There is a TSB on this somewhere. Anyone have a link for easy reference?

 

If clutch gets overheated; the flywheel, pressure plate and clutch disc all
become glazed. It doesn't matter what year, the amount of mileage or weather conditions. The noise is actually the disc slightly slipping between
the pressure plate and flywheel. I have replaced many clutchs for this problem. The issue is that if driving habit does not change, the noise will
sooner or later come back as soon as the clutch gets glazed again. Happens
mostly to cars that are in alot of stop and go traffic and people who live in
hill or mountain areas. At most this is a minor annoyance and is not really a
safety related issue.

 

Funny. I replied to this thread on Feb. 3.....two weeks before I took delivery of my '06. It has reappeared in the forum for the first time in almost eight months and recently I've begun hearing the same sound again in first gear.....just in a newer Mini. My service manager asked if I have LSD on this one (yes) and indicated it might be a normal sound that happens. What I know is that it wasn't a normal sound for the first seven months of ownership. They're going to check it out on Oct. 11.

Has anyone heard of this being an LSD related issue?

 

How could it be an LSD problem is we've been having the problem since '03?

 

I think he's saying that the sound I'm hearing is coming from something related to LSD rather than from the clutch......same sort of sound, but coming from a different source.

 

hey MASTERMINITECH. first of all, i am glad we finally have a profesional opinion in here. i too am an ase master tech, but my specialty is honda. i believe your diagnosis is correct, as hondas had the exact same noise on older accords, but only a specific year, like early 90's? don't remember. it was due to the clutch disc resonating and caused no other symptoms, just an annoying noise. this problem was fixed and no other hondas have EVER had that problem. forgive me but i do not know what they did to fix it as that was before my time.

that being said, there must be a design problem or clutch disc formulation problem for this to be happening to so many minis, mine included. i have been driving a manual trans since i was 16. every car i have ever owned... two fiat X1/9s, an 81 VW scirocco S, an 86 VW scirocco 16V (which i drove for 12 years), none of those cars ever had any clutch noise problems. and now that i'm 33 and know how to operate a clutch properly, my mini starts making that noise at 25k miles? now i get a noise from glazing (overheating) a clutch? BS. the clutch material is prone to overheating, THAT is the problem. it is a defective part.

i took my mini in at 40k to have that looked at. they claimed the noise was my cold air intake (do they know who i am?). HA! the next day i arrived with my stock intake. oh, now it won't make the noise? screw you, gimme my damn keys. i got tired of driving 130 miles to the dealer so i just said F it. now i have 70k miles and it STILL makes the noise. i'm planning on replacing the clutch myself eventually, just because i can't stand that damn noise, and even if i did get a new one from mini, unless they CHANGED something, then the same thing would have happened.

anyway, that's neither here nor there, i just wanted to make the point of saying that this is NOT operator error, this is a defective part and mini needs to fix this. if they have, thank you and my appologies.

you can make the argument that if it is a defective part then ALL minis should have this problem, but again, BS. defective clutch material can just make the clutch disc prone to overheat easily, and not everyone drives these cars aggresively. however, i do, and given the sporty nature of the beast, they should be driven so and SHOULD do so without a fuss.

i'm done venting, none of this is personal towards you (MASTERMINITECH), it's just one mechanic talking to another. i just don't like seeing the "stage one, denial" tactic being used to justify a part that is defective.

 

[quote=W3IWI;1150625]Local dealer replaced clutch on my 2002 MCS last spring under warranty last spring, at no charge. With only 30K miles (IMHO ) on a 2003 you should demand the same treatment.


I would normally agree with the above but after inspecting the clutch it is clear that it is worn to minimum specs. Given that my wife often drives the car I can not be sure that there isn't some driver involvemnt here. So I felt the split was fair.

As a side I was able to inspect all the parts and frankly, I was shocked at how light that carbon clutch plate is. I raced a Formula Ford with a 7 1/4" AP racing clutch and that clutch was not much lighter than the Mini's. The Mini has a true sports clutch. I believe Mini (Getrag) has really pushed the envelope on the clutch and this is resulting in problems. It doesn't look like a peice that was meant for everyday driving. I would be curious to know how many other cars on the street have such light weight carbon clutches.

Anyone form Getrag or Mini have a thought on this???

Frank

 

OK, i've been hearing this noise for about 2+ weeks, since the weather has gotten cold. The clutch only makes this noise for about the first 3-5 minutes of driving and then ceases. It only happens in 1st gear, and is not consistent over this 3-5min period.
I have about 11k mi on the car and dont drive it hard, but i do have a reduced SC pulley.
I hope the dealer doesn't blame it on the pulley.

 

Well consider me a part of the club as well. I had my 06 MCS (less than 10k) in about a month or so ago with the same problem. The dealership couldn't reproduce it and thus did nothing. I got a call the other night from my the dealership telling me that it is indeed a flywheel problem. There is apparently an official bulletin from MINI on this very problem (I don't know if it is recently released or not). I'm scheduled for service next Wednesday. I hope the work will cure the noise considering the low mileage and youth of my car.

 

as mentioned above, there is a TSB for it... I had mine replaced about 10k miles ago under warranty...

 

Me too..me too.
On the second week that I have got my car, "IT" has happened, only when first start in the morning: during the first time the car moved (randomly though). Now, 3 weeks later @ 3k miles, I can hear it, this time, on first gear, down shift, reverse gear, etc. every now and then, more often than before.
I've just talked to my service advisor, and will bring my car in next week.
I think it is clutch or bearing or pressure plate or all of them.
Hopefully, they can duplicate the noise and solve the problem.

 

I guess I just joined this exclusive club. April 05 build with 17k miles just started yesterday. Waiting to see what Hendrick says and see if it gets worse - since it just started I was gonna see about waiting as swamped at work right now.