I've had CV joints and axles go bad before. I just haven't had a dealer refuse to replace them due to modified parts. Seems to me, once you mod, you open yourself up to significant issues with the dealer.

Put yourself in their place: they'd have to spend time and money chasing an endless variety of possible causes if they agreed to deal with modified vehicles under warranty. Your mods are different from his mods which are different from her mods...you get the picture.

I'm sure they'd be happy to chase the problem on a time and materials basis, though.

 

I understand where you're coming from Dan but I'm not a hack & Wilwood brakes have been installed on hundreds of Minis & thousands of other makes W/O problems.

Plus the problem started a year after I installed the brakes & wheels and I've never tracked/abused the car over it's 3 year/12K mile life span.

I would really love to hear what they tell jrcsh6 when he visits his dealer- It might give me a new place to look for the problem,

 

a couple sets of R53 front calipers. If you want a set, I can put a package together, just PM me. Don't have rotors though....

Matt

 

Matt you're awesome!

I'll start looking for stock rotors, hoses, mounting brackets & will PM you if I find the other parts necessary for the experiment ; )

 

what I've got in the garage!

Matt

 

I'm now positive that my CV joints are bad after listening to the the following 4 videos of cars with CV joint problems. I don't know why the shop forman at Mini listened to my car make the same noise & said it's not a CV joint problem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdWh3Xt_Dyc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4tjjU8WE3I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_pmpvMyt74

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEzAbiJxhac

Jrcsh6- Does your car make the same sound?

 

The Dealer agreed to look at my car while I'm out of town for the weekend!

I'll let you know what they find out...

 

my cars in too.

 

yep those are my sounds. i should have made a video. this seems weird to me to have failing joints like that. what could cause it? besides bad luck?

 

yea. if i'm going quicker the clicking is quicker. it's not throtle related though

 

got the car back last night and they finally "found it". wheel bold not torqued to spec. i kinda smiled and said, "well great! hopefully that's it" with little confidence but willing to give their theory a whirl...i didn't get to drive the car anywhere but home and in traffic i did not hear it. i'm heading out of town but will listen in the next few days.

i don't think they got it, i just don't see how that could be the solution...i'm guessing they just didn't put the wheel back on right the FIRST time i had the car in for this problem and caught it the SECOND time! we'll see. i really do hope their right, i just don't truly believe it

 

I saw a couple other posts about loose wheel bolts causing a similar noise but I think it was more of a clunking than clicking...

I'm going camping after I drop off my car so I'll post the results when I get back.

 

Replacing the axle & making sure the axle bolts were tight didn't make the noise go away so they re-installed my old axle & charged me $340.

Now I have to remove/replace my Wilwood brakes with 4K miles on them to see if that's the cause. After that, I'll swap my SSR wheels...

Hey Matt- What's in your garage for stock brake hardware?

 

Looks like someone else is having the same problem...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...g-noise-s.html

 

The only common noise that the Wilwood calipers exhibit are a "clunking" when the pads torqued and then released on the clamping of the rotor. The pad is intentionally slightly smaller than the 'window' they fit into to prevent pad drag. The pads ride on stainless rub plates that are also tension clips. In time those clips flatten out an the pads can click up and down.Remove them and bend them a bit and reinstall. But you have to be applying torque at speed then fully stop, release pressure and you'll hear them relax. Gas slotted finishes "might' cause some movement in the pad when it rotates but quite unlikely to be audible.

 

Thanks Todd- We already talked about my issue over the phone a month ago...

My springs are holding the pads in place because this noise doesn't happen when you apply the brakes- It happens when you turn the wheel. Plus I tried your silicone trick & it didn't make a difference.

This is why I think my dealer's wrong about the brakes causing the noise.

 

Holy Crap.....your dealer really suks bad...

Damaged your JCW Brake Caliper finish,
Lied about swapping out the Drive shaft
Lied about oem rims...
now blaming aftermarket parts.....

Based on all the problems you outlined above, why are you STILL dealing with these guys ? IMO you could still swap out the brakes and they will STILL not end up fixing your MINI....

Take the hint from their SA, go some where else....

 

Correction- I was wrong when I stated they might of not changed my axle a year ago. I got under the car & looked up the serial #/date codes on each axle & one had been replaced.

Unfortunately, all the rest is true & they're the only dealer in the state of Washington...

 

That's why many people take their MINI's to Rasmussen in Portland.

 

+1 on Portland over Fife!
BlueBomber from PSMINI took hers there (Portland) and they replaced one CV Joint with a Rebuilt... Is that normal?
Got to Trout Lake after it was fixed and the noise came back.... Mini Service then came and picked it up and Flat Bedded it to NW Mini instead of Portland, and they "couldn't Duplicate the Sound"...
She still has the problem and is very frustrated with Mini in general right now....

 

I finally sourced all the stock parts necessary to remove my Wilwood brakes & the clicking noise is finally gone- My aftermarket brakes were causing the problem : (

My guess is the leading edge of the brake pads no longer have the slight chamfer where they meet the rotors (they've been on the car for 8K miles). The sharp edges of the pads might be dipping into the slots on the rotors when not under load (turning at slow speeds W/O using the brakes). I plan to reinstall the Wilwoods after I file the edge of the pad to see if it cures the problem. If it works, I'll file the pads every time I rotate the tires and be happy.

I'm also going to send a letter to the owners of NW Mini apologizing to their more than patient service department since I've been arguing with them for 2 years about this problem. They told me it was the brakes after exhausting their resources & they were 100% correct!

 

Thanks for being big enough to admit your mistake, both to us and to the dealer! Anybody can yell when they're mad...most don't have the guts to apologize.

 

Thank you Dan.

I wrote the apology letter for the dealer last night & I'll probably bring them donuts the next time I go in, too.

 

Ok, I did my best at making a video to show this off in the cul de sac. you have to listen when i circle left but over the road noise you'll hear the clicking. it's not there on right turns, as shown.

I told the dealer i'm coming back to have another look at it. i still don't buy the "loose wheel nut" diagnosis. i think they just had to give me an answer and thats what someone came up with.

also, this is after driving some. the sound is directly related to heat/use. when cold there noise isn't there. take a look and see what ya think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX87prQjx_c

 

That sounds really similar to the sound I heard from my brakes but not quite the same...

Since you don't have after market brakes, it seems that it should be an axle or wheel bearing.