recently the car feels (as best as I can describe it) like its stuttering, almost as if the tires were hopping a bit. ive tried everything from high revs to low revs before letting off the pedal, any guesses

clutch is grabbing where it always has, no shifting issues

 

You may have a clutch slipping, get it checked out before your stranded.

 

I think Way is right on.
Sounds like clutch slipping.

 

Wow, surprised only because it's grabbing at normal pedal height, no slip when accelerating, though getting into reverse is sometimes a little difficult

 

does it stutter faster with the revs up?

or is the stutter frequency determined by road speed?

 

actually not certain, it seemed to do it less with lower revs from a standing start but thats just me guessing, and it is only doing it from a stop

 

what is your tire wear like? Check the right front tire. If it has worn down (like all 3 of mine have done) you MAY be getting tire slip.

 

hmm.

no evidence of clutch failure or slippage from these posts - normal engagement, rpm not varying at load, clean shifts

possible warped flywheel? highly improbable, right? that would "stutter" any time there was slippage in the clutch, but the stutter would vary by engine speed

possible ecm or sensor glitch? what happens if the car thinks it has tire slippage, is hyper-sensitive for some reason? i've never heard of this one, and i'm not sure that the result would occur as any rapid oscillation of power that would be described as "stutter".

plain old traction issues? bad tire(s)? possible but I tend to assume that the OP is being gentle, not launching the car hard.

chassis? bushing failure allowing fwd/aft movement by the axle? now I'm really stretching - I don't think this would "stutter" either.

Help me out here - describe the problem again using different words - I'm dead ending on what the heck this might be...

Thanks,

Charlie

 

Have you tried starting in 2nd from a complete stop? If it "stutters" regardless of gear, it could be as simple as your fuel filter being clogged. It could even be the infamous fuel-pump-eaten-by-ethanol problem.

+1 to cmt. Can you break down what you mean by stuttering? I may have a different idea of stuttering than you do.

 

tires are almost new, very little wear, at mechanic now, will let you know what he says too

 

how does one describe this. bumbumbum as i am lifting off the clutch until i am in gear and going is the feeling, litterally as if the tire was stuttering or shuddering on the pavement which it is not. here is an interesting observation. it did it a bunch on monday, didnt do it tues but back to doing it tues eve. i would say temperature plays a role but there was no difference in temp mon vs tues

 

Oh I do hope it will make those symptoms for your mechanic. I'm most curious regarding the cause.

 

mechanic called it chatter and it did it when he drove it. thought mini says you dont change the fluid as its lifetime, he said it was loaded with metal shavings etc. so, he is flushing and changing it in the hopes it solves the issue,

if not he said its a clutch kit, not sure what that will set me back, do i use oem, aftermarket, and if aftermarket, any certain brand?

 

fingers crossed that the flush helps -- just so's I understand, did you mean that the tech find metal shavings in the hydraulic system for the clutch?

 

I doubt it was the hydraulic system.

MINIs are supposed to have lifetime fluid in the transmission. Transmissions will more often than not have some metal in the fluid from the natural process of gears cogs & synchros wearing against each other.

I can't see how a fluid flush/change is going to help your clutch. Although changing out the transmission fluid is a good idea if you have a lot of miles on it.

 

@Crashton, agreed, but it cant hurt, it should at least help with the synchros etc and at worst it costs a few bucks and makes things smoother, at worst, he will work on doing a clutch kit in a week or so

@cmt, not sure, i think he meant in the tranny fluid

 

oil soaked clutch? could be a leaking gasket.

 

Agreed. The seal on the input shaft to the tranny, or the rear main seal on the crankcase.

The thing that bites is, we're now into a R&R of the motor and splitting the case.

Once there, it usually makes sense to replace the clutch, as the labor dwarfs the parts.

Arrgghh.

 

Changing the fluid is certainly not a bad thing & money well spent.

If the tranny & engine are separated then yes by all means replace all the parts. It is false economy not to. I hope you find a cheap easy resolution to your problem.

 

The clutch runs dry so extremely unlikely any fluid changes are going to help this problem, although they're not bad ideas on their own for other reasons.

Chatter is usually a problem that manifests itself after the clutch has been abused. Any teen-agers drivers around?

I'd try and see if it resolves itself to accetability over time - otherwise, you're probably looking at a new clutch - around $1500.

- Mark

 

No teen drivers but it's got 94k on it and 82k was from another adult driver but who knows if he was smooth on the clutch or not...
Mechanic also says let's give it some time to resolve, can always do a clutch. Most honest mechanic ever

 

now that's a great bit of news right there. do post an update in a bit?

cheers,

Charlie

 

more info to follow. but, so far so good. i too cant see how changing the tranny fluid would have any effect on the clutch issue but its not been symptomatic since picking it up from the mechanic. and, its so much easier to get it into reverse since the fluid change so minimally there is a positive effect right there. I will repost once I get a better feel if the issue returns or stays away for good.

 

continues to be fine so far

 

glad to hear it. baffles me, but one cannot argue with the results!

be nice to that mechanic now -- remember him/her with an Xmas card and such...