Have a a 05 r50 with 100k on it with the factory clutch . I'm looking to replace it . I've been wrenching since I was a kid but it seems like mini has to be one of the worst cars to replace a clutch in. Can anyone give me some tips and tricks to make it go smooth as possible .
I've looked on the web at different sites but the only article I found was the pelican parts one that was for a 03 S . I'm sure my r50 will be Mitch diferant.
Im comfortable dropping the subframe and stuff like that but I'm afraid of running into lil things that might hold me up for hrs or days .
Is it a good idea to replace my main crank seal, input shaft seal or throw out arm bushings ,ect

My clutch still grabs great but it grabs high and every once in a while I can hear my throw out bearing chatter .

Any info or a how to guide would be great .
Thanks

 

Been there, done that within the first week of owning the thing. I don't see how different the justa could have been.

Get the valeo single mass conversion kit. You will need a engine support brace so it can hang in place. A transmission jack is useful but I used my cherry picker to help remove it and lower it and raise it.

Penetrating oil, use it on the clutch slave bolts and an impact to zip them out. I snapped one but it was an easy fix.

I was hung up in two bolts on the top of the transmission, took forever to get them out.

No need to remove the half shafts. Just remove the drivers side from the tranny and tie it out if the way and the passenger side has enough play to slide out and hang.

Replace the rear main, transmission input seal, crank position o ring while in there. The rear main goes in flush to the block, not below. Ask me how I know.

Transmission jack is useful to remove the subframe but you'll need the car to be as high as you can safely put it.

 

Thanks . I am going to go with the valeo oem series clutch kit . I looked at getting a single mass flywheel conversion kit but I was told the 05 r50 doesn't have a duel mass flywheel . The only conversion kits valeo sales is for the
cooper S .

Does the radiator need to be drained or removed?
I don't have access to a engine hanger ,so can I use jack stands to hold the engine up?
Does the starter need to be removed ?

Btw . What happened with your main seal?
Where is the crank position seal that you spoke of?

Sorry for all the ?s but I want to be well prepared .

Like I said before my clutch grabs great but high. Some times I hear what I think is my throw out bearing rattling when the clutch is out in neutral . It's a faint and not as bad as some ive heard on YouTube . It goes away when the clutch is in .

Should I wait till my clutch starts to slip before I replace it?

Thanks for all the help and tips

 

I recently pulled and rebuilt the transmission in my 2003 R50. My car had a single mass which I had resurfaced.

The radiator does not need to be pulled, nor do you need to drain the coolant. No need for an above lift either. I used a floor jack and wood under the engine and a transmission jack (harbor freight) under the trans. I did replace the rear main seal, but my original (Chrysler branded) showed no signs of leaking. I suggest buying a few new seals if you're not good with that type. Kinda hard to seat those properly. You'll also need a special tool to protect the lip of the seal. I made one with a cut up milk jug.

It's a pretty straightforward job but still a pain compared to RWD. Look into popping off the shifter cables. Such a seemingly simple thing but it can hang you up. You can wreck the ends if you do it wrong.

Make sure you have a service manual of some sorts so you know the steps.

I think my biggest hang up was removing my lower ball joints. One was seized badly and I had to destroy it to remove it.

Make sure you drain the trans fluid before you pull axle shafts. I forgot and made a massive oil spill.

 

Thanks for the replies . I got my valeo clutch ki and seals on order and I'm going to find a nice day to do it .

My car has 100k on it and I don't know if the previous owner had ever replaced the clutch .
Like I said my clutch starts to engage half way up on the pedal but doesn't start to grab hard till about 3/4 or about 1 inch from the top . I've also got a blunt rattle noise which I think is my throw out bearing . It goes away when the clutch is in . A buddy said it might be clutch chatter or the throw out bearing . I only hear it once in a while
With all that said , would it be wise to go ahead and change the clutch out now or just let it go till it slips? I don't mind the work but I'd hate to pull just to find the clutch isn't wore at all.
I can go down the interstate and push the clutch it about 1 inch and it will slip . I don't know any other way to test to see how much life I have left in it . Any comments would be greatly appreciated

 

I did all of the seals since its a pain in the rear to replace pull the transmission and replace them. I removed the nose of the car to make the job a lot easier and less stressful.

 

There are different methods out there to do this job, you can do most of the stuff yourself but there will be certain occasions where a helper will come in handy.

On the DIY from pelican recommends that you change the seals but others say that if is good condition just to leave them alone and that's what I did since mine where in perfect condition and I didn't want to disturb a factory seal.

Do change the guide tube and the plastic bushings for the fork arm, use new bolts for the guide tube.

I used 2 jacks and jack stands to hold the engine and tranny but a tranny jack will really help the reinstall, I did remove the starter but you don't have to.
A trick to take the shift cables off without messing up was a 3 or 5 bucks metal panel popper from Harbor freight the fit perfectly and some liquid wrench, they came off in a sec. That was one of my go to tool for this job.
I didn't take off the struts or brake assembly, I did take the passenger side shaft off but left the driver side on that tranny. Since you are in there flush the coolant and change the crank positioning sensor O ring it's a 2 to 4 dollar part. Good luck



Change the clutch even if it is good, my TOB was making noises and that's what failed not the clutch itself.

