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F55/F56/F57 Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for F55/F56 MINI Cooper AND Cooper S models.
I've noticed the last few days that my clutch seems a little crunchy/creaky at some RPMs. It doesn't seem to happen all the time, and seems worse when it's cold, but it feels a bit vibraty in the pedal when clutching out somewhere right around the engagement point.
I noticed that it makes a notable creaky sound when I push the clutch in and out with the car off. It sounds sort of like a dry metal to metal interface somewhere in the clutch slave area. I wear driving shoes (drift cats) pretty much exclusively, which probably highlight stuff like this a bit more than most footwear, so it could well be nothing and overreacting. I captured it on video:
Been driving various manual cars for ~30 or so years and haven't run into one of my own sounding like that. Most clutch armature connections have dry, plastic bushings that are quiet. It sounds like one of the bushings has gone AWOL and you have metal-to-metal contact. I would absolutely recommend a trip to either your dealer or a trusted local mechanic for an eval. Good luck.
Yuck. Yeah, me either. Even cable clutches don't sound like that. Thanks for the confirmation.
Aside from a very obvious oil leak, I've never had a MINI dealer fix anything wrong with any of the cars my wife or I have had, so local indie mechanic might be the best route.
Well, I had my local BMW/MINI mechanic look at it. They greased the contact point with the slave cylinder, which briefly quieted it down. If got squeaky again on the way home, though, and didn't help the vibrations.
Shop spent some more time diagnosing the issues. They found that the creak only happens when the engine/gearbox is hot. They commented on the vibration (their description was "gravelly the last 1/4 of travel" which is consistent with my experience).
They were able to recreate the creak directly, sans clutch slave, so it's something inside the bell housing. They suspect a failed TOB. Gearbox comes out Monday for further inspection.
I am sure that isn't the kind of answer/solution you wanted to hear, but if they found the issue, then that is a good thing. Hopefully as 'simple' as a new hydraulic TOB cures it. Good luck and let us know.
Well, they've narrowed it down at least I'd be more concerned if I got the "we don't know what you're talking about" call I'm so used to hearing from the dealership's service department. The shop working on it is the same place that installed the differential, and offered to take care of this work because they did that mod, so I'm confident that they'll get it sorted out.
I've got a Cooper 50 Camden edition to drive while they work on it. Doesn't have the pep of an F56 JCW, as you'd expect, but it makes up for it with character.
Heard back on the status today. The clutch fork had a casting or machining irregularity that caused it to sometimes brush against the throw out bearing. New parts are expected tomorrow.
They also noticed some damage to the input shaft seal and a very small leak when working on it, probably from the diff install job, so that's getting replaced too. Should hopefully have it back tomorrow. I'll post up pics of the problematic part if I can get it back. Ironically, I've had an oil leak of some sort requiring a second re:re of the gearbox on every single car when having a diff added. 4:4 :-/ and all competent shops, so maybe it's just a tricky job.
<snip>Ironically, I've had an oil leak of some sort requiring a second re:re of the gearbox on every single car when having a diff added. 4:4 :-/ and all competent shops, so maybe it's just a tricky job.
--Matt
That just seems kind of strange, as I have pulled various trannys in/out of my cars over the years and can't think of one that had leaking issues related to the removal/install. Then again, I haven't pulled a FWD/transverse tranny out only RWD/longitudinal versions. Good to hear they have a fix in progress and you should have it back soon.
That just seems kind of strange, as I have pulled various trannys in/out of my cars over the years and can't think of one that had leaking issues related to the removal/install. Then again, I haven't pulled a FWD/transverse tranny out only RWD/longitudinal versions. Good to hear they have a fix in progress and you should have it back soon.
Well, to be fair, they've all been in the gearbox of a FWD or transverse AWD gearbox so the gearbox has had to come apart in all of those cases. The seal on the input shaft was the specific issue in 3 out of 4 cases, with a driveshaft seal being the forth, so there's more to go wrong than would be when just removing a gearbox (say, for a clutch install).
In any event, I'm told it'll be ready Monday. They were just buttoning it up this evening, but it wasn't done before closing time.
Well, the car needs an alignment so I left it for them to wrap up in the morning. I did get the scoop on what went wrong though. They took care of the parts and labor cost, so I didn't think it would be very nice to ask for the failed parts, and I can't find pics of the real actual parts anywhere yet. Here's an approximation based on earlier year parts though.
