Well this one boggels me, when the car is cool, and I start off in 1st gear it sounds like a belt is slipping until the clutch is fully engaged, but once the car is warmed or driven for 5-10kms the noise is gone. It only does it in first gear, I havent tried starting from second to see if I could duplicate the noise (Ill try it and post my findings)

Heres the best part my MINI dealer is figuring that it clutch wear, hmmmmmm lets see I have 19,000km so 11,800miles still confused

so when I took it to them about the issue they want me to sign off on a work order tat if it is a wear item then I have to pay for the repair, im pretty hesitant to sign off on a $1900 repair bill when I have had the car for 8 months.

Any thoughts are appriciated, maybe someone else is/has had the noise.:impatient

 

When I start off in 1st gear when my car is cool, it sometimes makes that slight squeeling noise. The sound disappears once it is "warmed up". I have an 03' MCS and it started making the noise with about 28,000 miles. Now I have almost 45000 and its still running fine with that occasional noise. My friend's dad owns a transmission repair shop and he thought it could be the dual mass flywheel sticking together or something. I forgot what he said exactly. Anyone know whats up?

 

I have the noise too. In fact my service advisor just called and said that they could not replicate the problem! Maybe ill show them tommorow when i pick it up, if its cold. I have 36000 miles.

 

This is a common problem. It has alternately been described as a Chewbacca in the tranny and the sound of a metal chair dragged across concrete. Try a search. I know at least one member's service advisor said it was the throw out bearing that causes the noise and replaced his under warranty.

My dealer did a clutch kit replacement which includes the clutch (which as I am looking at my invoice is a remanufactured clutch ) the throw out bearing, and one other part I can't remember. It was done under warranty as well, even at 42,000 miles (although I had complained about it since 14,000 miles) I was constantly getting the, "We can't replicate the problem". I had to get them to agree to hold the car overnight. I believe a lot of these have been fixed under warrantee. My SA couldn't say specificly if it was the clutch or the bearing or what but I can say the problem has been gone for the last 3,000 miles.

Good luck.

 

I had this problem around 20,000 miles and my dealer replaced the throw out bearing under warranty. That solved the problem for a while, but then it came back around 40,000 miles.

I took it back to the dealer, and this time they replaced the throw out bearing and the flywheel. Unfortunately, the noise returned only two days later. I'm about to contact my service advisor again, but I'm beginning to worry that they don't really know how to fix the problem.

I've got about 7,000 miles left under warranty, and I need to be confident in my transmission before then. I'll continue to update this thread with my experiences.

 

I have this same problem with my 04 MCS. It just started when the weather cooled off. With everything cold, I will get a faint squeal in first gear as the clutch is released. It only happens for the first 2 or 3 times I'm starting from 1st gear, then it goes away.

 

Happens to me too. They originally said it was a problem with my aftermarket pulley belt, which it total BS (just to check though, I did replace the belt & it's still there). bringing it in again on Monday to raise some hell

 

My 05 MCS has a bad case of Throw-out bearing chatter. It rattles until I depress the clutch just enough to engage the pressure plate. The Clutch functions well but the T/O Brg rattles enough to be heard outside the car. On my last visit to the dealer my SA said its normal just breakin noise. Like the clunk in the left rear. Just part of owning a mini . It also hesitates on cold start and runs bad on anything less that super premium. Maybe I'm just spoiled on *** cars but I thought by 05 they might have some of this crap sorted out. Definitely not a BMW. But, I still love the rush from 0-60. And it's still undeniability cool.

C-YA

JessminiS

 

my 04s with 17k on it just started doing this couple weeks ago.....Im not hard on my clutch. ( 1st clutch in my old 4runner lasted 110k miles ) that was the only clutch I have ever replaced out of the 15 stick shift cars I have owned.

 

So does anyone know what the exact cause of the problem is? What should be done to permanently fix it? Im scared to bring it to the dealer and have them say it is caused by the driver (which is BS) and have a 1500 dollar clutch relpacement bill to pay and still have the problem.

 

Im not sure what the problem is, but either way it should be taken care of under warranty, that is why I bought new MINI and not a used one! Anyways I will be sending MINI Canada an email or snail mail, and I advised the rest of you to do the same, be it MINI USA or MINI Canada, I dont want to be left hanging out in the dark with an ******* SA, Service Supervisor, and Service Manager, because they think they know more abot cars then little ol' me the Customer!

Ill update as soon as a I get a reply.

Ohh and make sure you mention that your part of a MINI enthusiast group and other people have had the same problem, refer to this post.

 

Thats what I got.I posted the other day not knowing there is an on going problem.Again throw out bearing is the best guess because clutch is not slipping.They replaced belt as they have heard that belts cause problem but It not sort problem.They automatically assume clutch wear as well ,According to dealer they have to observe and REPORT for authorization.The car is in perfect shape and not abused.Same as other members have had 4 cars with clutches never replaced in the 160,000 miles highway.The dealer to this point has been very good.Sounds from other posts that it is a mini issue not a user issue.I will keep you posted,it is being driven in at close fri night so the squeal can be "observed" sat am.

