Hi all,
This past weekend driving into the city I noticed that my tranny is acting a little odd. What happens is when I shift from 4th into 5th the RPMs will start to go up but then drop all of a sudden. For example this morning I hit an open area in the highway and start to accelerate in 4th, drop it into 5th at around 5 grand mayeb a bit higher, Once in 5th my RPMs are sitting at around 3 grand and acceleration seems normal, Once I hit 3500 it drops right back to 3 grand and starts to accelerate normal with no rpm loss after that. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a bad injector or oxygen sensor as my gas mileage hasn't been efficient to my standards at least. Have any of you ever run into this problem before? It's an 03' MCS 6-Speed man. I did have a new K&N Typhoon Intake put on it last month but this little problem just started so I don't think it's the intake unless my mechanic was supposed to re-tune the car after installing the new intake.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Adam

 

Sounds like the clutch is slipping or not fully engaging, depending on how fast you're shifting. I would assume either the clutch or the synchros. My old Wrangler had the same issue, and my dad's E46 M3 has the same (although caused by a factory installed valve slowing clutch engagement = slipping).

- Matt

 

So I most likely will have to buy a new clutch or new synchro for that gear?

So driving home from work I noticed that it's happening in all gears. It's almost like the gear isn't falling into place until I hit 3500 RPM. I even had it where going from 3rd to 4th my RPMs didn't even drop they stayed up in the 5 grand range under heavy acceleration. I also noticed that taking off in 1st there is a slight vibration, almost like my tires are slipping on gravel. Starting to think the clutch is going since I just talked to a friend with an MCS who blew his clutch at 75k miles. My Cooper is at 85k miles... clutch has never been replaced...

 

Starting to think the clutch is going

Yep sounds right. Hope all goes well with the fix

 

^ +1

Worn Clutch.

 

+2 on worn clutch. These are classic symptoms.

 

Sorry to agree, but your clutch is not saying goodbye or leaving town, .....it is already gone.

Little quick test.

Park with nothing in front of you.

Set the hand brake hard.

Put tranny in 4th or 5th

Rev to about 3K rpm

Dump the clutch

If the engine immediately dies, your clutch is good

If the engine keeps reving, your clutch is in the next zip code. Don't let it rev for more than a second or two.

YD

 

Yeah I'm trying to figure what to go with. Money is tight right now which sucks so I need something that will last and not need a new flywheel installed with it. I was looking at Spec Stage 1 clutch but if any of you have experience with this I would like your input on what would be a good replacement/alternative to an OEM clutch.

Thanks,
Adam

 

"What happens is when I shift from 4th into 5th the RPMs will start to go up but then drop all of a sudden."

If the clutch is slipping, it is happening during the RPM increase then recovers from the slip when the RPM goes down; but something else was said that confuses me? Anyway good luck.

 

the 4th to 5th gear transition was the first one I noticed the slipping on, then after driving later in the evening I noticed it on all gears and then once again driving home from the city the entire clutch turned into a sponge where RPMs would jump up and down with the car losing momentum each time the RPMs shot up. I got my brothers mechanic on the horn and he's going to charge at most 700 for the install I just have to get the clutch. Money is a bit tight after having other various stupid things happen to me this past month, getting in an accident being one of them, so I'm just looking at getting something non-OEM that doesn't need a new Flywheel installed with it. Hopefully something good happens soon or I just might go crazy!

Update: And I made it into first gear on the forum, I think my start on these boards has been about as rough as my Mini's take off in first right now Thank you everyone, for the help this board is keeping my faith up!!