Hey. Thanks to anyone reading this and offering advice. I'm kind of at a loss on what to do next.

The scenario: 2003 MCS. I had just replaced my axles as there was an odd vibration from the front that varied on car speed. The CV boots were cracked bad, and so I assumed that they were the culprit. After having just finished the replacement, I started the car to pull out of my garage. It went into gear, and started to pull forward, when there was an odd sound and then the car wouldn't go into gear. What I mean by that is though I could move the shifter, and it both sounded and felt as if it was actuating into whatever gear I was shifting it to, when I let out the clutch, there was no clutch engagement. This led me to think that maybe the sound I had heard, either the one when driving or the odd noise when trying to pull from the garage, was the flywheel bearing. So I ordered a full clutch replacement kit, the Valeo solid flywheel conversion kit, as well as a new clutch master and slave cylinder, and one of the shifter cables as I messed up the rubber end when disconnecting it from the tranny. I just finished replacing all of those parts, and fired up the MINI to test it out when I find that the symptoms are still there, and haven't changed at all...other than now I also have some issue with the car thinking it is overheating. Right when I fired it up, the high speed fan came on immediately and the gauge on the inside has the needle pegged on overheated. So I assume that I hooked up a sensor wrong or something. Could I have messed something up when I replaced the axles? Could I have not bled the cylinders correctly? Is the transmission just toasted?

Anyways, long story made shorter. I am trying to decide the next step. The symptoms: When I let off the clutch, it won't engage. The shifting mechanism feels perfect. The clutch arm on the transmission seems to be moving when you depress the clutch, so I assume that the clutch/flywheel/slave cylinder setup is fine. I mean if the clutch pedal wasn't moving the throwout bearing and freeing up the clutch from the flywheel, wouldn't I not be able to shift it into gear without it jerking?

Lots of words. Thanks to anyone who read them all and wants to offer some advice.

 

Sounds like you have a lot going on here.. But im curious to know if you changed out you MT fluid at all? Or at least drain it and see what that looks like? But right now your saying the car does not move?

 

No. That I have not done yet. I will locate come appropriate fluid and do that next. But yeah...it doesn't move. Ignoring the high speed fan issue and the water gauge reading high the instant the engine is started, as that seems to be an issue I created during the clutch change, no it doesn't move.

With the car running, when I let out the clutch, there is no power to the wheels. I am assuming that the clutch is disengaging from the flywheel when I push the pedal in as the arm that is pushed by the slave cylinder moves. If it wasn't disengaging, wouldn't the car just jerk and die? The shifter feels normal, and I saw nothing odd when I changed the one cable. There is no difference if the car is in a different gear, though there is slightly more noise if I try to let the clutch out when it is in 5th or 6th...like a tiny, barely heard, rattling.

This all started after I changed the drive shafts. Could I have screwed something up?

 

Ive never heard of this before. Maybe double check and make sure the drive shafts you changed are all the way in the transmission. If the car moved before you changed them then that's where I would start. Also maybe theres a linkage issue..The only reason I mentioned the MT fluid is because usually just checking that will tell you a lot of whats going on in your transmission. Maybe someone else can chime in and give you a more direct answer.But if you continue to have a hard time to locate the problem im sure we can fig it out. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Thank you for your help. I will definitely check the fluid today. I think the axles are in right as once I got it back together, initially after changing just the axles, it started to pull forward. There was still a small brick in front of the wheel, so I thought I would just drive over it at the time. When doing this there was a strange noise and then the car wouldn't go into gear. That is when I thought that there might be something wrong with the clutch or throwout bearing and did that change.

 

The axels aren't in all the way and the noise you hear or the sensation was the axel come off the shaft as it was not locked in all the way.

The reasons the axels fit is because you compressed the joints. It has nothing to do with fluid level as you describe it won't even roll forward. But please check it after you reinsert the axels

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You need to stop throwing expensive parts at the car and figure out what the actual issue is.

To me it sounds like you haven't inserted the axles in all the way. When you had the trans off for the clutch install did you spin the input shaft with the trans in gear and ensure the splines the axles engage were also turning?

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....... and likely to be the left axle that is the culprit. Some of the aftermarket retaining rings on the gearbox end of the left axle are of bigger diameter wire and can require quite high force to compress and seat. I always have a couple OEM retaining rings for just this situation. I had one that had such large wire diameter ring that it physically could not compress enough to go thru the spline of the diff gear. Have also seen an aftermarket shaft with a too shallow groove in which the retaining ring sits, again limiting the compressed diameter of the ring so it could not be installed.