well i thought i escaped it. im at 10,000 miles and i downshifted yesterday from 3rd to 2nd on my MCS and grrrrr. sounded like a carrot going through a fan. so im assuming thats the dredded 3-2 gear grind. i remember reading about it on here and did a search and cant find anything. did anybody ever find out what was causing it? were the dealers responding to this noise and replacing transmissions? can anybody send me a think to a good thread about this issue.

 

I know this was a well know problem. nobody has heard anything about this?

 

flav , did it sound like Chubaka from Star Wars, that that would be a glazed clutch plate and not much to worry about ,just embarrassing when trying to impress a date .If its grinding gears bring it in and have it looked at ,if you just let it go they will blame you for negligence and you will have to pay to fix it .Report the Chubaka syndrome if thats what it is also but its not an emergency , It's good that they know about it ,plus it's funny to see there face when they tell you theyve never heard of this before .

 

If it is just a horn or Chewbacca sound, and not grinding gears, try launching hard once. It happened to me in the first 1000 miles, and doing this made it go away immedeately. I have read in another post (probabaly the one you were searching for) that this was MINI's recommended fix for it, though it does seem strange that abusing the clutch is the fix.

 

yes it might be the Chewbacca sound!! i would be more than happy to launch hard to fix it but i need to see a thread where people actually say this fixes it. i really don't want to abuse my car for no reason (not that i don't trust what you are saying). anybody have a linky???

oh and what does a glazed clutch plate mean? and how did it happen? was it my driving style or a design flaw?

 

Try 2nd generation Mini - stock problems / issues ,search 3rd to 2nd groan or squeal .They will do it for you if you dont have the heart . It's caused from non aggresive driving ,so they say .Mine did it from day one .

 

I just called my dealer again on Tues and as of yet there is no Official fix from the PUMA folks yet.

 

I posted this in another thread about the 3-2 squeel, but here is a possible fix that doesn't involve you driving to the dealer:

In 4th gear at 40-50 mph (60-80 kmh)
Depress the clutch pedal
Rev the engine up to 5,500-6,000 rpm and maintain this engine speed.
Slowly release the clutch pedal, keeping the engine speed at 5,500-6,000 rpm in the process until the clutch is fully engaged. (Clutch engagement must be carried out within 3 seconds)
Repeat steps 1-4 at least 3 times.
Recheck vehicle to verify that the noise has subsided.

and

Don't drive like granny. That causes the glazing of the clutch.

 

*How do you make the tires chirp going from 1st to 2nd, BTW? Is that good or bad? Why do I see that phenomenon on videos?

*Thread hijack warning issued.

 

Thats not a fix, it's a band-aid. The sound will return, and I certainly don't drive like a granny. I take the back way home almost every other day......over 30 exhilarating miles.
If you were to continue this "fix" it would wear out your clutch fast enough to make your head spin.
A real fix would be to figure out if were a build flaw in specific clutch and/or fly-wheel makeups. I had about 1000 miles on the first clutch, and it didnt squeal at all. My clutch, flywheel, and tranny were replaced for a seprate issue. I then put about 700 miles on the new clutch and it started sqealing like a stuck pig! I'm thinking maybe my second clutch made it by a snoozing inspector a 4:59 on a Friday.

 

I've only one question to ask - What gas mileage do you get?

 

$100 says I could make you wet yourself while riding with me, and still get 30+ mpg

You don't have to keep the R's up around 4k+ between the corners. These things have 6spds, You just have to shift a lot more often. That coupled with Smooth exceleration and cornering adds up to decent mileage in these cars.

Back to the subject......

What has been catagorized by "Normal Driving" by PUMA themselves, at NO time should ever cause clutch glazing.

 

What about this? It doesn't sound like your driving would make my granny wet her pants *poke*

But yes, I know you can drive the heck out of them and get 30mpg. I do. But that's about all I get. Seldom more than 33.

As far as back on topic, you attacked my post that was just a repeat from a MINI service bulletin. Some people appreciate this type of info.

 

So then would slipping the clutch get rid of the "glaze"?

 

According to the service bulletin it does.

 

Interesting....how is the clutch life length affected if you are slipping the clutch?