Sorry to hear that your still having problems. But you've said you tried rebleeding it, did you have the slave cylinder full compressed when you tried?

 

I did not have the slave cylinder compressed. I noticed that the "thingamajig" thing that the slave pushes has more travel when pushed against the slave. After I bled the system the clutch pedal feel improved.

How would not bleeding the slave properly cause the symptoms I'm experiencing. Thanks!

 

Ok, that will possibly leave a lot of air still in slave. You need to unbolt the slave from the trans fashion a tool to compress the piston all the way in and still centered. I used a peice of wood with 3 holes drilled in it two for long bolts and wingnuts to bolt the slave to it and the third hole was to center the piston. get it all bolted in nice and tight and try rebleeding your slave. Hopefully that will get all of the air out.

 

I was thinking about how to fashion a tool but never thought about using a piece of wood excellent idea.

 

some have used a cocking gun but none of mine fit right. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

Thanks.

 

I used an endless (no hooks, loops into itself) ratchet strap on my slave, bolted in place, to compress when I bled my clutch. I also used the $25.00 pneumatic brake bleeder from Harbor Freight. Worked a treat. Only issue is that the ratchet strap pulls in the direction of the ratchet, so you have to be careful to keep the plunger straight.

 

Mininuke, your car has a lot more power than stock, right? Perhaps that is the reason for slipping.

This soft pedal feel from the valeo kit is why I'm saving for a redesigned OEM flywheel and clutch kit. My dual mass flywheel is broken.

 

That may be the case but I was told by other forum members that the Valeo kit was strong enough to hold some mods. Maybe they were talking about pulley, cat back and CAI. 90% of my driving I consider normal driving the other 10% is spirited driving. The clutch feels good for normal driving but I enjoy the 10%, I'm afraid that those days are gone unless I get a better setup, meaning a lot more money.

 

Well, if your car is the first to really break the holding power of the valeo, do you have any idea of your hp/tq? It would be good to know for other members where this option will start to fall short.

On a side note, I had to replace my cylinder because I noticed it was leaking during my clutch job. When I pulled it off the hardline it broke the connector on it, so I had to replace the hard line as well. Huge pain in the @#$. Had all sorts of problems finding bolts that were long enough to compress the cylinder. Used a 1/4'' steel L bracket that I drilled holes into, and that ended up bending where the piston pushed on it. I have never gone through so much brake fluid in my time of tinkering with cars. For all I know I might still have a little air in there.

 

I haven't dynoed the car since I got it but the previous did during a tuning party I organized back in '09. The Dyno was reading very low and it read 195 WHP. I'm certain that what the car has in Mods should yield about 215ish WHP.

Anyway, I will not rule out that there may still be some air in the system. I just got back from visiting family so I haven't had the chance to bleed the system properly by compressing the slave all the way. Will keep you guys posted.

 

From what I can tell, the surface area on the clutch disk is smaller in overall surface area (as in, narrower band of disk material). HOWEVER, the clutch disk material diameter is actually larger. Basically it's a:

o (with smaller band)

versus

O (with a larger band)

Also, that means the surface where the clutch disk will touch the flywheel is different. From o to O.

Lastly, because the part is now a single mass flywheel, the springs to dampen vibration in the clutch is now on the clutch disk instead of the flywheel.

The parts look quality, which is not surprising, because valeo is the same oem manufacturer anyway. I suspect that with the narrower-banded-wider-diametered clutch surface, the holding power and durability is similar to the OEM system, and that's how Valeo markets it as.

I'm having a reputable shop put this on this week. I have mild mods.

We'll see how it is and how the feel is.

 

Good luck! Hopefully you won't experience what I am experiencing right now. Keep us updated.

 

UPDATE:

The clutch feel is imprving after about 385 miles of city/highway have been driven. Occasionally, the clutch will chatter/shudder at take off. The main problem I have is the clutch still slips occasionally between 1/2 to 3/4 throttle within the 4 and 5K RPM range. I think it may never go away or improve but I'm crossing my fingers.

I wonder if it has something to do with the new (non-OEM) slave cylinder. Could it be hat the actuator rod from the cylinder is too long not allowing the bearing to disengage completely? How can not bleeding the slave properly cause slipping? Anyone?

 

Don't know anything about slave cylinders. However, maybe wait till mile 500+ to see whether it's still slipping. Maybe baby it for a few more.

 

Yep, that is my plan. I am babying the clutch. It's hard not to rev up to 5k RPM when you are merging into fast traffic although I'm avoiding it as much as I can.

 

I don't see the slipping getting better it will only get worse.

 

Care to explain, please.

 

sounds like you glazed your clutch. If you never got all the air out of the lines you may not be able to fully release the clutch so your sorta slipping the clutch everytime you shift or press and hold the clutch pedal.

