HELP! - Clutch suddenly stopped working - 2005 Mini Copper S
 

I recently had my clutch pedal just stop working. I have had no previous problems with slippage or noise. I returned home and as I was rolling up the driveway I had difficulty getting the car out of gear.

The next morning I start the car depress the clutch and it is as if the clutch pedal is not working at all.

I made sure the master cylinder fluid and transmission fluid were topped but no change. The pedal does not drop to the floor and there is no grinding.

I got under the car and could see the the slave cylinder is pushing the piston when someone presses the clutch but I can not tell if this is working as it should.

Any ideas as to what could be the problem would be greatly appreciated.
:eek:

Stock clutch? Miles on the car? I had a similar issue but it was with an aftermarket SPEC clutch. The thing fused to the pressure plate with no abuse. The flywheel side was pristine and all the senior mechanics at the shop had never seen a clutch and flywheel that looked this good fail in this manner before.

I don't think that a stock clutch would fuse like this. I do not know enough about how the slave cylinder and pedal relate, so I cannot offer anything beyond; get the car towed to a mechanic for inspection.

It is the stock clutch. 90K miles but ALOT of long distance highway miles. I am not hard on clutches, I have a VW Jetta clutch w/ 200k on it. I know that doesn't necessarily relate to the MINI.

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe a failed or stuck throwout bearing? Mostly a guess...but as said above, not much you can do short of pulling out the clutch to inspect it. Good luck.

The throwout bearing and associated linkage are a real weak link in this system.

Sounds like a failed master/slave cylinder to me. No matter what, if it's a clutch problem, you NEED to have it checked. You don't want it to crap out on you in the middle of the road.

Are you getting normal resistance to depressing the clutch pedal? Make sure that your clutch slave cylinder is moving the throw-out arm about 1-1/2 " of travel. If it is, check that the roll pin that holds that arm to the shaft hasn't sheared. If everything is intact and you are getting good movement, then it tranny out, my friend!

I am having the same problem with an aftermarket clutch and flywheel. It worked fine one moment and the next - well when I pushed the clutch in it had no effect. The slave is working as it should and the roll pin is not broken. No signs of any thing wrong, it just stopped working. To the mechanic tomorrow. It is disappointing as the clutch is not that old. 03 MCS.

My wife's 05 Cabrio had this happen a while back; the issue was the seals in the slave cylinder failed and the fluid was merely bypassing the seals as the pedal was depressed. A new slave cylinder fixed the problem. Funny you mentioned your MINI was a 2005, that's why I mention her past problem. Let me know what you find out.

Good luck!

I have a very low opinion of the plastic slave cylinders.

I also have an 05 Cabrio and had to replace the clutch slave cylinder this past summer. Had probs a few weeks ago, it worked fine after cleaning it out, but now it's leaking again. I have heard this a problem with the MINIs. Any thoughts on why and what could be done to really fix the problem?

Yes, they are a crappy plastic CSC! Has anyone replace it with one from a different vehicle?

I used a CSC from a late 80's-early 90's Chevy S10. It's traditional cast iron. It bolted right in (I think I had to drill one bolt hole a touch bigger, but I'm not 100% sure it was necessary). The only real problem is that you have make up a conventional threaded-fitting hose end. If you have any experience with making brake lines, you'll know that's piece of cake.
Works great. My new plastic CSC began to leak after a week.

Hey Densmini, you continue to amaze me with your knowledge and ingenuity. Can you PM me the info on the slave cylinder you used from the S-10 (part number or specific year). Also if you could, any instructions on what you did to make the hydraulic line. I was hoping someone would come out with a iron or aluminum slave cylinder, but this seems to be a great replacement. Also any pics would be great too!

Thanks, your new fan-

Me too Densimi! Unfortunately, i just posted my tale of woe on the Cooper S drivetrain forum. Do you have a part number or the dimensions from the S-10 part you used? I want to ask my mechanic or my brake/alignment guy to do the same for my car.

