Power steering leak on my Mini 2002 Auto

zudecke

Hi guys,

I know my car is old and you're all going to tell me to fear the worst and trust me, I am!

But I just wanted to run this by you..

My car was recently crashed into whilst parked and whilst I was at work and it has since been in the garage getting assessed and worked on/parts ordered etc.

Just after the crash but before the car was collected, I noticed the steering was making a creaking sound!

Since the car has been in the garage getting assessed etc, the mechanic has notified me that while the crash might have worsened the situation, he reckons there WAS (for god knows how long) been an "oil leak with the power steering" (I think he means a PS fluid leak!)...

I'm going to hope this gets fixed as part of the incident, because as I said, I had never heard it like this before, but if they insist this was a historical issue, what sort of bill am I looking at to get it fixed?

On a similar note, is it plausible that a car smashing into mine thrusting it full whack into another car, cause an issue/leak to my power steering?

Thanks,

Z

verityboo

Power steering failure on early BMW minis is common with the electric hydraulic pump becoming noisy and failing.

For more knowledgeable advise it might be worth trying the Mini2 forum?

s_b

zudecke wrote: »

Hi guys,

I know my car is old and you're all going to tell me to fear the worst and trust me, I am!

But I just wanted to run this by you..

My car was recently crashed into whilst parked and whilst I was at work and it has since been in the garage getting assessed and worked on/parts ordered etc.

Just after the crash but before the car was collected, I noticed the steering was making a creaking sound!

Since the car has been in the garage getting assessed etc, the mechanic has notified me that while the crash might have worsened the situation, he reckons there WAS (for god knows how long) been an "oil leak with the power steering" (I think he means a PS fluid leak!)...

I'm going to hope this gets fixed as part of the incident, because as I said, I had never heard it like this before, but if they insist this was a historical issue, what sort of bill am I looking at to get it fixed?

On a similar note, is it plausible that a car smashing into mine thrusting it full whack into another car, cause an issue/leak to my power steering?

Thanks,

Z

but you say you have had brought to your attention to a long standing leak
i guess what you are saying is can i wangle a free repair of this component out of the insurance?
if so then it all depends on what the company doing the insurance assessment say

zudecke

s_b wrote: »

but you say you have had brought to your attention to a long standing leak
i guess what you are saying is can i wangle a free repair of this component out of the insurance?
if so then it all depends on what the company doing the insurance assessment say

I said that my steering SEEMED fine before, but the mechanic reckons it has been leaking for some time and the crash has simply worsened it, hence the louad creaking sound when steering now.

System

as it's a known fault with the mini i'd be surprised if you can get it fixed as part of the current work,
if you dig around on mini2 or totalmini there are plenty of people that have had the repair done so you'll get an idea of the cost there...

edit: good guide found here http://forum.minicooper.org/showthread.php?t=9626

knew i'd bookmarked it somewhere!

zudecke

Cheers mate! That guide does look like a bit of a DIY guide and unfortunately I'm not equipped with the tools or know-how to pull something that advanced off..

I'll see what Mini2 have to say and see if I can get some advice there .

Thanks again!

System

sorry, I wasn't thinking you'd do it yourself, links on there to reconditioned units and guide prices for labour so you might have a good idea if they are charging you too much!
best to go in with some rough ideas of the costs involved... good luck!

btw mini2 is seems to be more us infulenced now, totalmini appears to be more uk - but i'm new to both so can't give you a definite!

zudecke

Hi guys,

Thanks the_r_sole - I did post on there also

Just heard back from the garage who said that they did manage to quick-fix/address the PS leak.. Apparently it was caused by a loose cap that was allowing the fluid to escape.

They said that they topped up the PS fluid and tested and everything seemed ok.

I will ask if this might have any knock-on effects, but what do you guys think?

Z

patman99

Thought these were sealed self-contained units like the ones on the Focus Diesel?.

s_b

patman99 wrote: »

Thought these were sealed self-contained units like the ones on the Focus Diesel?.

so did i until a few weeks back and saw that they are electro hydraulic
(dont ask)

atrixblue.-MFR-.

cant tell you how much the work will cost you but they are not cheap electric pumps thats for sure.

brand new i think these are in the region of £350-500. £180 for a recon return (send your away to be fixed etc)