I know i can drive the cooperS well. it only does this ONE TIME each morning and
after parking the car for more than 3-4 hours. what is causing the abrupt engagement of the clutch? it doesn't matter how slowly/gently i engage...it nose dives as if i dropped the clutch at 1000rpm and the car's about to stall.

please advise how to remedy this. its embarrassing.

 

It's not the clutch engagement, it's actually the engine management software. Welcome, you have the dreaded Stumble! My March 9th, 03 build Mr.Motor had the exact same thing. One time after a cold-start, it would stumble once, and then be fine after that. I did a few experments, and found out it has nothing to do with clutch engagement, but how the ECU reacts after the clutch is fully released. All software. My tenative conclusion is it's poorly written algorithms, and that's it. Newer software (aka, version 34, MY04+) has new and better algorithms. Upgrading to V35 for pre-'04's seems to help exorcise the Stumble. Schedule an appointment at your dealership soon, and good luck!

Cheers,
Ryan

 

ryephile- doh! thanks for the info. yah, kinda like a stumble! is there a TSB
on this?

is this 'upgrade' to V35 a quick flash or the ECU needs to be swapped?

dang, thought i finally got a car that didn't cold clutch jutter and now one
lousy stumble at start. shucks!!!

 

would it help if i back out of my garage in reverse fully engaged and then shift to 1st? would it still stumble in 1st? (need to try this...)