 

My car just started making this noise. i thought it was the pully belt, but have yet to even get a chance to look at it. And it sounds just like everyone else's, that it makes the noise when it is cold but goes away.

 

I had this slipping belt noise starting at 40,000 miles initially it occured during cold weather but grew progressively worse to the point where by 60,000 miles it was making the noise about half the time I started off in first gear. The clutch never showed signs of slipping. However, due to the noise and the fact that I am now preparing my '02 MCS to be sold, I went ahead and had the clutch replaced by an independent shop for about half of what the dealership wanted. The noise is gone now.

 

I hear the same noise and it's getting worse in the past month. My 02 has around 31,000miles. Before I bring it to the dealership to check the throw out bearing I would like to know if a slipping clutch will make the same noise or not, coz' I have neven driven on a manual car with slipping clutch (I guess I was too kind to all clutches on my previous cars! ).
Thanks!

 

the noise would probaly be the clutch or the flywheel there are some cases i have heard of that both have been replaced
u have a matence programed clutch should be covered for at least 36,000 miles

 

Update,took it in today for round 1-replace throw out bearing.As i said clutch does not slip and only happens when 1st engagement cold weather.Mechanic ran around parking lot engaging and disengaging and got it to happen 2 times after it sat overnight cold.Car is being used until they get go ahead and authorisation from Mini for "what work Mini will want to do"You know how that goes,if that dosnt fix it they report back and get authorisation for more work.This is Mini NA's way of doing things. we will see weather I join the ranks of the disenchanted.

 

Sorry DID didnt see your post.Its sad when all us Abusers of clutches have not had this problem with other cars under similar conditions.As my wife says dosnt say much for the engineering of the automobile.Its sad that you are biting the bullet for someone elses design problem.

 

Yeah, nice how all of us clutch abusers flock to MINIs. Funny how I learned on a manual transmission 17 years ago and have driven manuals ever since and it's only now that I have a clutch go bad like this. I'm sure others are the same. It does make me wonder about how much I should expect to get out of the clutch in my '06 MC.

Don't even get me started on the crappy windshields from 2002-2003. It's not like a clutch or a windshield should be that hard to design/engineer/fabricate at this point in our automotive history.

 

What was the post mortum on the original cluch parts, disk, pressure plate, throw-out bearing?????

Where was the wear??]

 

Update,flywheel and release bearing being replaced under warranty.I will look at clutch disc when it comes out to see what it looks like.That should tell the tail of the squeal.It looks like tech dept has better handle on parts to replace for this problem.

 

Sorry,DID did you get an answer on your squeal?Think we should start another thread -clutch abusers club.We could have "Charter Members" and everthing.We could list all the cars we have owned and how many miles we had on those cars abused clutches.Just a silly thought?

 

I brought mine in today with the squeal and was told that it was out of warranty since there was 42000 miles on the clock. I told them that the clutch was broken and not worn as it doesn't slip and only squeals on some starts from first. And that I have been driving for over 35 years and never had a care with an automatic and never had to replace a clutch with the exception of my 1967 big block Chevelle and did that at 50,000 after a weekend at the dragstrip.

The service tech said he couldn't do anything but before I make the appointment I should call AskMini as only they could authorize an out of warranty repair. So I called corporate and they told me that if the dealer says it is broke and not worn, then it is convered and that the dealer techs make the call.

So tomorrow I go back and we'll see. Clearly I am not going to pay the dealer to do an $1800 clutch job at 42000 miles.

If anyone had one repaired under warranty if you posted the details of what the dealer said, that would be helpful for the rest of us.

 

no I didn't get an answer. I can ask this weekend though when I'm up there again (visiting purely for pleasure this time)

 

I got a call from my service tech today after he spoke to the Mini regional tech. As I said my clutch is squealing in first but does not slip at all. The tech said that clutches are considered by Mini to be a wear item. Again I insisted that it was broken not worn. He offered me a 20% discount on the job (which I thought was generous but am still maintaining that it shoud be fully covered by Mini) and that once they opened it up if it is the flywheel, which has been redesigned since my build, then it would be covered fully.

So now I have a dilemma. Do I let them do the work knowing that it is not worn but broken and hoping they see it that way once the parts are in our hands but if they decide that it is worn, I am in for a $1500 bill? Or do I get the work done for half the price at Helex or some other good shop with experience? I am a gambler by nature but this is a big bet that will be totally out of my control.

I am inclined to to let them pull it apart and convince them to see it my way but I am asking for the collected wisdom to chime in. Clearly there is no way I could have worn out the clutch as I am not hard on my car and have been driving a manual transmission since I got my license in 1969.

So? What do you think?