Cooper "S" R53 Power Steering Pump Failure
A Mini Cooper "S" R53 was driven into the shop last week. The alternator light was on, and there was a horrible burnt smell and smoke coming from under the hood. Once the smoke cleared, (literally) we checked what was going on. My first thought was alternator seized up and the burning smell was the belt. The belt was moving freely, and the smoke had stopped. However the power steering had stopped working. Evidently what has happened the P/S pump had grounded internally causing the large positive power lead to the pump to begin melting down. Is the power steering pump the cause of the melt down or the result of the melt down? Once we removed the burnt power lead from the P/S pump the alternator light went off and the alternator was able to charge the system. Evidently the alternator was severely over loaded to a point where it was not able to keep up with the demand.
I'll keep you posted on our findings?
here is the photo of the replacement pump and the destroyed pump.
