Hi guys, 2005 Cooper S 6 speed with 80,000 miles.

Today I got off the freeway and went to stop at the light. I pushed the clutch in to shift into neutral and the clutch went to the floor with very little resistance. I didn't know what to do, but I coasted to a near-stop and tried to shift into first. No go. The lever would not go forward into first gear with or without pressing the clutch in.

I put the car in third and was able to drive it the mile or so to my house in third gear.

I got home and checked the fluid in the brake master cylinder which was nearly full. I topped it off anyways and then checked the clutch. Same issue, very little to no resistance. I tried pumping it, but no change.

I tried to start the car without pushing in the clutch, and it would not start. I pushed the clutch down (even with no resistance) and the car started. I still could not put the shifter into the first gear position.


What the hell is wrong with my car? Is this a simple-ish fix of a slave cylinder seal replacement, or is this some crazy internal flywheel clutch plate molten lava fusing action or what? I have no idea and really don't have the cash to take it in for a $2500 surprise repair job. Any ideas?

 

sounds a bit like what they're describing here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...eplacement.htm

that would be my thing to check when my clutch stops working

 

My guess would be the slave cylinder. I've had this happen to me before 2.5 hrs from home. That was a good time. And a buddy of mine had the same thing happen and both times it was the slave cylinder.

 

Slave cylinder is a relatively inexpensive part and fairly EZ to install but a BEAR to bleed. Do your research. Basically, it requires that the slave cylinder piston must be fully depressed while bleeding. Otherwise, you'll use up a bunch of brake fluid b4 you realize there must be a trick to it.

 

I had same problem i started with master since neither were leaking. Got ready to bleed it and my.help noticed the ear, that the slave bokts to, was flexing. Upon further inspection the ear had cracked and even tho the slave was engaging it was flexing away from shift fork. Had it welded at machine shop bled it down (took hours that is a major pain) and was back on the road.

 

Called a mechanic I trust, quoted $155 to do the slave cylinder, $1587 for an OEM clutch and $2100 for an aftermarket performance platinum extreme blah blah clutch replacement. He hasn't seen the car yet and I haven't verified the actual cause of the problem. Will keep this updated with pics if I can get them. A search on the web shows the part is about $30 but not easy to get quickly.

 

thats a new one. You are aware that these cars have a safety switch that doesn't allow them to be started without the clutch pedal being fully depressed, right?

 

That neutral safety switch is on top ot the clutch pedal. When my slave was broke i could put it in gear and push in the clutch to start it and take off. Pain in the butt but i had to get it home.

 

I think I'm a little confused...is there a clutch master cylinder AND a separate brake master cylinder or just the one brake master and the clutch slave? If so, where is the clutch master located?

 

You have an input and output slave. The one to replace is typically the output slave at the end of the line at the transmission. Input slave is inside the cabin above your left foot.

Clutch works "borrowing" DOT 4 brake fluid from your braking system to function, I think that is where the confusion is coming from.

 

I ordered a slave and gonna try to replace it this weekend. Hopefully that's all it is and I don't need new fork bushing bearing magnet blinker fluid too. Wish me luck!

 

Good luck, Nick, but fair warning: doing the clutch slave is a PITA, and messy. Be sure not to lose the rubber gasket that goes between the rigid fluid line and the slave, and the above warnings about bleeding it are not exaggerated.

 

Tried to do this TWICE today, now the car is just leaking brake fluid all over the ground.

I think the first one was defective or broken from the beginning, and I couldn't get the damn bleed valve to loosen up/open. I hooked it up and it did nothing but leak incessantly. I looked around for the gasket/o-ring, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I tried the second one and it didn't leak (or leak as bad) but I couldn't get it to bleed. I pressed on the clutch, thinking that might help but all it did was make the damn thing leak a bunch more.

 

Out of curiosity, how many hours labor is reasonable for a clutch replacement? Shop quoted 11.5 hours?

 

 

Bummer. I have had professional mechanics call me in total frustration trying to figure out how to get this done. At this point, if you have the system sealed, it'll just be a matter of persistence. I would recommend against loosening and tilting the clutch master: it'll cause you more pain than help. You will need a from-the-top pressure bleeder.

 

After more thought and not finding a pressure bleeder anywhere nearby for purchase I just had it towed to a repair shop. They can mess with it since I'm not even sure that replacing the slave will fix the problem. Here's to $1500 down the drain for a new clutch. Thanks Mini for being so damn expensive.

 

Had it towed to the shop, which was a six hour ordeal and resulted in the loss of my pass side mirror cap (not sure how to proceed on that, thinking about making them buy me new lime green ones). $400 to replace the slave, the rigid line and bleed the system. Shop guy pulls the car out of the bay and calls me to say the clutch is slipping really bad and he was barely able to pull it back inside the shop.

$300 for the new clutch parts $150 to machine the flywheel if needed and about $1200 in labor for the stock clutch setup or like 650 for the performance clutch kit and same labor on top of the $400 for the previous repair.

:/

 

Yowch. The line and the slave cost less than $100 together, meaning that it was $300 to bleed it. I'm curious as to their method for machining the flywheel: it's a dual-mass. First of all, is it necessary? Second how do they do it? Do they disassemble it or lock the mechanism before putting it on the lathe?

 

Got the car back on Friday. $2800 total. Small hiccup with the clutch kit supplier, first kit arrived missing a bolt so a new one was ordered. I chose to go with the single mass flywheel upgrade over having the old one machined. They gave me the original one and the clutch disc, which is worn down to the rivets. Final problem was that the transmission needed special mini fluid which was not available locally and had to be purchased from a nearby dealership. On the plus side, they took good care of my car and washed it before returning it to me. Even though the subframe was removed and all, the front end doesn't vibrate, shake or rattle and my alignment seems to be intact.

This is the first manual trans car I've ever owned so I'm not even sure how the clutch is supposed to feel. This new setup feels much different from the old; there seems to be a few inches of slack in the pedal, and now it seems to grab much more firmly(?) or quickly than before. The pressure required to floor the pedal is also considerably less than before with the OEM clutch at 50,000 miles. I'm worried about burning this one out prematurely by "feathering" the pedal, especially when transitioning to first.

 

heres what was left of the old disc

 

I had the same thing happen to my first mini. The issue with the stock clutch plate is the Kevlar they have bonded in the plate compound shreds more than wears I'm told. But I had my clutch plate shred, slave cylinder go out, and my dual mass flywheel break (spring snapped). I converted to the single mass as well although I did the work myself. The clutch feels completely different yes, but wont wear any quicker. The shop probably did an alignment following the service, the alignment should be nearly undeliverable after dropping the steering subframe and strut towers. The labor is outrageous in shops. Cost me $850 to do the clutch, flywheel, spring plate, throw out bearing, and slave cylinder and purchase the $17/liter transmission oil. Goes to show how much really does go into labor costs....