So, on the clutch fork for the F56, the slot where the TOB fits (red ovals) is smooth and straight on both sides rather than ridged like an R56. The machining (or cut from stamping, whichever) wasn't perfect and the surface was rough. This caused the pivot area on the TOB to hang a bit and introduced some wear.
The TOB seems to have taken some of the burden of the situation. Unlike the R56 TOB (pictured) the F56 TOB has some pivot ridges in the red circled area to raise the point at which the TOB sits slightly. One side looked new and in-tact, but the other side was worn down almost flat like the R56 TOB is. Because of that, it was sitting a bit crooked (which is the presumed direct cause of the vibration).
I haven't personally driven it yet, but it no longer creaks (even when hot) and I'm told there's no more gravelly sensation in the pedal. The clutch fork kit is apparently only like $50 so they just replaced the whole deal (which came with a new pivot for the other side) and the TOB.
I'm going to pick it up tomorrow afternoon after it's been aligned.
Well pushing on the TOB on an angle would certainly spell an early demise for it, as they are not designed to have an angular component to them. Glad to hear it was a somewhat 'simple' solution that shouldn't return.
Interesting to see a partially plastic TOB design like pictured above. I am use to the all steel units used in 'older' domestic vehicles. No reason not to, as there are lubrication impregnated plastics out there that can handle some good heat and cycles for sure from my industrial equipment experience.
Not sure if anyone else has encountered this, but the creak is back on my car. Came back a week or two after those parts were replaced. It's been about 10k miles since that point, and it still operates normally aside from the creak that can be heard when it is not running at some temps and some mild vibration in the pedal (which I don't feel seems to necessarily depend on depressing the pedal). It seems more like road or drivetrain vibration.
I'd call it no worse at this point than any other. Had then brake fluid changed recently, including the clutch hydraulics, and it didn't change in the slightest. Whatever it is does seem to go away once the car is fully hot. Maybe some slight issue in the slave cylinder or something. Who knows. Almost 18k miles with still perfect engagement has me worying less about it.
I have been struggling with the same problem for quite some time (2014 MCS hardtop). The creaky clutch sounds would start once the car got warm. As you are well aware, driving a manual involves a lot of shifting and that sound can be infuriating. I had mentioned it to my service managers at the dealership and they first tried to lubricate it and then did some other "fix" that I seem to recall was from a TSB. Neither worked.
About a week and a half a ago while running errands, my clutch gave out. It went straight to the floor. It happened pretty suddenly. I had a couple of difficult shifts and then nothing. I had it out of gear as I coasted into a parking spot and then could not get enough bite on the clutch to even get it in gear at all. Had the car towed to the dealer. Turns out that the slave cylinder had failed. I had also mentioned the creaky clutch pedal again and this time they are going to replace the clutch pedal mechanicals (at their cost). Hoping to get my car back soon. I have been driving their car for the past 10 days. Not a problem really. Just fewer miles on my car.
Interesting. I've encountered a few other people with similar stuff going on, but this is the first I've heard of an actual failure. Interested in hearing how the slave replacement goes. I've had my dealer look at it a couple of times so far and gotten the same "operating normally" line. I guess it's just one of those "it'll get worse, or it won't, sort of situations". I don't want to throw money that might not fix the symptom at it with it behaving properly, and the dealership clearly isn't interested in fixing it, so I guess it'll run its course in time.
I'm not entirely sure that the clutch creaking noise was necessarily a pre-cursor to the failed slave cylinder, but it very well could have been. My car is still in the shop. Now they are waiting for a part to arrive from Germany to replace my clutch pedal assembly.
The shop that did the original work lubed it a couple of times to no avail. Sort of ironically, given the time frame, I pulled the clutch stop I've had installed for quite some time and it seems to have gone away over the course of 3 or 4 days. The clutch is much much lighter now and not gravely anymore. It almost seems like this could have been self inflicted.
Subwooer - I think they gave up trying to find the root cause for the squeak and decided it was just easier to replace the entire pedal assembly. I'm glad they did, as the squeak was not getting fixed through their other attempts.
03-08-2017, 04:41 PM
I'd be more concerned if I got the "we don't know what you're talking about" call I'm so used to hearing from the dealership's service department. The shop working on it is the same place that installed the differential, and offered to take care of this work because they did that mod, so I'm confident that they'll get it sorted out.
