Hey guys. First post. Been lurking around forever, and I've been driving my mini for a while now. It's an 2003 indie blue S with a sunroof. Chickgetter. ;D

Anyways, it's starting to complain. It's got 93,500+ miles on it. Talk about daily driving. I want to know what the life expectancy of the transmission and clutch is.

When I start off in first gear, I can hear a moan / whine, and I think it's the clutch. Also, when I have it in gear, with the clutch disengaged, and am slowing down to a stop, I'll feel a clunk.

It's also obtained what I believe to be a vacuum leak somewhere. Because every now and then (it's only happened a few times, and within the past two months) when I'm stopped at a light idling it'll feel like it's about to choke out and die. The idle becomes erratic and it almost quit on me!

Not cool at all. I'm seventeen years old driving it to college every day (there and back is about 70 miles) not to mention I drive it everywhere else in the world for all my other activities. And, did I mention I'm seventeen? I take care of it as well as I can manage with my budget (I'm also a mechanic, so I can get a good discount on parts, too. ), but like I said, it's starting to complain.

Please assist me with my questions, thank you.

 

If this were OT, this would be about elevators or cosmetic surgery.

 

I'm sorry? I don't quite understand...

 

Typo in title. It's not you, your quesiton is great. OT is just very weird!

 

Whoops. Just saw it...Can a moderator fix that for me?

 

A moan at take off is not a concern as long as you don’t feel anything through the pedal or a rise in rpm without corresponding movement with the vehicle. The moan noise has been discussed many times, do a search for the word Chewbacca or similar spelling. The fix is an aftermarket sprung-hub clutch disc and un-sprung flywheel, but that is too expensive for an annoyance. It is a good fix for improving acceleration.

The dropping/irregular idle is a common issue, without a fix; you’ll get used to it. A rough, erratic, hunting idle is sometimes caused by a leak at the supercharger intake duct’s gasket.

 

If it's the rough, slightly dipping idle I occasionally get, I've found a bottle of injector cleaner clears it right up for the next 5-7.5k miles. I attribute it bad flow/lowered flow from injectors.

- Matt