So I have *maybe* 35k miles on my 08 MCS and just recently had my shop tell me I had a warped flywheel after letting a friend drive it. Naturally my first thought was that it was because he stalled it a few times on the short drive (maybe 4 or 5 miles on the freeway, then up a windy residential street).

On second thought, it seems a bit ridiculous that someone stalling a few times on one drive would dish out that much abuse to the clutch/flywheel. Then again, my knowledge and experience with transmissions, clutches, and flywheels is arguably nonexistent.

What do you guys think? Is this even possible? Having never stalled it myself, could this have been an existing problem that was just one stall away from draining my bank account (a "straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak)? I'm just not sure whether or not its fair to ask him to help with the repair bill.

 

wharped flywheel?

find a new mechanic

I taught both my kids to drive on my MINIs. They stalled a BUNCH of times.

I sold the 02 with over 90,000 miles

I have the 07 with 40,000 miles

NEVER a clutch issue

what's the issue you have that took you to a mechanic?????

 

The friend that was driving it couldn't make it up the hill. He mentioned it was smoking, and when I got there I could definitely smell the clutch burning up. When I tried to drive it I couldn't get any traction with the clutch, and there was some serious resistance when trying to move the shifter into any position.

 

Could this be related to the issue mentioned in this thread?

 

I hate to say it but it sounds like your "friend" may have cost you a lot of $$$

The smoke and smell of burning clutch are def. bad signs and could point to an expensive repair - burnt and / or warped flywheel. Then the car wouldn't move so the clutch disk itself may be toast..... and you have to check the pressure plate ..... so basically you may be looking at a whole clutch job plus flywheel plus any transmission damage ( if any ) worst case....
it sounds like your friend slipped the clutch the whole way up the hill until the MINI stopped moving -- and started smoking.....

You can always take it to another shop for a second opinion, but from what you said it sounds like your friend toasted your clutch and maybe a whole lot more.

Good luck , I hope your friend helps you out.

 

From your description, I'd say the clutch is done on that car. Hopefully it's limited to the clutch and flywheel without involvement of the transmission. However, the fact that you can't shift is is disconcerting. Unfortunately, it will have to be opened up before you'll have the full story.

With respect to the damage, I'd say it's less about the stalling and more about the slipping. A warped flywheel results from heat damage. Heat damage results from excessive slipping of the clutch, like REALLY excessive slipping.

If the flywheel is warped, you're going to have to replace the entire clutch kit on that car. If this is a 2nd gen Mini, then most likely it's got a dual mass flywheel in there, which can't be resurfaced. Therefore, you're looking at replacement of both the flywheel and clutch assembly.

Labour on this kind of job is _minimum_ 6.5 hours. To give you an idea, replacement of my clutch kit and flywheel at an authorized dealer cost me €1950 before tax. It'll be cheaper at an independent shop, but still a very expensive repair.

You know, it's pretty hard to destroy a clutch by a couple of bad outings on the car. When my clutch was worn and started slipping, I drove it successfully - but carefully - for almost two more weeks (dealer didn't have a service slot). When they removed it, there was obvious heat damage (and the clutch smelled burnt), but it wasn't demolished.

To be honest, a ruined clutch at 35k is pretty rare. It's usually indicative of the driver slipping the clutch too much or using improper technique on hills. If driven properly they can last the life of the car.