..Am I the only one that still has a R50?

Anyways, I did a search on this, and it looks like one person had the same issue as I, but wanted to get other thoughts on it. Also wanted to get a thought on what the worst-case scenario would be.

Essentially, the symptoms are like this - vibration in the front, ONLY when the clutch is released (in gear) and there is torque. (i.e. Speeding up.) As soon as the clutch is pressed in, it will stop. As soon as you release the gas, te vibration stops.

Not balancing on tires, as they've been rebalanced a few times since then. not alignment as I had that checked. It's been happening for 20k miles now, give or take, and it is slowly getting worse. (It's now gotten to the point where I can feel a very, very slight vibration just cruising down the road.)

The place I respect the most isn't a MINI place, but an overall tire/suspension place, and they did in fact say it was my front axles. When I brought this up to two different MINI shops, they both said that it probably wasn't the issue. One lifted the car up (on a lift, not by hand!) and tugged and tried to roll the axles, they were tight. He said it didn't feel like it could be the axles.

The engine mounts are fine as well.

So, according to the other post, it was one of the front axles. I've put about 20k miles on it since it first started happening. I have a 3k road trip coming up at the end of this month..

I won't have time to get it fixed before then, so, my questions are:

1. Are we still certain it's an or both axles?
2. If something were to "finally give", what would it be, and would I die from it?

Cheers all!
Mike.

 

I think if you were under power when one of the axels snapped, you'd experience severe torque steer. But your reaction to that would be to let off the gas and hit the brakes. So you'd be ok.

Considering your mileage, 195100, right? It would be wise to replace them.

 

That's what I figured, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting something. (Like dropping something and getting it run over, or jammed into the ground and launching me into the air! okay, that one's not likely...)
Yup, was pklanning on it when I got back, my main concern was driving through flat-**** Texas in the middle of nowhere and ending up always having to turn left or right.

Cheers,
Mike.

 

Compared to Nebraska, Texas is rugged and mountainous.

 

The first thing I would look for would be bad motor mounts, or worn out suspension bushings. Pulling and tugging while the car is up on a lift will usually not be enough force to see something loose. You need to watch the motor under forward and backward torque to see if a mount is loose. Hood up, one person watches from the side, while a driver loads and unloads the engine in gear without actually going anywhere.

Next you need to get in a position where you can observe the front suspension while doing the same thing. The ideal location is a garage with a pit. A good observer gets in the pit with a good light and checks each suspension bushing for movement while a driver loads and unloads the drive train with the engine running, both forward and backwards.... I'll bet something will show up loose. Or find a shop with a pit willing to do this for you.

Don't do this in your driveway with someone under the car. K?

YD

 

My comany has our tech support up there in Wayne, NE. So I've driven out there a few times. Somewhere in that state between Wayne and Colorado there's a four-lane dirt-road. Great driving! Wouldn't be surprised if that helped my current condition.

 

This part, I've done - there was no (very little) engine movement there..

Now THIS I have not done, and it sounds very interesting. I may stop by my tire shop this week and see if they can pull this off for me.

Sheesh. Take all the fun out of car work.

 

Foxtrot_Xray, Did you find the answer to the problem? I'm having similar issues and am curious!