so i just (this week) had a 15% supercharger pulley, alta intake and one ball done to my 04 mini MCS that has 69k on it. the last couple of days i have experienced what i think might be the tranny slipping, but heard no funny noises. when cruising, about 3000 rpm and i stomp on the gas to change lanes or merge, sometimes the rpms climb to quickly for the speed increase. the engine revs up and them comes back down a little, or stays constant while speed catches up.i have noticed this mostly in 2nd, 4 a little and 6th a little, but that is prolly just because those are the gears i end up crusing or accelerating the most in. is it definitely a bad clutch or could it be a slipping belt or other?

 

ooohhh and i forgot to mention, the car is shifting fine, and other than the acceleration issue, the clutch seems to engage and disengage fine. and the pedal feels normal.

 

x RPMs in y gear should always equal z mph. It's gear ratios and math which don't change, unless your clutch is slipping. Since your pedal feels fine, I doubt it's the hydraulics, but you might as well try bleeding it first to see if it affects anything.

 

 

The symptoms you describe do seem like a slipping clutch. It might have been slipping already and the additional torque from your new pulley may have made it more obvious.

 

well based on what you all are saying it sounds like the clutch. just didnt know if there could be a belt slipping which would cause that. just found it a little weird that it was right after i put the pulley in, like literally 5 days ago, and that it was happening while completely in a gear and simply accelerating quickly.i will contact my mechanic on monday and see what he has to say. i would love to hear what anyone else has to say as well though.

 

turn off DSC. if your rough on the gas with the pullley intake and 1 ball, it will do that to you. i thought my mech messed up my install when i first took it for a spin, but then turned it off and everything was fine.

 

the dsc light hasnt flahes and the wheels done spin.

 

yeah...MOST people can tell when the tires are lossing grip ang giving you wheel hop, along with the flashing yellow light, but some, er, lower, nonperformance drivers sometimes miss it.
With 90-100,00 miles, a clutch would be due mor many drivers depending style, driving type, and skill. IF it is the clutch, remember the stock clutch is actually very good, and is fine for 220-230 hp by most reports, and is used by many for autocross and race. MAYBE you will get luckey, and the clutch is just glazed from some prior slipping, and it will recover, and you will be fine for a bit.
Do you hear any other noises? A sound of screeching, metal on metal is also sometimes present when a clutch is so severly worn the rivits are making contact with the flywheel.

 

i am kind of just hoping it is glazed and it will come back im trying to be nicer to it and making sure i dont slip it any more. i am from the back roads of ny and used to hold it on hills with the clutch and gas, and am now learning that was a bad idea. but hopefully it will come back. the car drives fine except when i really get on it in higher gears. any smooth slightly hard accel is fine. just a problem when i really romp on the gas.

 

does any one know what the average life of the stock clutch is when driven slightly spirited?

 

spirited driving wouldn't cause significantly more wear than normal driving, unless you're talking about drag strip starts, clutch drops, things of the "clutch abuse" sort.

Riding the clutch on hills will kill it though, as you mentioned before. It's more noticeable in high gears because the gearbox doesn't produce the leverage to overcome inertia, so the only part in the powertrain that can slip, slips. A glazed clutch is about as good as a worn clutch... best start saving I think.

It's not a belt, unless you have one of those rare harley davidson minis...

 

I drive more than "SLIGHTLY" spirited... and my clutch just went at just shy of 113k miles...

2003 R50, all stock.

Except for the 5 hp i get from my stickers.

 

Bad clutch can be tested by tring to take off in say 4th gear from a dead stop. If the motor quits clutch is holding if motor keeps going time to change it. or see this happen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8c0tDzyKlA