Eek, I hate getting to the level. Sounds positive so far though.

 

I'm pretty confident it's just a ground, all the brown wires with black tracers I could find in the wiring diagrams were grounds. I also use Posi-Taps to splice in and they're easily reversible. Very nice little things.

Man, every time I do a little project that works out, I end up going back over my wishlists and the classifieds and reading old MINI literature... we'll see if anything comes of it this time. I am planning on taking the MINI to a local shop to do ABS diagnosis and an alignment next week. Might also try to get them to install my IE fixed camber plates I've had sitting around for a couple years.

 

taking it to G3 ?

 

g3?

 

G3 is the RDU shop most use, I'm not aware of any other mini shop in the area

ABS is pretty easy to diagnose with ista/D not much to the system

 

following

 

Ah, I don't live in the RDU area anymore. I'll be taking it to a shop called Motorsport Connections in Winston-Salem. The ABS diagnosis is for the wheel speed sensor fiasco that happened over the summer when I did the R56 trailing arm swap, so I'm sure it will take them awhile if they do it right. I already tried diagnosing it myself and then gave it to another shop in Raleigh who lied to me about the condition of parts and ended up wanting me to pay for their misdiagnoses.

 

it takes 5 minutes to test the sensors with a helper and ista d it gives you live readings

 

Oh I thought you were here when I wrote up all that stuff about my initial diagnosis. I already checked the readings in INPA and found the LR sensor to be giving me erratic readings. I tried 4 different sensors in that position, including the one that does work on the RR. I also replaced the wheel hub (which I had already done in the last year on the LR). I don't want to go into detail about what the other shop did again, but suffice to say they replaced the ABS module with a used unit and that didn't work either. So I'm betting this is going to require some wiring repair but we'll see.

 

I post on so many locations I do not recall the conversation. I have a set of trailing arms in my basement but they would not clear my 15" 949racing track wheels so I never had to deal with the sensor issue. I did buy arms with sensors in them though.

Do you have your old abs module? I would put that back in ! most shops cannot re-write vins on modules, so used stuff is a crap shoot

 

I do have the old one. I don't relish the idea of trying to replace it again though...

Also, my clutch has started slipping again. Replaced less than 7,000 miles ago. Definitely have a hydraulic issue. Same symptoms of slip only occurring after a long drive and in 3rd and 4th at WOT. The pain never ends.

 

I feel your pain, I got a few thousand on a valeo and it slipped at the track, had to pull it out and put a more aggressive clutch in

 

Oh I'm pretty sure the Valeo can hold my power. Like I said, I'm experiencing the same symptoms as before I replaced the clutch. I'm hoping I just have some air in the clutch lines. I bought an FTE slave cylinder but didn't install it because I was worried about bleeding it.

The clutch didn't look bad when I took it out last year. It looked like it had a good millimeter or two left, which is pretty significant. I should have known it would start slipping again. I'll have the shop put my slave cylinder in next week; hope they can bleed it okay and it will fix my problem.

Come to think of it, I've always had kind of odd clutch engagement when dumping the clutch during hard upshifts where it seems like the clutch takes up much slower than it should, i.e. it slips occasionally during dumped upshifts. I thought it might be just user error but I'm thinking there may be some air in there not allowing the slave cylinder to operate quickly? I don't know, I just think those problems may be related.

 

my car does not have a lot of power, 190 at the wheel at a dyno last year. The valeo slipped on me at the track after about 15 minutes and only going into 4th or 5th


you can hear it slip on this vid going under the bridge

 

Maybe you have the same problem as me then. Mine starts slipping after a long drive and eventually stops slipping over a period of a few days without long drives. Clutches that are worn or can't hold power wouldn't do that.

 

Clutch slipped in 6th while just trying to pass someone with 1/4 throttle on the highway today. Looks like it slips in higher gears at around 5 psi of boost now, so I have to watch the cruise control on hills to make sure it doesn't hit boost and start slipping. Absolutely fantastic.

Also got some DDMWorks silicone intercooler boots today. Thought they would be fun and easy and easy to install and might last longer than the stock rubber ones. Spent 40 minutes trying to get the damn intercooler to slip into the boots. Ended up tearing one so I had to throw them away. Another waste of time and money working on this car.

 

You know you may be right, MrBlah. After some more thought, it does seem like the clutch simply not holding the power is the most likely culprit. I think it first started slipping only after my first tune on the stock clutch. I really thought the stock and Valeo clutches could hold good power (I think ModMini is on a Valeo kit and his car makes 244WHP), but I guess I'm wrong. Can anyone else chime in on this? I mean I must only be making 175WHP and the thing slips in every gear except first now. Maybe I just have to get a Spec clutch or something.

 

I cant get my valeo to slip on the street, believe me I've tried. Only slips on track after 15 minutes where temperatures are significant

 

Welp, then maybe it's not my problem. It really should hold the power, I just don't know what else it could be.

 

leaky input shaft? Was the seal changed at the last clutch change? Only takes a tiny bit of oil to induce slip. I would pull the inspection plug at the flywheel and check for oil

 

I replaced the input shaft seal and rear main.

 

it is easy to damage that input seal I use a oiled plastic bag when I install them, I would check for oil drippings either way to be sure

 

Another $1000 and the ABS issue is fixed. He literally replaced the wheel hub that I have replaced twice already and that fixed it. I really don't understand. He believes the clutch slippage is due to a bad pressure plate, though he agrees that's odd given it's less than a year old. Have an appointment to do another clutch kit, tie rod ends for alignment, and poly lower control arm bushings on Dec. 2.

 

I guess that is good, right? Its only money. eek. I wonder what went wrong with the previous two hubs? Frustrating.

Clutch isnt ideal, but here is hoping that it is done going forward. I have read a few stories (aftermaths) about aftermarket clutch kits that do not play well. I think I may just stick with the stock setup and be done with it. Im on 127k with the original clutch and for me... that is two or three eternities. My power is bumped up but not to an offensive level where the clutch becomes a weak link.

LCA bushings will be nice. Tightens up the handling and got rid of the knock for me. Never looked back.

 

It is good, I'm just happy it's fixed. The other two hubs I installed weren't OEM, but they weren't cheapos either. The one he put in was an OEM R53 hub.

Yes, I was hoping to avoid doing another clutch kit. The Valeo is probably the most common single-mass kit out there, haven't heard of anyone having an issue like this. But again, I just want it to be fixed so I'll do what the tech tells me. The original price he quoted me was just for a clutch kit without the flywheel and I was kind of thinking of going back to the stock Luk dual-mass setup. According to them, it will be much more expensive. RockAuto tells me otherwise. Valeo kits with the flywheel are ~$300 now, and Luk kits are $77 + ~$230 for the flywheel, so they're almost equal. We shall see.

Always like to have at least one upgrade come out of something, hopefully the LCA bushings will be noticeable.