hi guys
my mini had sat over the winter and am now pulling it out for summer
but i notice when car is cold, the clutch seems to make noise (clunking??)
as soon as i press the clutch, it will be gone
as well as when car is warmed up, it will be gone also
does this mean the bearing needs to be replaced ?
how many hour is this job ?
thanks

 

It sounds like your issue is related to the clutch; throw out bearing, like you said, maybe something is going on with the pressure plate or even the flywheel. Getting to the clutch is a big job. Check it out here to get an idea of what is involved:

Good luck.

 

It's a 10-12 hour job, had mine done about a month ago. Took my mechanic 10 hours.

 

The noise you describe may simply be what is associated with an aging dual mass flywheel. Mine has made the sound for 100K; yeah its annoying, but clutch hasn't failed and I haven't replaced it.

 

Thanks for your help

 

Ya, just had mine too. 125k miles. My story: i bought the car at 92k, the clutch was a little wierd then, but got much worse lately; the grip piont became real vague and was a moving target. When we got the flywheel out, found that the center hub could be rotated 45 degrees while holding the outer ring stationary. It never made a weird sound, tho.

 

If you decide to tackle this job we have some great clutch super kits HERE that have everything you'll need to do the job. Our DIY says a full clutch job should take about 12 hours (plus or minus some time depending on if you buy the full kit).