Hey, Everybody.

My '06 S Cabrio has been at the dealer for almost 2 weeks. They just replaced the clutch slave for the FIFTH time. The first time it blew out, the car was about 6 months old. It has happened about once a year since then; the most recent one lasted only 3 weeks before failing.

The guys are scratching their heads and say they have no idea why it's failing repeatedly. I'm no mechanic, but I'm smart enough to know that something else has to be causing the problem. I thought they were tearing the transmission apart to look for the cause this time, but learned today that they've only been test driving it around the neighborhood and then looking for leaks. They wanted me to take it home today with no answers. At this point, the car is not under warranty, only the part is. But the problem has existed since the beginning.

I love my MINI but I've been stranded too many times in very inconvenient circumstances and had unpleasant encounters with surly tow truck drivers; getting to the point where I don't trust my car and worried about the clutch failing in rush hour traffic or late at night or on the top of a mountain (again)...

Any thoughts/advice will be welcome!

Holly

 

Do you know what the actual symptom(s) are that they are experiencing?

Did they check the line going to the slave? while someone was pushing the pedal? are they bleeding it correctly?

Without really knowing what's happening, I would guess the clutch release shaft is bent.

EDIT:
The part I am referring to is number 4 in this illustration...



...it should be replaced with numbers 5, 6, and 7.

Image courtesy of penskeparts.com