Unfortunately, that sounds very typical for that dealership. :( Even worse, "reminding" them you're waiting for them will only put you on the black list.

I hope you have a loaner; at least they get that part right most of the time.

 

It's unfortunate that dealership politics and greed might veil the true diagnosis of your problem by a more lucrative one. I can see their logic. What dealership wants to fill up its garage with vehicles that only need a $1.50 bushing. This is why the industry has a bad name.

Having said that, I've had the same problem for the last couple of months. Another relation that I found is when humidity is high, it rains, or I get a car wash. When either of these things takes place the clutch pedal returns to its smooth operation. Unfortunately, the pedal friction returns when everything dries up in a day or two.


Hopefully, my Mini goes under the knife before yours. Maybe I can save you some money if my results are cost effective.

 

Yeah it is unfortunate because you would think they would want to fix something like that simply for safety reasons. I see there reasons and they were nice about it, but now that I think about it it's crazy that I have to wait for my clutch to fail while I'm on the highway just to get it fixed/replaced

 

Sorry for not posting back right away after getting all fixed up. I was excited to have my car back, and it slipped my mind.

After a little more than two weeks, the dealership was finally able to get to may car.

They replaced two parts. A slave cylinder and an iput shaft sleeve.

unbeknownst to me, our transmissions have a bronze sleeve for the input shaft. This is typical of higher end vehicles, wheras most cars have no sleeve and the shaft just slides in and out of the transmission casting.

This was apparently galled and corroded. The dealer said it was very uncommon, but they had seen it before. This is what caused my pedal to feel like ****. I was given no explaination of why they replaced the slave cylinder.

My clutch and flywheel were not replaced. The thicknesses were well within spec and there was no hotspotting.

I've noticed that since the repair, my shift lever has a much better feel. Before it would get tight sometimes. I always thought it was due to temperatures, but changing the fluid and the other parts has made a huge difference. The shift lever feel was never a concern, because it didn't know it was supposed to feel better.

Everything was covered under warrantee.

I hope I never have to drive another R56. (my loaner for two weeks, not a bad car, but not an R53.)

 

My clutch pedal sometimes feels a little scratchy on the way back up. I had it checked out by the dealership. They said it was normal. One of the things the mechanic did was push it in by hand.... you have better tactile sensation doing that. He test drove it and gave it the thumbs up. (I'm glad she's still under warranty!)

 

my weird clutch has gotten worse...hopefully when they look at it this week maybe they will decided they should replace it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-zlIvin55g
(turn up volume)

 

Hey, I just started getting the same stiction in the clutch on the R53 we just bought. when it's cold, the pedal is smooth. As soon as it starts to warm up, there is roughness, like a piston is dragging in one of the cylinders. It is accompanied by a loud squeak from the front end of the car somewhere. It does it even with the car off, so I think it's in the hydraulic system, not the TO bearing or clutch, because they're not moving at that point. This showed up after the wife roasted the clutch pretty good learning to drive it. Is it possible to heat-warp the slave cylinder? Where IS the slave cylinder?!!??

Thanks!

 

Ahh, Crap. I've been reading the clutch problem threads, and I sure bet that the throw-out bearing is cooked. I've got 44k on the car, what chance do you think I have to get it changed under warranty?

 

Depends on the dealer, I think. I was at 42k when my trainy bit it and they did the warrenty thing. Gotta love that.
-skip-

 

Checkercoop:
That definitely sounds like the release bearing. It is rubbing on the sleeve. It will get worse when it heats up. It is hard to diagnose because the sound will seem to come from the slave cylinder even though the tension is on the release bearing. It is most likely because the release bearing is encased in plastic which can melt or deform. I have already had this happen to me twice...The first time , after a couple weeks with this noise, the bearing was completely melted and looked like a blob...of coarse it completely stopped working. The second time it was the clutch fork bent pushing the bearing at an angle. I think...if the clutch is not worn too much and it is just the bearing, then it should be replaced under warranty...but I don't know for sure.

This seems to be more prevalent in the 02 and 03 models...at least it seems so. Good luck!

 

Thank you...I wish they would replace it, but maybe I will wait till later on when some more miles are on it (7100 currently) and then maybe they can just do the whole clutch too and that way that will be covered for many more miles