I am new to this forum. I come from the BMW world having done a lot of work on my e30 and e36. My girlfriend has an 06 Mini Cooper S six speed and I am having major problems with the clutch Hydraulic circuit. It started when the Minis clutch stopped working. There was fluid dripping from the slave cylinder and the brake fluid reservoir level was below the intake line for the clutch master cylinder. Seeing this I thought easy fix. This happened to me in my e30 and it was an easy fix. So I got a new slave cylinder and put it on, compressed it all the way by wedging the clutch lever with some wood and bled the system. With the salve cylinder fully compressed it still felt mushy for the first half of the pedal travel so I figured there must be more air in the top of the clutch line loop. I then got a large syringe (60cc) and flushed the system several times. It didn’t help so I figured there must be something wrong with the master cylinder. Replaced the master and it feels the exact same. I don’t know what else could be wrong with the circuit unless there is still a ton of air stuck at the top of the clutch circuit or the rubber section in the hose to the slave cylinder is flexing. Any ideas? I have not tried using a brake bleeder yet ? has anybody else had this much trouble ? Thanks,
Welcome to Motoring Alliance, thanks for joining. We have an article in the Library: How to replace a clutch slave cylinder and bleed the clutch that you should find helpful. YOu are not the only one that has found this to be a problematic task, that's for sure!
Explain a little more about the mushy pedal feel for the first half of travel. If the clutch is disengaging more than an inch off the floor, all is good. If disengaging with the pedal almost to the floor, then air is trapped in the master or slave cylinder. Removing air from the master requires a pressure bleeder and a jiggle (not compression) of the clutch pedal. Air in the slave can be removed with a gravity bleed while the slave is compressed, just be sure the bleeder valve is at the high point.
Thanks for the responses! I fixed it!! I was looking on another forum and someone mentioned that they had spoken with a mini mechanic and he told them to hold the clutch pedal in the compressed position overnight. So using a 2x4 I propped the clutch pedal overnight. The next day after i removed the 2x4 the clutch remained an inch off the floor. I then pumped it once and it returned to the top. The clutch was then much better than it was the day before. We drove the car around a little but the engagement point was still too close to the floor so I propped the clutch pedal overnight again. The following morning it felt better than its ever felt before and the engagement point is in the middle like it should be. I'll have to get a pressure bleeder and try that the next time. It is not ideal to have the car sit 24 hours
My pedal has engaged less than a couple inches off the floor since day one, and the majority of R53s with OEM clutch I drive are the same. I'm going to try this method to see if it will change. I understand the principle of allowing a pesky bubble to migrate upward, but there is a low slung section of fill pipe I don't see how a bubble could pass down through and enter the reservoir above without a push.