2006 MCS convertible. While slowly letting go of the clutch pedal with the engine off, I can hear a fairly loud creak (sort of like an old door hinge). It seems the slower I let go of the pedal, the louder it creaks. Can't really hear it with the engine running.
With the wife at the pedal and me under the car, I was able to pinpoint it coming from the slave cylinder. I am rather clueless with respect to this cylinder. Is this a warning of a pending failure? Is there any way to lubricate it? I pulled the boot aside and sprayed some white lithium grease in there. Didn't help the noise much, but the pedal does seem smoother.

 

http://atlanticmotorcar.com/mini-coo...utches-go-bad/

 

Replacement of the slave cylinder on the Cooper S is a snap. Its location is easy to get to from underneath the car. Read more about it at this DIY Tech Article.

-Luccia

 

Yes, but that won't fix your problem. Do you make money selling parts? Oh, I guess so.

 

As does any parts company, but I offered some literature for the OP to read on it, not parts. Thanks for your input, again.

-Luccia

 

Yes, we are all trying to save them from unneeded agravation and of course wasting money.

I appreciate your tech. articles we just need to steer them to the right ones.

 

My wife's 05 MCS clutch has always been just a bit creaky for the 18 months and 35,000 miles we've had the car. I thought it must have a cable clutch because that's what it feels like, and was going to find out how to lube the cable. When I learned it is a hydraulic clutch I became concerned that it might be the throwout bearing binding just as the article above said. But ours is not slipping and I don't think it's getting worse. Last night I lay under the dash and I think the creak is actually coming from the pedal pivot, but not sure yet.

Has anybody else encountered this? As for the first article posted from Atlantic Motor Car, do we know the root cause of this binding of the throwout bearing?

Jeremy

 

I really appreciate all the responses. That article is interesting but really does not address my problem. There is no burning smell or slipping. The car drives fine. I have read on some Honda Civic forums where people have lubricated the slave cylinder because of the creaking. Has anyone lubricated the Mini one, and where? Is this noise the symptom of a bad slave cylinder? I could be wrong but the noise really seems to come from there. I can feel it with my hand on the slave cylinder when the clutch is depressed. I don't mind changing it, as it seems to be a fairly inexpensive part. I am just hesitant because everywhere I read, a bad slave cylinder is characterized by a leak.

 

Hey Solo, ditto for me. It's behaved this way since we bought it at 64k miles, now 98k miles, no change. Yesterday I did exactly what you did...feels like its coming from the end of the slave pushrod. So I pulled the boot back and tried silicone spray on the ball/socket there. This made it worse. The good thing is that I knew I was in the right place, and there's nothing weird going on with my throwout bearing. I read the can of silicone and it specifically says "not for plastics"...go figure, the clutch slave pushrod, including the ball and socket on the end, are plastic! Weird... So I flooded it with WD40 which made it about the same as before. I didn't have any spray lithium grease, so I tried some Honda chain lube which has worked great on a number of things. It didn't really change.

So here's what we know: this particular brand of the clutch creak is caused by the ball and socket on the end of the clutch pushrod where it moved the lever arm that comes out of the bell housing. The ball and socket are plastic. THE QUESTION: what's the best grease for this type of thing? I could pull the slave cylinder off easily enough to get grease in there.

Jeremy

 

UPDATE:

The main part of the noise on mine is NOT where the slave push rod engages the arm as I thought. It is inside the bell housing, presumably the throwout bearing sliding on the input shaft housing. To test this I removed the slave cylinder, then put a 15" crescent wrench on the arm and moved it that way. Low and behold, the creak is still there. Bummer. But it's not very bad and I have no other symptoms, so it will stay that way until something gets worse.

Jeremy

 

All i could think of is maybe the pivot nylon bushings on the clutch fork ? There are two of them in the bell housing, then the throw-out bearing that slides on then guide tube.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2006-Cooper-R52-S-Convertible-L4_1.6L_W11B16A/Drivetrain/Clutch/2




Link to diagram:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...16#23110530904

 

Thanks. The consensus seems to be that it's probably the throwout bearing on the guide tube or maybe the clutch fork on the throwout bearing. All this stuff, including those nylon bushings, require tranny removal to fix...yuk.

 

You are welcome, glad I could help. Yes , to get to it unless you could at least use a very small mirror & led light through the slave cylinder hole and poke in there to see anything wrong. Otherwise taking the trans out for inspection.

Good luck.