This should be fine for my 6/2004 Mini, correct? The other day when I was bleeding the brakes on my BMW I ran out of fluid and was calling local shops and make a quip that I'd also be bleeding the mini, and one of the shops said that ATE's super racing fluid wouldn't work right with the Mini's ABS...I figured this was ********, but just wanted to check with you guys before I flush and bleed. Works fine on all of my other european cars.. (volvo, bmw). The mini has a shared reservoir for both the brakes master cylinder and clutch master cylinder, correct? Where the hell is the slave cylinder on this transaxle? I'm pretty inexperienced at working with FWD (not a fan personally, TBH)..Can I bleed the slave like I would any other clutch slave, just open valve, push, close, release clutch, etc? Or do I have to use a vacuum bleed kit?

 

I don't see why the ATE fluid wouldn't work: I just bought 2 liters of Super Blue to flush my brakes and clutch system so I'll be interested in any contrary opinions.

Bleeding clutch slave is different than other cars. You need to remove the slave from the tranny and compress the piston all the way in before opening the bleeder valve. There's a tool for this or you can make something, which is what I'll be doing one of these evenings. I have a Motive pressure bleeder which allows for one-person bleeding but I'm sure the normal two-person technique will work as well. Just make sure that piston stays compressed to avoid trapping any air in the cylinder.

I believe the slave is above the plastic undertray and you need to remove it first to access the slave cylinder.

Eric

 

I don't recommend ATE in MINI's or BMW's. I only recommend the Motul fluid.

I've used the ATE and after a year even with changing it every 6months the pedal tends to loose it's firmness. And even changing it with more ATE or even changing to a different brand of fluid the pedal always has a little sponge to it. Our local tire/brake/alignment shop that does a lot of track day inspections has noticed the same thing on BMW's.

OK OK, now even if you don't want to listen to that or even care or believe it just compare the two fluids:

Motul: boiling point 593 deg F.
wet boiling point 420 def F.

ATE blue: boiling point 536 def F.
wet boiling point 396 def F.

Also the motul fluid is amber in color so to the dealer it looks stock and they won't void your warranty, that alone is important if your under warranty.

Obviously I use the Motul in my car.

 

That's odd. I've never experienced mushy feel after ATE fluid...None of my cars are on warranty so it isn't an issue. Besides, I doubt they would void the warranty if it was a different color. That's ridiculous. Voiding warranty for using fluid from the company who makes the calipers? I can't even believe that. If I had a car that was warrantied and they tried to give me that crap I'd slap them

By the way, do you know where I can get this special tool to bleed the clutch? It's funny, I did some searching and a lot of guys were advising people not to bleed clutch unless really necessary. Are you kidding me?! LOL..I bleed all of my cars clutches on a yearly basis, along with the brakes

 

Yes they will void your warranty on the brake system master cylinder,calibers, ABS unit and anything that has brake fluid in it if you change the brake fluid. Trust me seen it happen, I worked at a dealer for over 5yrs. And since then I've had it happen to customers at other dealers.

As for the clutch tool I can sell you one, but they aren't cheap. But like you've been told I never bleed the clutch unless I have too. They are a HUGE pain to get them right.

 

How did all this turn out? I replaced my clutch now my pedal is SUPER soft and hard to get into gear. If it goes into gear the wheels immediately want to roll. I assume I need to bleed the slave cylinder. To be clear I didn't find any damage on the lines.

As a side note. I need to bleed me breaks as it is time but from what I understand I need to put the ABS into bleed mode.