NAM,

2002 Mini Cooper (non-s)
111,171 miles
Bought the car used September 2009

So here's the situation. About a week ago I left the mini on overnight and the battery died. Tried jump starting, but didn't work because the battery was completely dead. Towed to get a new battery installed by a local mechanic - $180.

I tried popping the clutch to get the car running but didn't work. Could this have a bad effect??
Keep in mind car has been running completely fine prior to all of this.

A week later, as in a few days ago, I randomly felt the clutch slipping an hour or so after a semi-hard acceleration, but nothing past redline or way out of the usual. When I get home I see if the mini can make it up the driveway hill but it ceases to move.

I could shift into all gears without depressing the clutch, and I could leave the car in a gear without gas or clutch and the car didn't cut off/stall.

Mini is towed to mechanic; he says it needs a new clutch for sure. He replaces the clutch, but now he can't get the mini "into gear". So now I'm thinking it's the gearbox. He's still working on it, trying things and "collaborating with a mini dealership" which doesn't seem to be very responsive.

Why would this happen so suddenly? Ideas of what it might be/ how much it would cost to get back to working condition?

Ideas? Help? Similar Situation?
Thanks,
SlyCooper

 

Not saying that it couldn't be the gearbox, but they are pretty robust. My guess is the mechanic didn't install the clutch right.

 

Not if it's an 02 (which means Midlands). It very well could be the transmission but I agree that it also sounds like the clutch is not installed quite right.

 

Yeah, that sounds to me like the clutch was not properly installed. If memory serves, there is a special tool that is needed to get the throwout bearing to line up properly with it.

If it won't go into gear, it's possibly the slave cylinder. Usually a good time to install is with the clutch. They are not that expensive if you buy the part yourself, and it can be done right there with little effort.

 

Cool thanks for the opinions. I have come across some other threads about the slave cylinder and the clutch being replaced at the same time.

Any more ideas?? Agree with above posts?? Thanks again.

 

Yeah, I'm aware the R65 gearboxes (Midland built) were junk. Why do you think I got rid of my 2003 Cooper? Didn't want to take any chances. The symptoms he was showing sounded more like a clutch installation problem. Could have been something as simple as a shift cable popping off. Any updates on this?

 

Hey, no updates as of yet.
But im having the mini towed to a repair shop that specializes in minis (non-dealer), so ill post back once everything is sorted out. I did call them earlier, to get some ideas of what could be wrong and they too said it sounds like the clutch was installed wrong.

 

MINI specialists can definitely be better. Some of the ones around here used to be MINI line techs.

 

Cool!!! Hope it all goes well for you. Keep us posted.

 

So it's been quite a while after I initially listed my thread asking for help, but the fix also took quite a while too. Thanks to everyone who posted their ideas on what it might have been.

THE FIX:
It turned out that the clutch and the transmission was blown. I know a lot of you thought perhaps the mechanic put the clutch in backwards because I had said, "He can't get the car into gear" but I should had clarified it as "The physical clutch will go into gear and you can shift it, but the car won't move anywhere".

The mechanic showed me the old tranny; basically it had broken into pieces from the inside which wasn't too surprising because I had read stories where other MINI tranny (midlands) had also done that.

It is not possible to buy a completely new tranny, BMW nor MINI sells them, but you can buy a rebuilt tranny from MINI which is what I ended up going with. (The MINI of Towson had a rebuilt tranny in stock. And it was gone the next day. The sales rep said they average selling 1 rebuilt tranny a month. That is completely ridiculous for one dealer to have that replacement average on manual transmissions . Most trannys on manual cars never even reach a point close to needing a replacement. Bad MINI, Bad Midlands.

All in all, the job cost some $4000. It took nearly a month and a half because we wanted to be completely sure it was nothing else before spending all the money on replacing the transmission.

But hey, you can't be mad forever, it's a MINI after all.

 

Congrats on getting the car running, and thanks for updating your thread!!
Well, at least you know you have a re-built tranny that is the latest and greatest!!

 

Glad you have it fixed. Happy motoring.

 

Thanks, although right now there's a weird, kinda loud humming noise. It sounds like something spinning but instead of spinning in a perfect circle, it's spinning in a lopsided circle. So it sounds like with every rotation of whatever-this-may-be, centrifugal force makes the sound. Gets slightly louder with higher rpms. When you rev the engine at a stop, the MINI doesn't make the noise.

Any ideas???

 

In case anyone wanted to know, the new sound I mentioned in my previous post is a wheel bearing going bad. Haven't fixed it yet, but planning on it. Anyone know how much this might run? thanks

 

According to http://www.penskeparts.com/, the front bearing comes as part of the complete hub assembly. Part number is 31 22 6 756 889 and runs $224.10. The rear hub assembly part number is 33 41 6 756 830 and runs $224.49.


Some other price options for the assemblies:

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...ID=31226756889
http://www.turnermotorsport.com/html...ID=33416756830

http://www.aboveallmotorwerks.com/Pr...6756889_S.aspx
http://www.aboveallmotorwerks.com/BV...KF_33416756830

http://www.pelicanparts.com/euro/cat...SUSshk_pg1.htm

 

Cool, the prices don't seem to be that outrageous.
Thanks for all these links.

 

No problem. Another good source for parts is http://www.bavauto.com/. I did not mention them because their prices on the hubs specifically were a little higher.