I have a 2002 cooper that we had to fix the shifter cable were it goes into the tranny. While doing this they broke the slave cylinder. I brought a new one and they installed it. It shifted very smooth before all this happened. After replacing the slave cylinder it was very stiff shifting. Slowly it got worse. One day going home from work it didnt want to go into 1st when stopped. Had to turn it off and shift it into 1st then it was fine. Next day I had to double shift it to be able to drive to work and home. The next morning I got up, took it out of gear to warm it up as it was icy out. When I went to leave I could not get it into gear. Would not go into gear at all when running. I turned the car off and it went into gear very easy. But... when I started it it was like the clutch was not disengaging totally. If you take your foot off the brake with the clutch down and in gear it will slowly inch forward kinda like if it were an automatic and you took your foot off the gas.
It is just so weird how you cant shift while it is running, but can while it is turned off. Then if you start it in gear and take foot off of brake it moves even though clutch is in all the way.
They checked and it doesnt need to be bleed.
Any ideas?

 

I have the very same problem in my 2005 Mini Cooper S. expect it was sudden. i had done no work on it, no sign of anything going wrong all i was doing was driving on the highway, heard a loud clunk, from there it wouldn't shift into gear while the car was turned on. I turn my car off put it in first, start it and same extact thing as you explained, the car slowly goes forward like an automatic. I am going to replace the slave cylinder today. ill keep you posted to see if that works. anybody else have any ideas?

 

while waiting for my part to come in i found this one another thread

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues/178163-hard-to-shift-clutch-not-engaging.html

 

^above link didnt work for me.. but i would go for a throw out bearing

 

copy and paste link into browser url, is the throw out bearing hard to replace?

 

If you are doing a TO bearing, you will want to do the whole clutch assembly, since removal of the transmission is necessary.

If you want to check that slave cylinder before replacing it (on the S), remove the splash guard, which is the plastic piece that sits directly under the engine and trans. It comes off with two phillips connectors and by loosening the three 10mm bolts under the chin spoiler. Next locate the slave cylinder: looking up from under the car, you'll see that the motor is on the passenger's side, and the trans is on the driver's side. Near the bottom front of the trans is a cylinder with two 10mm bolts holding it onto the transmission. There is one rigid line going to the back of it, and a pleated rubber boot on the front. Carefully pull that boot down and away at one end. If there is moisture (oil) inside the boot, you need a slave. If not, the problem could be your clutch or master cylinder.

 

replaced slave, still have no clutch pedal, when i move the pedal up and down by hand i hear a swishing sound coming from the master cyn when the car is off. when i turn it on and do the same thing the swishing sound goes away.

 

The clutch is not boosted in anyway. So I would sumise it makes the same sound...just too noisy to hear it with the motor running. Since the problem started with the cable problem and slave replacement....I would try to rebleed it again...they have a reputation for needed to be done multiple times by some people....do the simple stuff first...and it sounds like you can hear a bubble....

 

im going to get a bleeder kit in the near future, hopefully tomorrow. ill keep you guys posted on how that goes

 

There is a thread where a guy says to ducttape it compressed, install it, and it is not too bad of a job....most seem to use a preassure bleeder...the thread is realativly recent....one of the guys was talking about replacing the cylandar with a metal one after having had a few failures...next time I'm on a computer to do a search I'll see if I can post a link...

 

@Helix13mini i pulled the boot off of the old slave and there was oil inside of it. i already put the new slave in, i just have to bleed the system out

 

hey ZippyNH were you able to find that thread? ive been bleeding my slave for a while now, and i have some what of a clutch pedal but nowhere near where it should be. i still hear a swishing sound inside the master clutch cylinder so still maybe a pocket of air? i already pulled out lots of bubbles, theres no leaks of break fluid anywhere

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-solution.html

also a link with a how to on it....not the one I was thinking of...but it has some more info

"By the way... you don't need the fancy MINI slave compression tool. Just use a few feet of duct tape to hold the piston in a fully-compressed state and swap it for the old slave. Run a pressure bleeder for a bit, then seal the system, untape the slave and bolt it in place. It works like a charm!"

Might be too late......but I hope it helps...good luck!!

 

from the above thread.....


i too had a massive headache with the slave cylinder in my car as well. it was always the biggest pain during my motor pulls since i kept getting air bubbles in my master somehow.i did not have, nor had access to, a pressure bleeder that would fit the cap at the top.i finally tried reverse bleeding it when the slave was compressed by using an old-school manual oil pump. and it worked perfect! i just pumped fluid into the system from the slave and sucked the extra out the top as it filled.every time i did it i actually saw the big air bubbles that were causing my problems. it's essentially the same as pressure bleeding from the top, but i just didn't have the right tools, and now don't need them if i do it again and could do it in 15 mins if needed to as well. Last edited by KurTecH : 11-12-2009 at 02:55 PM.

 

so, today i bleed bleed bleed. got some movement from the slave to the lever, had a clutch pedal but, still not enough to get it into gear. im thinking i either messed up the slave putting it in or the master went.

 

turns out my pressure plate cracked in 3 spots, and the clutch was worn all the way down, just another reason to be cautious when buying used... Shes all better now, shifts alot smoother and gets into gear easier, it actually seems like it has way more pick up then ever before