Hello All.
I have a problem with my clutch that started a little while ago.

When the car is off I can easily shift in and out of all gears and reverse.

As soon as I start the car and try to do so however, it becomes incredibly difficult. There is no grinding, but a lot of resistance to putting the car in and out of gear.

When the car is in 1st or reverse on flat pavement with the clutch depressed fully, the car will either roll forward (in 1st) or backwards (reverse) and stops rolling when i pull the car out of gear. If I rev the engine it will roll faster (in gear, clutch depressed fully)

Until my ecu bit the dust I could still drive it easily as I tend to slip shift anyways since this issue started happening. (no clutch used. No grinding of gears, I know exactly where the shift points are)

Any clues?
I already bled the slave. It seems to be fine (no leaks that I can see)
Could it be the master? There is not really any play in the pedal.

Could it be the throw-out bearing or the clutch fork?
Car has 128k miles. Clutch last replaced around 95K.

-Brad

 

More than likely an internal leak in the master or slave. If so itbwont show a leak. Picture it as a doctors syringe. The rubber seal inside may be compromised allowing fluid to leak around it to the back side. Throw out bearings make one hell of a racket when they go bad. If you arebt hearing anything I wouldn't suspect that's the problem.

 

Check the slave again. I had a broken slave that was leaking into the boot. It looked totally fine until the boot slipped off a bit and brake fluid went everywhere. The symptoms were the same, not able put it in gear. The master is a much rarer item to have fail but it could be that I suppose. A bad TOB wouldn't evidence itself in this way but rather a schreeching sound when the clutch is depressed.

 

thanks guys. Ill check the slave again. I bled it just to make sure there was no air in it the other day, and it looked like it was making pretty good travel, but since it is so close to full disengagement, I guess it's not missing a whole lot. will check or replace the slave and relay the results.

 

Unless you disconnected the slave cylinder, it shouldn't have any air in it so bleeding it won't help. If the slave is bad then fluid is getting by and you won't be able to fully disengage your clutch. A new slave cylinder isn't expensive but bleeding it can be a bit tricky. There is a "BMW special tool" that you can replicate very easily. I'll post a "how to" if you'd like.

 

I have actually made the "special tool" already. (1"X4" steel plate, 2 bars of small thread-all, some washers, and a few nuts to compress the piston completely)
key word is "shouldn't", I bled it just to check.

 

for anyone in the future, a DIY tool can be found in this video
http://www.diylife.com/videos-partne...-208498217-142

 

I just wedged a socket in between the slave piston and clutch fork lol

 

update: replaced slave -> no luck
ordered and replaced master -> still not fully disengaging.
There is still a little play in the pedal though. I will bleed it more tomorrow and see where that gets me (although I bled till there were no air bubbles and then kept gravity bleeding until I used another entire bottle of dot4 brake fluid...)

 

i have been having the same problem with my 05 mcs. i was told it was probably the shift cables. i have not replaced them yet so.... i just thought id share. keep us posted

 

I totally forgot about the cables. I replaced both of mine at around 100,000 miles when I was getting a slight grind when shifting into gears. After I replaced them the problem was fixed, no more grinding. Good call!

 

Try this it worked really well for me..

Use a stick to hold the clutch fully down propped up against the seat base.
important -- Leave this over night.

My clutch is soooo easy to shift now and it hasn't changed since done.

 

soccerbummer1104, what's going on with your clutch issue? Did you ever hear a groaning noise when letting out the clutch?

 

This is a totally different issue, norm03s.

 

Really, Clutch will not fully dissengage.

 

Yes, REALLY. The growling sound is a totally different discussion that I don't have time to educate you on right now.

 

soccerbummer1104, what's going on with your clutch issue? Did you ever hear a groaning noise when letting out the clutch?

 

I hear a lot of "groaning", norm03s. It's not coming from the clutch but rather from your replies.

 

OT, Having a bad day there CRoth, don't know what your commenting about.
Or are you attempting to start a keyboard fight

 

norm03s, sorry to tell you but the "groaning" issue is really a separate issue caused by the dual mass flywheel. Does it sound like chewbacca when you let the clutch out?

 

Thanks, I have only heard it a couple of times, this is my secound OEM flywheel and clucth, only 86,000 miles on it, first flywheel and clutch replaced at 49,000 under warranty.
Looking for info for my next clutch and flywheel to make a decision, going aftermarket this time and don't like doing things twice.
Sounds like soccerbummer1104's clutch/throwout bearing is going south on him though.

I've been around a bit.

 

Yeah, the stock clutch can develop that signature groaning. Something to do with the way the two masses are attached to one another. That's why I went to the aftermarket when I did my engine swap. I put in an Exedy single mass FW/clutch and have 25,000 trouble free miles so far. It's not a lightweight flywheel but it is lighter than stock.

 

The flywheel is two steel disks bonded together with rubber, similar to the crankshaft pulley bonding. I don't want to detract from the OP's issue anymore but he might be looking into this sooner than later. Thanks for another kit to look at (Exedy single mass FW/clutch), currently researching, Valeo Single Mass Clutch and Flywheel Kit.

 

norm03s, please don't give advice when you don't have any idea what you're talking about. How many times have you actually replaced your clutching flywheel yourself? That's what I thought.

If you want a good after key clutch and flywheel set up, I installed an ACT heavy duty pressure plate with a one step up pressure plate about 58,000 miles ago and it still grabs really hard. I highly recommend it! I went with the Street Lite flywheel and I'm very happy with that also.

 

Aftermarket not key. Sorry, auto correct