The CHF 11S is made in germany by pentosin. You can get it at bmw.

 

Thanks, found a local foreign car parts place that says they have it. About to head over and pick it up.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

$36 a bottle

 

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised at $19.98 for a 1 litre can. Still, twenty bucks for power steering fluid seems steep, but better than other prices I've seen.

Turns out this local place stocks Redline MTL as well. Too bad I already bought that online and paid another $25 for shipping!

 

New Spec Stage 2 clutch and PowerSlot/Hawk brakes up front.
Replacing the back rotors and pads next weekend, but for now "The Duck" is back on the road

Thanks to everyone on these forums for the advice and encouragement. On to the back brakes next weekend.



The End

 

Ok.... it's been a few weeks since I "finished" this job and still haven't figured out how to reset the outside temperature indication to display in Fahrenheit rather than Centigrade. I assume it defaulted to Centigrade while I had the battery out, but I thought this would be something easy to reset. If I don't figure it out soon, my wife is going to be a lot less impressed my clutch and brake job :-)

The owner's manual says "take it to the dealer" and I can't find any reference to this at all in my Bentley service manual.

Anyone know of any instructions for changing the default settings for display of external temperature?

Thanks
Lloyd

 

Lloyd, I can set Eng/Metric in the Nav/OBC settings. You should be able to also as long as you have OBC.

Sid

 

Hi Sid, thanks for the quick reply... I don't have on board navigation, just the 'regular' tach with the mileage, range, ave speed and external temp display.

Strange that there was no mention of this at all in the Bentley manual, but I've been through it cover to cover.

 

Found it on another forum, if you have the Auto A/C, hold the Auto button down until it toggles. I wasn't counting, but it was about 5-10 seconds in my case.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

Hi Guys (and gals);
It's been a few weeks since we finished this job and in the past week or two, something new has popped up. After putting it all back together, this thing drove sweet. Clutch pedal was a bit stiffer than before and engagement was a bit more aggressive, but that was completely expected with the SPEC stage 2 clutch.

And now..... about two weeks ago I noticed it beginning to chatter at take off if I was at all aggressive in taking off. I had to be very conscience of a smooth engagement to keep the clutch from chattering as it went in. I didn't resurface the flywheel on this clutch replacement and started thinking that may have been a mistake.. However... last night as I was pulling a long hill and downshiftef from 5th to 4th, the clutch was "slow" to engage fully when I released the pedal and it actually slipped noticeably. I had to actually let up on the accelerator for a split second for it to engage. Had the wife and kids with me so I didn't mention it and didn't play around much as we were an hour from home, but I did start paying more attention to pedal feel and thinking about the problem.

Obviously a brand new SPEC clutch with under 2000 miles on it is not showing signs of a worn friction disc (not yet anyway) and I'm wondering about the slave cylnder. The pedal feel is actually different at different times I noticed as well...... one time I'll have a small amount "play" at the top and another time it feels like there is no play at all, like the engagement is happening all the way at the top of the pedal.

Obviously, I need to get out there and check the fluid for the clutch and pull the airbox out so I can see the slave cylinder. This is an 02 and the slave is located on top of the transmission right under the airbox.

What's your experience? Can a slave start being inconsistent and releasing the clutch at slightly different positions? I'm familiar with the fluid leaking down causing the cylinder to become unable to release the clutch at all, but this releasing all the way at the top of the pedal and/or letting the clutch back in too slowly to grab is strange, doesn't seem like leaking/low fluid would cause that, in fact it should do the opposite and mean I don't have enough hydraulic pressure to disengage the clutch.

What about the recent chattering phenomenon? can the slave engagement "jump" as you're letting it in or is this likely a hard problem with the disc / flywheel surfaces?

Any advice before I start pulling things apart? I currently have my Jeep in the garage doing a transmission replacement and will not be able to start on this until next week. Just trying to line my thoughts up before I get to it.

As always, any advice is very appreciated.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

I haven't pulled anything apart yet as my Jeep is still taking up the garage space, but just since posting yesterday this slipping has gotten much much worse. By the feel of things, I believe the pressure plate has a problem and while it's still stiff feeling to push the clutch in, it's just not applying any real force on the friction disc.

Jeep should be finished Sunday and I'm pulling the Mini all apart again. Will post pictures of the Spec clutch when it comes out, expecting the worse.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

not the flywheel. Sounds like the disc is hanging up on the splines (did you lightly grease the tranny shaft?) or the pressure plate springs are *****. I agree with your asssesment of the slave cylinder, but since it is so much easier to address that problem...maybe the slave piston is hanging up? try observing it's action wjile depressing the pedal.

 

Yeah, I did

This is what I'm currently betting

I'll get the airbox out of the way and observe the slave this afternoon (have to get this dang Jeep finished first).