 

I was able to bleed the slave and the clutch pedal feel is a night and day difference. I didn't have the special tool to compress the slave but I was able to do it by threading a 1" tow strap through the slave mounting holes. About 440 miles have been driven (although more than half is highway) and I am still experiencing the occassional shudder at take off. I finally stepped on it today all the way to redline and the clutch slipped right at 5K RPM then it grabbed all the way to 7K RPM. I guess I will give it a couple hundred miles of extra break-in to see what happens. If the symptoms persist I will have to say that this would be my second and last MINI. I will trade it in for maybe an M3. The sad thing is I really like my mini but I don't think I want to put out $2100 for a performance clutch and labor. I regret not going that route initially.

 

Ok,

Got the car back today, put a few miles on it. Installed it with a reputable shop, and had a chance to see what my impressions were compared to the stock clutch.

First of all, i'm still semi babying it for another few hundred miles, so i can't say for sure whether it'll slip. But no slipping for now up to 5k.

Second-- the feel. Pedal feel is lighter than stock, i'd say about 10-20% in resistance. The threshold engagement point is MUCH earlier: I would say that the clutch engagement starts at about 1 inch travel past full pedal depression whereas the stock one started at about 3-4 inches from full pedal depression. The entire engagement length is also shorter. I would say the engagement length is about 1.5-2 inch pedal travel. Compared to my stock (which was worn down fyi), which i took it to be 2-3 inches.

I can't say I notice the single mass flywheel which was SLIGHTLY lighter than the dual mass-- it's probably because it's not by much that there isn't any discernible difference in feel.

Third-- the noise/vibration. There is very low to no extra noise compared to the stock set up. It feels a little more raw though than the dual mass for sure. For example, when you start up the car in neutral, there's definitely more shudder and vibrations through the transmission at the initial crank, but after the engine starts, there's only a slight, almost imperceptible increase in vibrations. The change in design from the sprung dual mass to the solid single mass probably accounts for this. I'm no expert on clutch chatter, but I think there is little to none compared that’s in addition to my worn stock clutch.

Overall, I'm very happy with this set up for now-- assuming no slippage in the days ahead with my mild mods. Can't wait till I can give it a real go (especially because the LSD was put in with the clutch job as well).

 

I hope you have a positive experience and everything turns out good. After I bled the clutch last Saturday I have to say that it feels very close to the stock pedal feel. It no longer feels as light as when I picked it up from the shop. I think that not being properly bled caused what I am experiencing.

 

So i have almost 2K on my Valeo, and now it working better then ever now that i think about it it slipped a little when i first got it but ive been babying it. Finally the other day i installed a boost gauge and wanted to but it to the test so i really got on it the only thing slipping (chirping) was my tires hehehehe. '

Heres a link

http://youtu.be/gv-W2NgILtI

 

OK.

600 miles, babying it below 4500k. Finally was able to let the gas go a little bit. Did a couple of runs 0-80mph.

Here's what i noticed in addition to my initial impressions:

- no slip, chirped 1st and 2nd no problem.
- there's some sort of sympathetic resonance around 4-5k with the clutch engaged. I would characterize it as chatter/flutter, its like a tic tic tic tic, really quickly, so you can tell it's the flywheel or the flywheel ticking/fluttering something else. No vibration felt to the cabin, just noise. It's there though. Also, there's very mild chatter from idle to getting on the throttle. VERY mild. Feelable, hearable, but to me, it's nothing to me because it's so mild.
- flywheel is a little more direct/lighter. You can feel it when you blip the throttle in neutral or heel/toe downshifting (not engaged)-- it just blips quicker/easier. Not huge, but there's less lag.

To me this is a good value. Not race oriented. And if it slips with significant higher HP-- i wouldn't be surprised.

But compared to my stock clutch, it's better response for cheaper.

 

Just had Valeo single mass flywheel clutch kit installed in my 2005 R53 S hardtop with 89K miles. This has been the single BEST mod I have done to this car and this includes the reduction pulley, light weight crank pulley and Powerflex bushings all over the front end.

The pedal feel is much softer than stock but I like it. Much better for city driving, IMHO. It grabs super nice, the car launches fast and accelerates much quicker as the engine seems to rev faster.

Well worth the expense. My LuK dual mass had the chewbacca noise and the throw out bearing was about to self destruct. The clutch itself still had plenty of life left on it but I was not going to take a chance with my noisy TO and risk destroying the gearbox (Yes, I have seen the devastating effects of failed TO's on the gearbox bell housing, NOT PRETTY).

Valeo hit the nail with this single mass flywheel conversion. The gearbox feels crisp, responsive and chatter, NVH is kept to a very minimum. It almost feels as it still is on a Dual mass setup.

Verdict: The OEM LuK dual mass flywheel is pure junk.