Hey Guys I have and 04 MC Edition S with 38,000 mi on it, today when I was driving I noticed that my Clutch sunked in and could barely get it to go into 1st gear luckily I was pulling into my Mom's.
This might sound stupid but I never checked if the car has a reservoir like on my other 2 cars that are not Mini's so I opened and couldn't find it so I looked at the owners manual and nothing so I called MINI and unbelievable the guy couldn't tell me if it has one or not since the service dept. was close.
Has anyone experienced this and does anyone has any ideas what it could be.
BTW I bought the car used with 12,000mi so I'm not sure when it was originally purchased because of the 4 year warranty issue as I was advice from the guy at the dealer since I dont have the 50000mi.
Any help would be really appreciated.

 

wha

 

The brakes and the clutch share a reservor as far as i know...
check the bentley manual.....
Thats very strange. brakes work ok right?
How many miles are on it?>

 

they share the same resevoir with the brakes. Slave cylinders are known to go south more often than anything else. Search on bleeding it, it's got some particulars on how to best do this.

Matt

 

Brakes and everything are working fine and with 38,000mi I kind of think its time for a new clutch but I want to make sure.
The brake reservoir is filled and never had a problem in the 2 years Ive owned the car. Does anyone has an idea how much a clucth replacement costs.

 

Your clutch should be find at 38,000 unless you are really hard on it. I changed mine when I was in there with a bad flywheel at 40,000 and it looked great but since it's a big job I changed it anyway.

As stated it probably is the slave and that is not a big job. Dealer costs for a new clutch with install is around $1800. I'd look at the slave first.

Rich

 

Pardon my ignorance but what is the Slave and how do I check it since I dont have a Bentley manual I have no idea what to do.
As I mentioned the Brakes are working fine and I figure since bothe share the same reservoir could be something else.

 

Check your brake fluid resevoir. Pedal goes to floor? Or 1/2 way?

My clutch slave and master went at 40k. The slave was obviously puked and was dripping brake fluid. Clutch pedal went all the way to the floor. So I replaced it (made special tool, bought pressure bleeder etc.), and only got 1/2 pedal. So then I needed expert advice and took it to an independent shop with MINI experience. The master cyclinder had also gone but there were no symptoms to show it beyond 1/2 clutch pedal.

Parts are relatively cheap, slave and master are about $70 ea. Labor should be around $250 ish depending on your local.

You might look at:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=131915
And
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=132378

IMO I would replace both slave & master at the same time.

 

Actually it sunked in 3/4 of the way in but it happened all the sudden there were no problems it was an instant thing, thats what puzzles me, because when I changed the clutch on other cars you can feel it slipping and some other problems and noises but didnt get this on the MINI.
The clutch goes in enough to get the car started but not enough to get the gears in.

 

Thanks for the threads and the advice luckily theres an import shop within 1/2 a mi. so I might stop by and ask them how much would it be to replace both since I doubt the clutch is gone bc it grabs firmly. Thanks again.

 

Unfortunately you must build/buy a tool to bleed the slave once installed. Also you must pressure bleed the slave/master, so you will need to buy a pressure bleeder.

 

No special tool needed to do the slave. Just blead it before you bolt it up to the trany using gravity. Dont use the pedal when doing it this way.

Do know that the resevoir feed to the clutch is higher up then the brakes, so you will loose clutch before you loose any brakes. So, do make sure that it is not below 3/4 full.

 

Really?

I bow to your superior MINI & mechanical knowledge, but I have never found anything to describe this method. Do you compress the slave before gravity bleeding?

What about the clutch master cylinder, can that also be gravity bleed?

 

It's true, there's a method Onasled provided me with in a post about 3 months back, do a search for "clutch problems" and you should find it. His method worked for me when the Bentley method wouldn't. If nothing else it's worth a try. Good Luck.

 

Yes, but DO NOT push the pedal, once you do and the pedal comes back up, which it won't until you pull it up, you are sucking air into the system... you can leave the slave on the trans and just open up the bleeder all the way... Put a pan below it for obvious reasons... once it starts pouring out, tighten that b!tch back down but not too tight, it is plastic you know...

 

Not really. This method will not get the air out of the slave. Air is really hard to remove from the slave cylinder.

It's best to unbolt it from the trany and let it hang with the bleader at the top. The air will then rise up to the bleader. Just pump the fluid with the piston of the slave. Loosen the bleader. Push in the piston and air will come out with fluid. Put a finger over the bleader before letting it come back out. Do a couple more times and your be set with the slave.

 

Ahhhhh...this makes much sense. The special tool is just convenient since that slave cylinder is kinda sloppy to compress. It kinda wants to go everywhichway.

 

My '04 MCS's clutch pedal just went straight to the floor, so I am assuming it's the slave, since this has been the symptoms on my other cars.

Where is the slave located? Is it hard to get at? Thanks.....

 

Tomorrow I'll call the dealership and find out how much it could cost me.

 

First check brake fluid level and look for any brake fluid leaks. There is a boot on the slave that could contain much of the fluid for a while.

The slave is on the drivers side on bottom of engine/trans. You must remove an access panel to get to it (3 bolts and two screws). Pretty simple.

Keep in mind it could be the clutch master cylinder which is on the back of the clutch pedal. Both work together. Often both fail together, or at least that was my experience.

How to tell if one or the other failed without obvious leaks...dunno.

 

the slave unit on the trans is like $138 i think...

 

I call the local Autozone and such and they couldnt help since they dont carry these parts so I'm really gonna have to contact the dealer if not the local european car shop that is within walkin distance..
Thanks guys for all the help I'll keep you posted on what happens.

 

Wow, .. I don't remember paying near that much, but might have.

 

http://www.ecstuning.com/stage/edpd/...chqt=byvehicle

That seems like a fair price-$34.35. I've never ordered parts from them yet though.

Jeremy

 

I just found the Slave for $40 and the master for $68. I can't buy a spark plug wire for my Ferrari's for that! :D