on it worked but definatley didn't feel right to drive. Would sometimes work, sometimes lock.
I took it to my local garage who sent the power steering pump off to be re furbed, It's back and worked fine for 2 days but has now done the exact same thing. It cost me £486.00! Was this a waste of money? What would be wrong with it?

The car had been sat for a year and only done 40 miles, could this have anything to do with it?

[bad venge]

The Pump is electric , sounds like you have an intermittant power feed , the cable connector might be corroded , or the cooling fan (seperate) might be bad.

[kim85]

Thanks for the info. Do you know if these would be big jobs? Will take to the garage tomorrow morning, again.

[bad venge]

Fans around $100/$130

Connectors depend on the severity or the shops ability to wire around the bad connector

usually the fan it would work awhile and then when the pump overheats it will shut down
the connection could shut down at any time

[orca17]

A piece of advice: If you go to the dealer, they will charge $300+ for replacing the fan. Find a good independent mechanic who knows Minis.

[Smith3135]

If your power steering fluid level is fine and your power steering is whining then your power steering pump may not be working. The cost for a new pump varies by vehicle, call your local auto parts store and ask. I would say the vehicle is fine to drive to the garage, just be careful when turning.

[jamiebean80]

KIM85. I have a 2004 Mini Cooper Base, 5speed. I bought mine used 3 years ago. I absolutely love it, it's my first Mini but the things got some hefty repairs. About two months after purchasing the car, the power steering went out. I had EVERYTHING checked just to avoid the VERY expensive repair of the pump. The fan, fuses, wiring etc etc were all fine. Basney BMW even told me replacing the serpentine belt would fix the pump and they wanted $400 for that. I didn't get that fixed because it didn't make sense to me. The pump is 'electrical'. Turns out the pump had a short in it which was causing the Intermitent problems.
Mini of Chicago wanted $2,000usd to fix it but luckily I found a local guy who works on imports who charged me $933. When he told me the cost of the part, $750, I didn't believe him and went on a hunt for my own part. I spent days googling, calling etc etc and couldn't find anything less. Finally I had it replaced and so far so good.
My Mini has 100,800 miles and I don't knwo when the problem first presented. For me it was at 80k miles.

[bad venge]

There IS a company that rebuilds them , I got a lifetime warranty for $300 and a $50 core charge