Follow more than one DIY and compare them so that you can judge by yourself what is worth taking off or not

 

This is the tool that I used for the shift cables and a bunch of other stuff during the job and it's 8 bucks not 5 as stated before still worth it

http://www.harborfreight.com/panel-c...ers-67399.html

 

Great info . Thanks

Does the drive shifts need to be completely removed from the wheel hub or can the how assembly be moved out far enough to pop the shaft out of the tranny?

 

Yes remove them from the wheel hub, it's super easy, you'll need all the room that you can get. Also putting the tranny back you will need to rotate the tranny into position and that's a pain watch the AC lines

 

Cool . Thanks for all the info . I'm really looking forward to changing it out .
How bad are the slave cylinders to bleed?
I know I'm going to have to compress it when I bleed it but I hear all kinds of horror stories of guys who can not get all the air out and I hear of them using a trick that involves using a piece of wood wedged up against the clutch pedal all night to remove the air.
I'm sorry for all the questions . I just want to be fully prepared .

Thanks so much

 

Don't be sorry about asking that's what we are here for.
I've previously bled the clutch slave and just kept it in place , after the job was completed I did it again but there was no air coming out so that went great, I didn't have any problems at all, I made my own tool with wood and bolts to compress the slave and it worked great, pelican DIY calls for replacing of the masters as we'll but it's just a recommendation .. I guess.
A few people have to bleed the master cylinder as well, I didn't do that.

 

Here's the tool that I made

 

All this info is going to serve me very well .

I'm more then pleased with all the info that u guys have shared.

I'm going to replace my crank position sensor
O-ring while I've got everything apart. Can I use a good automotive grade o-ring as a replacement or is their something special about the one for $4 on all the mini websites ? I don't mind paying the money for one but I'd hate to have to wait on it to come thru mail .

 

We offer the Genuine MINI crankshaft position sensor o-ring here, part#12-14-7-514-983-M17.

Keep us posted on the project!
Mark/Pelican Parts

 

Be careful what you ask for. It's been a couple years now since I did my daughters. Started on a Thurs afternoon and finished up Late Sunday afternoon.

I can't find the link here but there was one posted with great pics to help understand the magnitude of this project.

Get some help and take a patience pill first. She had fried the clutch but fortunately, didn't damage the flywheel, just the pressure plate.

I think the dealer charges close to 15-17 hrs labor to this. Ouch.

 

I agree it is a big job, it took me 3Weeks working on it as an after work/weekend project and parts delivery 10 days worth but I took care of other things at the same time and I was not in a hurry since it was the first time doing something like this scary for sure so DO take your time with this project and research as much as you can beforehand, zip bags and or a cardboard mocking the engine or any part of the project so you can place bolts and parts is helpful for quick reference. GOOD LUCK

Note, check your rad upper hose for damage where it meets the fan sometimes the fan hits it, a good tip is to trip that little tab to avoid further damage.

 

Pelican Parts Clutch replacement

Looks like I'll be doing mine soon too.
It doesn't seem that hard at all. Just big. I just had my sub frame dropped last week and I can say its not that bad.

 

Is not hard but it is a BIG job in terms of time, I found the subframe removal to be very easy.
I recommend that you follow more than one HOW TO due to the fact that there will be some steps that you could overlook or are not critical. Pelican is Excellent and very helpful, all the parts that you need. however you will run into issues and they can be a pain, Khuevo has a how to as well plus others.

 

I got it replaced yesterday and everything went very smooth . Everything was pretty straight forward . It wasn't tough or nerve racking at all just tedious . The biggest thing I found that helped me was a cherry picker . It made repositioning the tranny very easy . It took me a lil over 15 hrs with my 10 yr old son helping me .
I took my time a double checked and torqued ever nut and bolt to spec . On my r50 I found that I didn't have disconnect my slave cylinder , I was able to hang it off to the side and that saved me a lot time not having to bleed it . All my seals were dry and no leaks were found . My throw out bearing had welded its self to the pressure plate fingers . The clutch disk was almost gone . Luckily the flywheel was clean and had no signs of damage . I cleaned it with a scotchbrite pad .
While I had everything apart , I cleaned my throttle body and removed the old air box and resonator tube and I installed a ddm works cold air intake . I refilled my gear box with royal purple syncromax .
With everything said and done , i am amazed how well the car performs now . The pedal lets out low to the floor and that's what I like . No more chatter noise . The gear changes are smooth and effortless and the clutch pedal fells great. I've only owed the car for a couple of months but this kind of smoothness is what I've been expecting the whole time and now I have it .
The lady who owned it before me must have held the pedal down while setting it traffic or something from the looks of the clutch .
Thanks to all you guys for the comments and info . Ill post pics later.

Thanks again

 

Glad all is back to normal and the feel is how you like it! Looking forward to the pics!

Mark/Pelican Parts

 

Thanks man . I love your how to articles . Your subframe how-to was awesome . I'm going to change my struts out and add a short shift kit next weekend .

I would never imagine that a new clutch would make this much difference . Wow!!!
I'm all smiles 😄.

 

Congrats, I'm glad that everything went according to plan.

 

Pelican put together a great step by step pictorial. This forum can't thank them enough for the info, except to support their company.

I did mine a while back and someone else also had a great pictorial then.

The best part was it confirmed everything we needed to yank off first.

Would have hated to not known what we were getting into, thinking it was a 3-4 hr job.

Glad the OP's went well and likewise, hope yours goes smooth.