Hey all. Ive been on the dark side of Miniland for past few months. I bought my 03 Cooper S with 75K as was excited to find out I needed a new supercharger. So I bought a re-manufactured one and had it professional installed. Shortly after that I began to hear a flippty floppity noise coming from the area under the inter-cooler while at idle. It isnt loud and screechy like before I had the supercharger replaced but I assumed it was and early indication that my re-manufactured supercharger wasnt much better than the one I just paid $ 1800 to replace. (which still could be the case)

But yesterday I noticed, as I idled in the driveway listening to the floppity sound...when I depressed the clutch, it seemed to stop. Based on other research I have done I believe my throw-out bearing is going bad so I am wondering if my flippity floppity noise may be clutch related and not supercharger related. Isnt the transmission right behind the water pump (sort of)?

I may sound strange but I would be thrilled to find out that I have some other expensive issue to deal with instead of having to re-redo my supercharger. Any advise is appreciated.

Bob
from VA

 

does it make the same sound when you drive? and if so, does the flop clanking noise increase as you give it more gas?

i had the same sort of noise with my mini that came up while driving.. was a pretty terrible clanking noise that disappeared when the clutch was engaged..

ended up being a spun rod bearing.. hope thats not the case for you.

 

Is there no end to what could possibly be wrong with my car??!! I'm hoping its not a rod bearing. Let think of something else!

I do not notice the sound when I drive, only at idle when the motor is quiet. I do have some vibration in the motor too. The vibration and the sound seem to go away with the clutch pedal pressed down. I would think if it was a motor issue the vibration and sound would continue even if my foot is on the clutch.

I need to figure out how to get a video on youtube.

 

I think that mine makes the same noise you are describing. But before I go replacing the TO bearing I will change the lubricant in the transmission.

 

KS: Do a search. There are some old threads about a clutch "tapping" noise or "rattle" similar to what you describe. My '03MCS made that noise since it was new. Try fully depressing the clutch pedal at idle (to disengage the clutch) -- the noise should disappear. Then let the clutch pedal out slowly; if the noise returns at all, it should be much less noticeable. It's one of several benign quirks of this model's otherwise great powertrain. Another is the rather loud "clack" when shifting from 1st to 2nd. My car still makes those noises, yet the car is running well at over 83K miles. Good luck.

 

+1 on throwout bearing rattle being the culprit, if depressing the clutch even slightly shuts it up. Good thing is, like omnifix says, it can rattle and still work....

Mine puked a tranny at 49k miles, but I bought it used with 36k and a 3/36 warrantee, so the new trans was only $200 (the deductible) plus $300 for the new clutch I had the mech throw in while it was staring him in the face.... Who knows how the previous owner drove the car, but it had a bad input shaft bearing. It sounded like a bad wheel bearing, but inside the trans, and it spun down when you depressed the clutch and disengaged the mainshaft from the engine. Sadly, the warrantee co. wouldn't replace the LSD with the new trans, so I lost the LSD that came with the car. Gotta fix that sometime after the new trans goes out of warrantee.... I've heard that the Focus SVT used the same Getrag trans for a while, and that Ford Racing has a Torsen diff that provides LSD-like goodness and bolts right into a 6-speed R53....

C ya,
Dutch

 

Mine has been making that same noise since 70K, I am now close to 107K and the clutch still does not slip and shifts fine.

 

I think that mine makes the same noise you are describing

 

your dual mass flywheel is broken. its harmless.

 

Its been a few weeks but...to continue on...what other symptoms are there for a bad dual mass flywheel? I notice that when I get down to 2000 RPMs while at cruising speed in any gear I feel a resonance. I usually shift to a lower gear so that I am at about 2300 RPMs or better and everything smooths right out. Could this be related to the flywheel or is this just typical when the RPMs get too low in a certain gear?

 

If you have a replacement clutch, and a single mass flywheel, it makes noise when the clutch is not depressed. This is clutch chatter. You have to find out if the clutch was replaced and if it was, and they used after market parts. This noise is normal and harmless. It is why the factory went with dual mass, to quiet the normal chatter you would hear.

My car makes a floppity noise and all is new install, 400 miles on it and I consider it normal. It isn't very loud, but when I first noticed it I thought it was something knocking against the firewall from all the aftermarket wiring and relays I have there. Then when I figured out it goes away with the clutch in, I realized it was the famous clutch chatter that is common with some clutch, flywheel setups.

 

I had the exact same issue and noise you describe on a Generation 2 Cooper. It made the noise for the better part of 14 months. Afterwards, I had issues with a worn clutch friction disk and the clutch started slipping badly. I think, however, the problems were unrelated.

After the clutch, flywheel and TOB were changed in order to repair the worn friction disk, the noise went away. However, if I listen very, very carefully, I can still hear a quiet rattle that disappears when the clutch pedal is depressed (i.e. clutch disengaged).

I wouldn't worry about it until you get other symptoms such as clutch slip or obvious TOB failure. If that happens you'll know it.

If the car is shifting fine and the clutch is not slipping, accept this as part of the normal operation of the car and its transmission.

 

Thanks HRM and MiniDelux. I guess that helps. These Coopers are complex and strange little cars.

 

I had the same issue at both of my 2007 r56 and 2008 r56 and if noise dissapears when clutch is pressed than it is definetly because of bad flywheel which has to be replaced when you are going to replace the clutch. Change them at the same time I know from my experience

 

New OEM Clutch, TO bearing and Flywheel....one week later...let the chatter begin. It is just as loud as it was before. I just dont have to release it as slowly to make it stop.

My guess is that it has to do with the amount of pressure build up when the clutch is released.

Nothing to worry about.

 

Glad to hear it is nothing to worry about . I have the same noise in my new to me used 2007 MCS JCW 46K miles . At first I thought I had the chain tensioner noise clacking. But when I depress the clutch while in neutral . The noise disappears.

 

My car is doing the opposite... The chatter noise is present ONLY after my car has warmed up a bit. It clatters at idle in neutral with the clutch out, it clatters with the clutch pedal pressed in while in gear.

The clatter sound goes away when I lift off the clutch and grabbing a gear to move. The warmer the engine, the louder the sound. Before I replaced my harmonic balancer, the clatter would be unbearable when the A/C was on. Felt like the front end was going to fall off.

Anyway, I have a September 2002 build '03. I am 95% certain my issue is with the dual mass flywheel. My clutch is starting to slip more regularly and I am sure it will need to be replaced soon. I have 114K+ miles on the ODO. Will probably go with a valeo kit w/ single mass flywheel option...

 

All that noise....you sure your supercharger isnt going away?

 

There is a service bulletin on the dual mass flywheel. Mine does the same thing. Nothing to worry about. Let it go till you need a new clutch. They updated the flywheel since. So the SB reads.

 

Can y ou provide us with the complete text of the service bulletin?

 

What benefits are you looking for over the DM Flywheel ?

 

I don't have a copy of it. It was read to me at the time I was concerned. Here is the reference.

From another forum...

Service Information Bulletin Number SI M 21 01 05
Parts number is 21 20 7 548 804

It's a revised dual-mass flywheel that does a better job of damping vibrations from the engine that are making the gearbox components chatter - that's the rattling you hear.

 

Just looking for the incessant knocking to stop. The factory DMF is a piece of junk and it's well documented.

 

That bulletin is pretty old.

Even that Bulletin DMF has a newer part number than that one.

 

Did the previous owner install a stage clutch that doesn't have damper springs? My stage clutch does the same thing in neutral with clutch engaged...the sound stops when I step on the clutch...the low rpm at idle causes the clutch/flywheel to slap back and forth against the splines...it's normal for this type of clutch...