[FONT=&quot]Thanks, but don’t become a fan too quickly- my ingenuity comes strictly from being cheap and stubborn- not smart. What follows may seem like a lot of bother and a little more expense, but my thinking is: why replace a piece of junk plastic CSC with another piece of junk plastic CSC? [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The first thing I would recommend is watching “How to replace steel brake lines: how to make a custom brake line” on Youtube. 5 minutes well spent. There are a couple others that are very helpful, such as explaining the different types of flares and how to form them. I'll wait while you go watch those...[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Back so soon? Okay: the cylinder in question was used on the S-10 Blazers and pickups from 88-92, (and probably more years and more models- Astro Vans, GMC Jimmys, etc.). I arbitrarily picked a ’92 S-10 Blazer 2WD when I waltzed into Autozone, (I bought one from eBay as well- just type in those specs), so I don’t really have a part # for you. I think that they are all metric thread, “bubble” flare types, but since these cars were built during Detroit’s long seesaw SAE vs. Metric dance, you may get a SAE-spec cylinder- unlikely, but it’s worth checking before you leave the store. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] If you have the original clutch line, I believe all you need to do is fit a threaded fitting (probably metric) that will go onto the steel portion of the line right where it goes into the CSC. The MINI Slave and Master cylinders use a permanently attached “plug-in” connector. Cut off the line a few inches above the connector. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] So the only tricky part is replacing the end that goes into the CSC. Get the metric ‘bubble flare’ fitting, a modestly priced tubing flare kit and a mini tubing cutter. Buy a length of brake tube of the same diameter to practice on- it’s cheap- until you know how to cut off the old connector cleanly and slide on the new metric threaded fitting and use the kit to form a single “bubble” flare to screw into the S-10 CSC. (The kit instructions will explain those terms). Bolt up the CSC- I enlarged the lower hole in the CSC with a drill because at first I didn’t think it would fit- I’m still not sure I had to. The CSC comes with a separate push rod- I hear the lengths can vary- mine was fine right out of the box. If yours isn’t, it’s just steel rod- cut to taste. Bleed it and be on your way. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Alternatively, you can buy a metric Bubble adaptor for the CSC, a standard SAE “double flare” fitting, and then slide THAT fitting onto your pipe and form a “double flare” end, and screw it all together. I had to do it that way because my parts place didn’t have metric bubble end fittings to put on the pipe.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] It may sound complicated, but trust me, a little practice with the tubing flare kit and you’ll be delighted at having acquired a new tool AND a new skill. The benefit is you have a rugged slave cylinder with a METAL bleed screw that won’t round off/snap off when you try to bleed it. BTW- I bled it like I’ve bled all of my other clutch systems- no fancy-schmancy special tools or techniques- and it worked fine first time. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] As an aside, because my hobby is old Brit cars, I often build brake pipes- as such I ordered a couple of extra “anvils”, which are the little dies that form the flares; every now and then I’ll break one, especially on the smaller-diameter pipes. Just a ‘heads up’. [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
My wife took the car to work, so pix will have to wait. Hope this helps.

CSC Replacement
 

Thanks very much. I very much appreciate the detail. I'm going to print and get going on this. Photos would be very much appreciated!

Here's a pic of the fitting end, showing the metric adaptor and you can just see where the bleeder is...I think. Now, the rest may be of no interest to you, but since I swapped in a manual from a CVT, I had no clutch line at all, and so had to replicate the factory setup. I had to make my fittings on the Master Cyl. end. The original clutch line is a combination of flexible rubber and steel- it’s pretty easy to fabricate: I just got out my tape measure and figured out what the approximate length would be from master cylinder to slave cylinder with all the twists and turns in between. Then I went to the auto parts store and picked out two lengths of brake pipe that would fit the bill, and asked for a flexible brake hose anywhere between 1 and 1-1/2 feet long with two female ends to go between the firewall and the tranny; I think I wound up with a Chrysler minivan front brake hose.
It’s then a matter of bolting in the CSC, hooking up your pipes and routing them in the most convenient way. You want the flexible bit to go between the two hard lines and between the trans and firewall to allow for engine movement. The other hard line should run into the passenger compartment along the same route as the original. Here’s where I had to form the flare: on the Master Cyl. End. I had to take the piece of line with the “plug-in” fitting, cut it off about 8” long, and put an SAE fitting on the other end. Then double-female union to screw it into the line I brought in from the engine compartment. Plugged it into the CMC, bled normally, and drove. Sorry for the crummy picture- I had to point & shoot in the pitch black! Hope it helps!

Here's one on eBay...
88 89 90 Chevy S10 Blazer 4.3L Clutch Slave Cylinder



http://app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/.../img-2/img.jpg
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Densmini, thanks for the info, I appreciate you going to the trouble of putting that together. I think I'll buy a slave cylinder and have it standing by...or maybe I will go ahead and swap it out.

I will certainly pass this info on to our club members here in Middle Georgia. We have a few motorheads that do their own work (me included).

You should win an award for creativity!

Thanks so much again for the info!

Thanks, Lawmann, very kind. "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Thanks, Densimi! That looks like the one i just ordered from the local parts store. Apparently there is only one slave cylinder part for every S-10 made from 88-92, regardless of engine size or whether 2WD or 4WD. $31.69 retail. My mechanic told me that BMW makes a special tool to bleed the system, which he had to use the last time he replaced the slave. He still found it difficult to get all the air out. Do you know if using the S-10 slave will eliminate having to use that tool, and/or make it easier to bleed the system?

Rob- maybe I just lucked out, but I bled it like I've bled every CSC I've ever owned. When I had the crummy plastic ones, I had to remove it, compress the rod, then use an oil squirt can to bleed the cylinder in reverse. That worked, but what a pain! I think that if you use the S-10 CSC, I'd bleed it normally first, then try the oil-can way if you have any problems. There is a youtube link that shows the procedure.

Sorry! I lied! (Well, forgot, actually) I bled the S-10 CSC with a Mityvac! Borrow one and give it a try.

Thanks! Will do.