I've got a 2002 MCS and I just got the car started after replacing the slave cylinder but she still won't go into gear when I try to press her into first she tries to move but won't go into gear. With her off I can put her into first and start her and drive in first but still can't shift. Does anyone have any idea what's going on. Pedal travel for the clutch feels normal. l definitely don't have the money to get someone to look at her though

 

 

Yes. I did. I was actually messing with it a minute ago and I got it into gear with the car on but it took alot of force could that mean I didn't bleed it correctly or that there's are in the line?
​​​​​​

 

It probable means you didnt bleed it properly. A new clutch cylinder needs to be primed, then the air out of the line needs to be bled out, then hooked up. There are a few good videos on how to do it online if you google it. It HAS to be done right. Did you change the clutch in it or just the clutch master cylinder?

 

Just the clutch slave cylinder

 

Yeah, I would bet thats the problem. They are a bit of a pain. Good luck with it.

 

Thanks man!

 

Yep, no worries. The clutch master cylinder has to be put on in the compressed position or you have to bleed it before you put it on. I do both just to make sure, but if there is even a little bit of air in the line, the clutch goes to the floor and nothing. At one point, I had a little bit of pressure, but still had air. The pedal was "soft", but the clutch still didnt work, though, I could see it at least was trying. Once I bled it correctly, the pedal was hard and the cylinder really moved. You tell when you have it right.

 

 

Originally .my cousin stopped driving it becaybe it got extremely hard to put into gear while he was coming home and he ended up getting it stuck in first. My grandfather was the one who knew everything on the mini and he always thought it was the slave cylinder so that's what I went with first. I suspect if me bleeding it again doesn't work and it's still really tuff to put it into gear. I'll need to pull the tranny and look at the throw out bearing

 

Did you follow the videos and bleed it while it was hanging with the bleed nipple positioned high (before bolting it to the car)? You have to clamp the rod fully in so it doesn't come out.

Check the shift cables on the transmission. We had to change out one cable on my son's MINI after the rubber bushing broke free of the ball link. Before the outer ring of the cable came completely off there was a lot slop and it was hard to get into gear. Its much easier to change the cable than the throw out bearing so check it first.

I had to change the throw out bearing on my MINI. Half of the metal ring that contacts the throw out fork broke off. As I recall it still shifted but there was more resistance on the peddle. No doubt the shifting would have suffered more with more use.

 

A little more info. I was messing with it again and I put her in first with it off and started the car. Then pulled her out of first and with a good bit of force got her back into first. then I pulled it out of first again and put it into second with just about the same amount of force but then I pulled it out of second and try to put it into third and it required a bit more force and it actually grinded a little bit when I got it pushed to third. Is this because of an improperly bled slave cylinder? Or is this a bad throwout bearing? Because I really hope it's not

 

the easy way to tell is to have someone press the clutch in while you physically check the travel of the master cylinder. if you are getting 3/4 range or better, that should be enough to shift, it something else. the key here is to make sure it is not the bleeding before moving on. Replacing the throwout is a pain. You can do it without removing the whole engine, but it is not easy either way. If it turns out that you need to replace it, consider doing the whole clutch.

 

 

not likely based on your description . the throw out cost about as much as the master cylinder . i got the clutch and friction plate together for like $250 . you can definitely find it cheaper than that. I think when I was looking I found some place that you can by just the clutch for like $80. I am not sure where that was though.
Since you didnt have a problem before of the clutch slipping, you may not need to do it. Its just good while you have it all taken down to change it out. Typically, you only need to do a clutch change once in the life of the car. If you just do a throw out bearing, you will likely be taking that transmission down later to replace the clutch.

 

 

[QUOTE=Chey Horton;4453356][/QUOTEgood luck with it