I was having problems shifting gears on my 2006 MCS (R53) with 83k miles - turns out the throwout bearing exploded, trashed the clutch and put holes in the tranny case! I have a mechanic that I trust at a local shop (not the dealer!) working with me. They work on Porsche, BMW, Mini's, and I have used them in the past - so I trust their work.

I will use the Valeo clutch and flywheel instead of OEM, since it is much cheaper. I've seen some positive posts on the board about it - and I have a call into Waylen to talk to him about getting it.

But my problem is the tranny - I cannot find anyone that will sell just the front part of the case. My only option is used ($1900) or rebuilt ($3800). I could have the case welded, but the concern is if we miss anything, there is huge labor to tear it down again.

Anyone else have this problem? Is there a source to get a case only?

Thanks!

 

If the damage is limited to be bell housing, and not the gear case you will be fine just welding it. If your trans fluid leaked all over the place, then the gear case was pierced, and you should replace the box. Swapping the internals from your box to a different box is a bit complicated--you're better off getting a known good used box. Try car-part.com. Run a carfax on the VIN. You might be able to get one for less than $1900. -Eric

 

Mine didn't explode, but failed last night about 100 miles from home. It sounds terrible and grinds like crazy when depressing the clutch. I parked it at my hotel and worried about starting this morning since you have to depress the clutch pedal. I got her started and had to clutch it twice at red lights but speed shifted and crept up to other lights and got her home. Hopefully no bell housing damage, tranny will come out later today.

 

Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

I had the same thing happen to me last year. A ball bearing came off and bounced its way clean through the part of the bellhousing where the diff sits. One of my father's friends was able to patch it up for me with a TIG welder since the hole was pretty small.

 

Got it all done. Followed the step by step on the Pelican Parts site and had almost no issues. Ended up cracking the catalytic converter from wiggling the engine too much putting the trans in. Put all new boots on the CV axles too. Notice the old disc still has grooves on it! I toyed with putting it back in, but after pulling the trans, nah. Sorry this is late but lost the fuel pump last week and got tied up replacing that and the filter. Tomorrow I've got to grind a severely worn rear disc to get the caliper off. Everything seems to be failing right at 300,000 miles this week.

 

Hi,

The same thing happened to my 2006 MCS. The throughout bearing didn't explode though, just the retaining clip broke and ended up floating around the bell-housing damaging the clutch pressure-plate and flywheel. It also put a hole in the bell-housing at the diff.

Although fairly bashed up, I think there is only one hole. I'll split the gearbox case and investigate; I think it can be welded.

 

I just replaced a failed throw out bearing on the '06 R52 I bought. Much less damage thankfully. The rear metal plate on the bearing that the fork pushes on wore through and broke in half. Half of it liberated from the bearing and flung around inside the housing dinging it up but no holes in the case. There were just a few very small pieces of metal that I found when I opened it up. Not sure where the rest went.

The bearing itself felt like a really old metal wheeled roller skate bearing when I rotated it.

I feel for you with all the damage due to such a small part failing. Seems like a common problem with OEM clutches.

 

Thanks Joe,

I think that's what must have happened to mine; I wouldn't have thought that such a small bit could have caused so much damage.

Lack of lubricant (grease) on the fork seems to have been the cause. I wonder if the factory even lubricated this?

I've accounted for about 90% of the ring (in four pieces). I'm hoping the rest didn't find its way into the gearbox through the hole. I guess I'll find out when I split the case.

Did you have any warning (noises) before the plate broke? I had what I though was normal gearbox chatter that went away when the clutch pedal was pressed. It didn't sound like a rattle from loose throw-out-bearing.

 

I bought the car with the problem so I don't know if there was any noise when the piece of metal liberated itself from the throw out bearing. I didn't notice any noise in the time we drove it before we replaced it.

From the pictures on FCP Euro website it looks like the MINI OEM part comes with some grease applied to the area where the fork contacts it. Look at the attached picture.

The LUK kit that I installed did not come with grease but I applied some before installing.