Any Mini Cooper owners in here changed your own clutch? (obvious vanity / information request)

Ok, so this isn't news and I hope the mods will tell me if this is a mis use of the service here.... but, Freepers are such a wide variety that I'm confident SOMEONE in here has likely performed their own mechanical work on a Mini Cooper and has knowledge stored in their brain that I could put to good use.

I have an 02 MC which I believe lost the pressure plate in the clutch last week. I'm just getting into the parts removal and haven't pulled the transmission yet, but the symptoms are like there is no connection between the motor and transmission.

Put the transmission in gear, release pedal (which feels 'odd') and nothing at all.... no matter what gear you put the trans in, no transfer of energy at all... motor just sits and idles as though it's in neutral, except you don't even hear any transmission noise.

So, I'm guessing that the pressure plate has collapsed and is making no attempt to engage the disk (or dare I say it, the transmission shaft has snapped or the differential has exploded). The pedal does feel a bit 'odd' (harder to push / more resistance) but it continues to travel up and down and has a bit of resistance in the feel. Not sure what a hydraulic clutch should feel like if the pressure plate is bad, but I sort of expected it to just stay down.

At any rate, the car has 55,000 miles so it's out of warranty and I guess I have to do this job myself since I can't afford the labor rates on a job this size.

My Bentley manual just arrived, and it appears there are two approaches to removing the transmission:
1: Drop the entire front sub-frame, including the entire steering/suspension or...
2: Pull the engine/tranaxle as a unit

Anyone have any advice before I get any deeper into the parts removal? Which approach would you / have you experience with? Are there any specific technical bulletins I should be aware, any cautions specific to the MINI, any chance I could get someone else to do this for if I buy the beer? :-)

I do not own a mini but some questions have to be asked when car fails to proceed.

1. With engine running, can you put it in gear using clutch?

If yes and there is a grinding/whirling noise when clutch released, then stripped input shaft, clutch center broken off, stripped axle on one side.

If yes and no noise and it had been slipping before you failed to proceed, then worn clutch. If not slipping then a broken pressure plate. Some newer pressure plates designs use a pull instead of a push (release bearing attached to pressure plate). Check the manual.

2. If no to the above, can you put it in gear when not running and it will jump forward when hitting the starter (brake off) with the clutch pedal fully depressed? Symptom of clutch not releasing, then clutch liner broken and jammed, pressure plate arms bent, release arm broken or bent, slave/master cylinder bad or not bled. Sometimes, the slave looks like it is moving, but it is only taking up the slack before release bearing applies force. Try bleeding system first.

3. Any sort of grinding noise, bang, or thump associated at time of failure to proceed? If yes, sounds like trans problem, broken clutch disk if not a stripped axle.

As with most FWD transverse units, the whole package has to come out unless there is room to move the trans sideways from the engine to access the clutch and pressure plate(VW rabbit for example). Many manuals will call for total removal when room does exist for the trans to be moved sideways in the car. Wife's Alfa 164S is an example (horrible job, hope to sell it before it needs another one) as the factory manual called for total removal yet was able to do it in the car by moving the trans into the wheel well. You will have to make that determination. It depends on the wheel well design on the trans side to see if the box can move into that space. Bentley manuals are usually written by owners and tech writers that don't know all the shortcuts. Old Haynes manuals were the best when two-by-fours were a common tool (newer ones suck).

1. With engine running, can you put it in gear using clutch?

Yes, it goes right in to any gear you choose, at least the shifter feels like it's going into gear, you can feel the distinct click in each position although there is no other indication that it's in any gear at all.

If yes and there is a grinding/whirling noise when clutch released, then stripped input shaft, clutch center broken off, stripped axle on one side.

No, there is no noise of any kind not even the faint sound of a transmission shaft turning.

If yes and no noise and it had been slipping before you failed to proceed, then worn clutch. If not slipping then a broken pressure plate. Some newer pressure plates designs use a pull instead of a push (release bearing attached to pressure plate). Check the manual.

There was no slipping prior the failure..... I wasn't driving, but my son says that when he shifted from 2nd to 3rd it just felt like it was in neutral ( I know, I know.... "my son" driving may well be the cause of this but of course he denies having done anything at all ). I suspect (or hope rather) that it's a broken pressure plate and from looking at the manual, this does look like a "Pull" variety.

2. If no to the above, can you put it in gear when not running and it will jump forward when hitting the starter (brake off) with the clutch pedal fully depressed? Symptom of clutch not releasing, then clutch liner broken and jammed, pressure plate arms bent, release arm broken or bent, slave/master cylinder bad or not bled. Sometimes, the slave looks like it is moving, but it is only taking up the slack before release bearing applies force. Try bleeding system first.

No, there seems to be no connection between trans and engine at all. Too late to bother bleeding, I have most of the front end removed already :-) If it were the slave not fully engaging, then the clutch would be engaged all the time rather than disengaged, correct?

3. Any sort of grinding noise, bang, or thump associated at time of failure to proceed? If yes, sounds like trans problem, broken clutch disk if not a stripped axle.

Again, my son was driving the car at the time, but he said he heard nothing at all..... he initially thought he had simply missed getting it into third gear and thought it was in neutral.

As with most FWD transverse units, the whole package has to come out unless there is room to move the trans sideways from the engine to access the clutch and pressure plate (VW rabbit for example). Many manuals will call for total removal when room does exist for the trans to be moved sideways in the car. Wife's Alfa 164S is an example (horrible job, hope to sell it before it needs another one) as the factory manual called for total removal yet was able to do it in the car by moving the trans into the wheel well. You will have to make that determination. It depends on the wheel well design on the trans side to see if the box can move into that space. Bentley manuals are usually written by owners and tech writers that don't know all the shortcuts. Old Haynes manuals were the best when two-by-fours were a common tool (newer ones suck).

I've got the Bentley service manual and it's pretty detailed. Two choices seem to be pulling the engine/trans as a unit or dropping the front sub-frame to allow clearance for the transmission to come out the bottom. The engine removal looks simpler to me, but every response on the Mini forums with an opinion on the topic all say to drop the sub-frame and take it out the bottom. Unfortunately, there is no room to turn it sideways so we'll be on this job for a while....
Thanks very much, good questions.....

Cheers,
Lloyd

Parts is parts.... right?

Well, it's all apart and flayed out all over my garage floor... sure hope I can put it back together again!

Clutch shredded itself... bottom of the bell housing had 3 to 4 inches of shredded disc material piled up... never, ever seen a clutch simply disintegrate like that. Very odd.... likely defective as well.. oh well...

At least the transmission 'seems' ok... when I put it in gear and turn the input shaft, both outputs turn... I was worried I had broken a main shaft or something with the symptoms it was showing...

Can't get the pressure plate off the flywheel tonight because they installed it with those cursed reverse torx bolts.. no idea why... very odd thing to do on an expendable item like a clutch. Stopping at Sears tomorrow hoping they stock those female torx sockets..

This disassembly was not as bad as I had feared... not exactly a cake walk either, but it's a DIY job.

Will post some pictures in a bit.... too tired right now.. Cheers, Lloyd

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