2003 CVT Mini Cooper -- 10,200 miles, no troubles at all, drives like a charm (so far!)

Situation: Drove 75 miles at around 70 MPH yesterday. Arrived into a town with lotsa hills and narrow streets surrounded by shops on each side of street. As I would accelerate up the hills, very steep hills, with windows down, no radio on, we (my girlfriend and I) could here a noticeably LOUD "click, click, click, click, click" eminating from the engine area...I'd say more toward driver's side front. Going up the hills, I couldn't have been going more than 5 to 10 MPH...streets were crowded and narrow.

It sounded exactly like if you took a playing card and put it in between the spokes of a bicycle wheel. The clicking seemed to slow down and speed up in relation to the speed of the car. There was no odd feeling at all in the operation of the car, drove smooth as usual. Steering is positive and firm, as usual. Left car in parking lot for about 10 hours, returned, and drove the 75 miles back home with nothing odd to report. Several hills on the way home, did not make that sound (car was "cold" though...because we had just begun our 75 mile trek home).

It only happend when going up hills, I know this sounds funny, but sorta like a rollercoaster as it climbs toward the top "click..click..click." It seemed to only click when I gave it gas, coasting there was no clicking. Today I drove around and everything was fine...couldn't here the clicking.

So...any CVT owners cast any light on this odd sound? Does the CVT have some sorta "clutch" mechanism to keep it from rolling in reverse when driving on steep hills? There were several times when I would have to stop on the hill, or give it no gas...most CVT owners will agree, there is that familiar "backward drift" of a few inches when you stop on a hill, between the time your foot goes from the brake to the excelerator...like a manual tranny.

At first I thought it was a CV Joint clicking, but no, it's WAY too loud and doesn't do it all the time.

I know if I bring it to the dealer all I will get is: "Drives fine, cannot duplicate noise/problem."

Thanks for any advice,

-Joe

 

hmmmm, you sure your mini's not pinging? I used the wrong gas (as instructed by a reliable source) once and got pinging which usually could be heard while going up a hill at low speeds. Kinda sounds like clicking or like a card in bike spokes. I've got an 03 CTV, too.

 

Never had this issue withour '02 CVT with 21,800 miles. Get it checked by the dealer ASAP.

 

Try driving around slowly in a tight circle

If it clicks more when cornering, it's the CV-joints going bad.

 

It's definitely not a detonation related issue -- I use 93 Octane Mobil gas exclusively...plus this clicking was far too consistent and clear (audible), and eminated from the front left wheel area.

I thought of the CV Joint, but why would a CV joint suddenly stop making the clicking noise? Once it starts clicking, doesn't it just get worse (louder) and worse until it fails? Again, the noise seemed way to loud to be a CV Joint....

For now, since the noise has disappeared completely, I am going to attribute it to picking up a rock that got caught between the tire treads. It did sound like that, come to think of it. Plus if it was a rock, and it fell out, that would explain why the clicking has suddenly stopped.

I'll examine the runflats closely for an imbedded nail or screw later in the day -- I've had nails/screws in tires before that were "airtight" so it could be that as well....but again, the noise probably would not have stopped if it were a nail/screw. I'll keep an "ear" on it, but for now I'm attributing it to a rock stock between the wide treads in the runflats.

Thanks for the advice,

-Joe

 

I don't think it's the CVT. By the way you describe it (baseball card in the spokes) I'm pretty sure I know what it is. Check your front driver's side tires for rocks! Seriously! I bet you have a little rock or stone stuck in your treads. Especially if the frequency of the noise increased when you increased in speed (say 5 to 10 mph). Check it out before you take it to the dealer. YOu might have to move the car a few inches to check the entire tire.

 

Ah I see you just came to the same conclusion. I'm 99% sure that's what happened. I have the goodyear 17" all-season runflats and I get rocks in the threads (particularly the rear ones) all the time. About once a week I spend a little time removing all of them.