Question: Is there any adjustment on the pedal? This thing is still engaging all the way at the top of the pedal and has no play at all. On an off chance that it's just holding the pressure plate down a bit, thought I'd try adjusting things if there IS any adjustment. Even if true, I wouldn't be able to explain why the sudden shift in pedal position. Odds are this pressure plate is a lemon.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

Mine also started to chatter after 1500 miles or so. I think that fuzzy coating on the disk is for brake in and once it is worn off you have to learn how to drive it again (that's my conclusion, not fact). It drove me mad, but now I only get chatter when I'm lazy.

Also, the sheet that came with the clutch says that brake in is 500 miles, but when I tried to dyno it at <1000 miles there was slippage and I couldn't get a good run.

As for late engagement, mine felt like that too until I drove a stock car again and got a better perspective.

 

Where is the adjustment for pedal play on this thing? At the pedal? or at the slave cylinder?

 

There is not an adjustment. As long as the slave is bled of air, then that is where it should be. If there was air, it would cause the engagement to be closer to the floor.

 

Redacted due a "delicate situation" :impatient

Any one interested, may email me

 

Lloyd,

Since our email exchange has been made public, I have decided to post this directly...

As a company that is committed to customer satisfaction, our customers have handled what little issues they have had with us directly. And I too, personally believe this should be done out of general courtesy. We are then given the opportunity to "make things right" to ensure the said customer is satisfied with their experience. In several years of business, this is the first time I have had to make a post such as this.

We are sorry you were not happy with the product and our services. Perhaps it was not clear in our last email exchange where we had offered to assist you in your dealings with SPEC. As stated previously, SPEC will want to examine the clutch to determine the cause of failure. When we are the installer of the product, we remove the clutch from the vehicle and send it out for analysis. We are able to handle the process from start to finish. When we are not involved in the installation, we do our best to offer whatever assistance we can during the warranty process.

If you contact any of the aftermarket clutch manufacturers you will find that the flywheel MUST be resurfaced when installing a high performance clutch. This is a fact. It enables the clutch to break in properly, which is crucial to the longevity of the clutch. Failure to do so will also void your warranty with SPEC as the friction surface will more than likely be worn on this side.

We are again sorry for the inconvenience this clutch issue has caused you. We hope you find the customer service you desire from the next speed shop with whom you have chosen to do business.

Sincerely,
Dave Brady
Enhanced Street Performance, Inc.

When dealing with a delicate situation, it is generally better not to blast a company publicly before it is resolved. Especially, when that company is your only ally in getting the issue handled to your satisfaction.

 

Please note that we require vendors to have an agreement prior to posting on the behalf of their businesses. That said I am allowing the above post in the hope that it will provide an avenue of resolution for the issue discussed.

Mark

 

Dave,
I appreciate your position, but I feel no need for an "ally", not on any personal basis at any rate. When I paid my money, I rented your services to the extent that good business practice dictates and I'm simply a purchaser of parts at the best combination of price and service I can find on the open market. From your perspective, I'm a customer and you're running a business.

I realize this makes me a bit of a jerk, but I simply expect businesses to take care of their customers, nothing complicated. I'll redact the posting of our email exchange, but I'm sure you can tell I was a bit miffed at being asked to contact SPEC myself when in fact I bought the clutch from your business. Even Autozone would not respond in this manner. As I've got another clutch in hand, I'll finish this replacement and contact SPEC.

 

Lloyd, I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with the Spec clutch. I too have the same clutch purchased from ESP but I may have neglected to tell you that I had a new Fidanza FW installed at the same time and they've both held up just fine. I'd be interested to know if the "un-resurfaced" FW caused the failure.

 

Hi Sid, not resurfacing the flywheel may have contributed... I'll have to concede this point as I had not considered the change in materials moving from the organic to kevlar disc.

Still not happy with being told to take it up with SPEC, that was my only beef with the service at ESP. I moved to New England after a long career in the South and Southwest where "customer service" had a very different definition than it seems to in the Northeast. I'm still adjusting a bit :smile:

I don't really even care if the clutch is replaced or not, it's not a big deal. No one ever really expects a clutch warranty to be honored unless the dang thing falls out with springs and parts falling off.

 

Having worked in sales/service for a few years, I actually can understand where ESP is coming from. Since you bought the part, and not the installation service, you took responsibility for everything about the part. Had you had it installed by them, then they (or the factory) would be responsible if it was improperly installed, or bad from the factory.

 

Yeah, I understand it myself and the temper has calmed a bit since my first reaction. All I expected them to do was to say "bring the clutch and flywheel to the shop and let's have a look, then we'll call SPEC and see what they say".

I fully realize that SPEC is not going to just cut a check or send a new clutch to a DIY mechanic who likely screwed it up in the first place.

It was simply the tone of the "Deal with SPEC yourself, let me know if you need the number" that got me. This is the wrong approach and I'm a bit stuck on that.

In the meantime..... "miles to go before I sleep"

Time to get this baby apart.

Cheers,
Lloyd

 

Apparently the steering rack is leaking fluid into the passenger side boot. Anyone else had this issue and can the seals be replaced?

RealOEM.com is listing a replacement rack at $714.00. Obviously I'd like to avoid that!!

Cheers,
Lloyd