1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Driving to work, clutch stopped engaging...

  1. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    #4 Dave.0, Nov 13, 2013
    Clutch slave cylinder could be leaking or failed. Can you not put it into gear now?
     
  2. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    #7 Crashton, Nov 13, 2013
    This may sound funny but....

    You may have broken a CV joint. If you have your MINI will have no drive.
     
  3. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    #2 Metalman, Nov 13, 2013
    There is the possibility that the shift arm located on the transmission is defective. There is a pin that is swaged to the arm and have been known to loosen over time.... Some have simply welded this joint....

    [​IMG]
     
  4. jasonixo

    jasonixo New Member

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    #3 jasonixo, Nov 13, 2013
    The shifter still feels normal- crisp detents, nothing feels sloppy, it's not excessively easy or hard to shift gears. Are the shift detents in the shifter or transmission?

    The car feels like there is absolutely nothing wrong- the only thing that is off is that every gear acts like neutral. At idle, I can let the clutch out and hear a slightly different whirr in each gear like the ratios are doing their thing. There's just no go at the wheels. Uhoh... final drive?

    The moment before the car broke, everything was 100%. Then it was 0%. No slipping clutch or strange noises or weird feeling controls. There's still no strange noises even with something wrong-
     
  5. AliceCooper

    AliceCooper Club Coordinator

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    #5 AliceCooper, Nov 13, 2013
  6. jasonixo

    jasonixo New Member

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    #6 jasonixo, Nov 13, 2013
    Thanks for the advice- I don't think it is the cables, but I will check the trans-side this weekend- the shifter feels no different- it goes into and out of gear fine. clutch pedal feels fine as well. It's like there's no power getting to the wheels.
     
  7. jasonixo

    jasonixo New Member

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    #8 jasonixo, Nov 19, 2013
    Well, I have a clutch kit and everything in-between on the way... I put the car in the garage and got it off the ground in preparation for surgery.

    To address your suggestion Crashton, I put the car in-gear and tried turning one wheel while holding the other. It didn't turn- there is a solid connection through the (open) diff to the other wheel. I had some hope though! I also confirmed that my car unfortunately does not have an LSD. This would certainly be the right time to remedy that, but an LSD isn't in the parts budget... : (
     
  8. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    #9 Crashton, Nov 19, 2013
    Sorry, was hoping it was relatively easy fix.

    Whose clutch kit did you buy?
     
  9. jasonixo

    jasonixo New Member

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    #10 jasonixo, Nov 20, 2013
    Kit from Pelican Parts- Luk 21-20-7-551-384-M37
     
  10. pops911

    pops911 New Member

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    #11 pops911, Aug 14, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2014
    which component was the culprit? same thing happening with my '02 mini cooper. thanks

    (update: mine turned out to be basic worn out clutch disk. the last bits fell apart all at once, and that's why it seemed to happen suddenly.)
     
  11. jeffster06

    jeffster06 Active Member

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    #12 jeffster06, Aug 14, 2014
    When the car is off and you shift can you hear the mechanism working on the transmission? If it's in gear and the car is off can you push it as if you were in nuetral? It seems odd that the clutch would die with no warning. If you start the car in gear does it try to move? It could be possible that only one of the shift cables broke and it still give the feel that everything is ok with no odd noises or feel.

    Sorry for the blurb was just thinking out loud.
     
  12. jactommac

    jactommac New Member

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    #13 jactommac, Sep 5, 2016
    Okay, sorry to revive a dead post but my wife's car now has the same symptoms. what ended up being the problem part?
     
  13. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

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    #14 Friskie, Sep 5, 2016
    Don't hold your breath, the OP's last post was near 3 years ago and he'd only made 9 postings then. You might try PM but I doubt seriously he is even visiting NAM anymore.
     
  14. Guapish_Fliver

    Guapish_Fliver New Member

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    #15 Guapish_Fliver, Sep 5, 2016
    Did u try bleeding it?
     
  15. beken

    beken Well-Known Member

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    #16 beken, Sep 14, 2016
    A few years ago, I replaced my clutch and was driving out of the office parking lot and I heard a bang and my car was in neutral even though my transmission was in gear. any gear.

    After being warned that if there was nothing wrong with the clutch, I would have to pay for the labor of putting my car into service mode, it was found that the teeth in the bearing that holds the clutch plate to the transaxle drive shaft had stripped. Being as it was a new clutch plate, the whole thing was covered under warranty. Luckily, there was no damage to the transaxle shaft. Just the clutch plate bearing. In fact, the clutch plate friction surface still looked brand new. I was complimented on how smooth I drove.

    If you have never had your clutch changed since the beginning, it's probably time anyways. Clutches are wear and tear items.
    The job is expensive. 8 hours of labor.

    While it was all opened up, I replaced the flywheel also. For 1/2 the price of a new dual mass flywheel, you can buy a full Valeo single mass flywheel and clutch conversion kit. It doesn't grab quite as hard as the stock dual mass flywheel clutch set up, but it is much simpler and far more reliable set up.