Hey all, new forum member with a very frustrating issue, hoping someone has insight that the dealer doesn't. Apologies for the length of this post, but at this point it's really a story.

The car is a 2008 Mini Cooper Clubman with 23,000 miles (for the first few years it spent the majority of it's time in a garage with weekend excusions, I live in a city with decent public transportation and limited parking).

About two months ago I started driving 80-90 miles roundtrip in a single day on a regular basis, and after several weeks of this I noticed that it was getting a little sticky going into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears at the end of the trip. It was a subtle enough issue that I thought it was my imagination, until one night the Hill Assist failure signal came on after the car had been sitting for several hours in the middle of the trip.

I learned to drive a manual transmission before hill assist existed so not a huge panic moment, just meant I'd need to take it in to the dealer. I made an appointment to take it in. The next day I'm doing the same long drive with the hill assist notification still on and I get a second problem notice, that the "Suspension Control System (according to the manual) has failed". The manual states on this, too, that I can drive with care and should take the car in. After a few days of driving before my appointment, the second light goes away.

My mini goes in to the dealership, and they observe that the clutch is sticky. They call me that evening to say that the clutch needs to be replaced. I approve the repair. A few days later, the car is back, shifting smoothly - feels smoother than it did when I first got the car.

Two days later I have another 80+ mile day. By the time I've finished the first 1/2 of the drive, the clutch is sticky again. By the end of the second half, I can barely get it into 2nd to limp home once I'm off of the highway.

When the car is turned on and the clutch is all the way in, I can't get it into gear - no amount of force will get it in. There is no grinding of the engine - the stick just won't go into position. If I turn the car off I can put it into gear, put the clutch all the way in, and start the car (this is how I managed to limp home). Interestingly, if I put the car in reverse with this technique and take my foot off of the brake but keep the clutch in, the car starts moving. It feels a little like being in an automatic that's in reverse.

I have the car towed in to the dealership. Their mechanic observes the issue when he's moving the car from where the tow truck dropped it. However by the time they get to repairing it, the problem seems to have resolved itself. They repair something based on a service bulletin, but otherwise say it's good to go.

The day after I get it back, another 80+ mile day. And once again, it's getting sticky - this time I have issues into first, second, and third. It's not always impossible to get them into gear, just very, very hard. Third gear will sometimes grind when I'm trying to get into it. I also see the same reverse/move with the clutch pedal down that I saw before. Back to the dealership. This time after it sits (and after driving it approx 25 miles) the mechanic "can't find anything wrong with it". The car is returned to me with a suggestion that I make sure I put the clutch in all the way (!), but that it was likely a pressure plate adjusting.

I'd finished the project that had me driving 80+miles regularly and the problem was dormant for a month. Last Saturday I had to drive out again and lo and behold - the problem's back. I couldn't get it into any gear with the engine turned on. I decided to let it sit and see if, as before, the problem magically corrected itself. It got worse. On Friday, I could not start the car in gear with the clutch pedal all the way in. Another tow truck, and a fourth trip to the shop.

Does ANYONE have insight into what might be going on? Clearly my dealer's mechanic is stumped. Despite the age (and five years is not that old!), the car has very low milage, so I wouldn't expect this kind of issue to crop up. I'm very frustrated.

 

The "creeping in reverse" is a big flag that the clutch is not releasing all the way. It's still sticking.

Why? That's a good question. Don't know the answer. But the symptoms match a clutch that is not releasing all the way. Probably has something to do with heat, but I have no idea what it could be.

 

Intriguing. I'd assumed (in my limited understanding of auto mechanics) it might have something to do with an alignment of gears - but what you are saying makes a lot of sense.

Any idea if heat started causing something like this that problem would continue after things had cooled down?

 

Sounds to me like your master cylinder or slave cylinder might be causing this. Check your fluid level in the master and see if you are low. Check under car for any leaks. Could be also the clutch pedal bushings. They might need to be lubed or replaced.

 

Air in the clutch hydraulic system.

Bleed the clutch and see if it gets better.

If it does, and it happens again.. You have a leak..

 

After considerable running, the clutch disc is not releasing from the flywheel when the clutch pedal is depressed. This is why you are having difficulty getting into gear from neutral. The question is, why?

I would suggest that the next time this occurs, start the car in gear as you have been, then see if the friction point (i.e. the point where the clutch pedal is off the floor where you can feel the clutch has engaged) is different than normal. If it is CLOSER to the floor, there is probably a hydraulic problem, as a previous poster suggested. It could be a mechanical problem somewhere between the pedal and the clutch, but much less likely.

If the friction point has NOT changed, the driven disc is either actually sticking to the flywheel or is not able to slide freely on the splines, as it should when the clutch pedal is depressed. This points to something missed by whoever replaced the clutch. Since this problem predated the clutch replacement, it suggests that they never correctly diagnosed the problem in the first place when they replaced the clutch, but a new clutch apparently temporarily cured the problem.

I gather you did not insist on getting a plausible explanation as to why you needed a new clutch at under 30K miles, but you should not have needed to. They should have just taken care of it. Did they cover it under warranty, or did you pay $3500-plus?

Sorry, problem laden cars with lots of incompetent dealer service people are a deadly combination.

DOC

 

Air or water contamination in the clutch fluid, I'll bet. What's the fluid level in the reservoir like?

When was the fluid last changed?