butcha87 Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Hey, Crashed my mini a couple weeks ago,jsut got it back on wednesday. The mechanic (Not really a mini enthusiast) replaced the tie rods and bushes with new adjustables and bushes from minispares. However, I picked it up and it drove fine for a while. However after reaching town, the trouble started. When i stop the car I always slap it into neutral,and roll to a stop. I did this and tried to select 1st, to move off again. however, I could not put the car in gear,it would jsut move along side to side and would not slot into ANY gear. Eventually after a gentle shove and a couple revs it went into gear, and off I went. I then got that problem several times during the drive. As well as this, wehn driving along, and down shifting, I always heel toe and double declutch, this resulted in the gears crunching when I gave it some revs, this mostly occured in 3rd and 2nd(the only ones you really downshift too!) The battery then proceeded to run out,leaving me looking like a fool at a roundabout, so I got a mate to push me to a carpark where we waited a bit for the battery to getsum life back. The car started fine, but I could not select reverse!It cwould just crunch!IU gave my dad a try and he slammed(What a thug) it into reverse and the car stalled!At this point I realised the clutch pedal had gone really light, bar the last 2 cm, which is weird, as my friends clutch is stiff throughout the whole of it's travel? Any ideas?I've posted this on some mini forums but not got many replies.Prawn,Anyone? Thanks in advance Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr ailsbury Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 your clutch is nackered... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_Tupman Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 It's not your clutch it's your Baulkrings in the box they'er baulking up :) give it an oil change and if that doesn't improve the situation then you may need to rebuild the box but it's not as costly as it sounds. Um a technique that sometimes works is taking your foot of the clutch then on again then selcting your gear (this only works from a standstill normally) don't no why this works but sometimes the same problem happens to me but it normally goes again. hope this helps (Y) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisa Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 I had the light clutch thing on mine, didn't cause the prob;lems you said but then mine might not have been as bad. Did leave me stranded with no way of getting it into gear. The clutch master cylinder seal had given out making it leak pretty rapidly (over the course of day the pedal didn't feel right). You can tell if its leaking pretty easy, take your window washer bottle out (lift up) and you will see the master cylinder and a little rod coming out of it, check the rod and around there for fluid. If this is the leaking then it will be around £10-15 for a new master cylinder and a few quid for some fluid. Not hard to fit either, once you see it you will understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trials_pimp Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Xdream, jumping in at the deep end arent we??? Can you select the gears fine when the engine is off? And it your at idle, and try and select gear, does it crunch, or simply not go into gear? Sounds to me like the Clutch isnt clearing properly. This would require a new clutch as the "fingers" will have lost their tension. Also check the Box fluid level, Clutch fluid level and for leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butcha87 Posted November 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 When the engine is off,it goes into gear perfectly At idle,it goes into gear fine as well,except when I give it some revs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trials_pimp Posted November 5, 2005 Report Share Posted November 5, 2005 Then your clutch needs replacing. Wack a new one in and it should be fine. The clutch isnt clearing the Flywheel properly, and need replacing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Batch UK Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 Hiya, My friend had this problem a few months ago on the way to the Mini Show. He ended up having to turn the car off when he stopped to select 1st and thenstart the car up in gear. It ended up being one tired cluth and ended up wacking a more hard wearing cluth on his Mini. 2 thing to do from here: 1. Check your cluth fluid and make sure its clean and theres a good amount in there 2. Sounds a bit weird but whilst driving you car hold the clutch down and rev it up see if its catching But i would say its a tired cluth mate, if you want to i have a Re-conditioned cluth and flywheel from mini sport that i could prob flog you its for a ECU thou so if you running carbs it will be no good for you. Hope this helps Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted November 6, 2005 Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 before your all suggesting changing the clutch.... id seriously suspect a hydraulic problem.... give the system a good bleed through.... the light all the way until the last bit IS a due to air in the system, as the first bit ur pumping it just compressing the air, then the last bit it actually moves the clutch arm. if it doesnt work fine after you have given it a bleed, a really simple and easy quick fix is to 'extend' the clutch arm. i did this on my 1380, to give me an adjustable clutch feel! what you do, is remove the clevis pin holding in trhe clutch arm, and then removed the arm. then get a 5/16ths UNF die,and cut a thread onto the last 15mm of the arm. onto this you can screw two 5/16ths (1/2'' spanner) nuts, using one to lock against the other. this is just enough to effectively extend the clutch arm. which ususlly gives enough throw to disengage the clutch properly.... works a treat! ive done it as a bodge on many minis, then, when i didnt like the feel of my new clutch on my 1380, i had the idea of using it to make the feel adjustable. i just tapped the thread onto an inch of the bar, and used the two nuts to make it completely adjustable! works a treat.... its VERY unusual for the 'fingers' of a verto clutch to wear out.... the plates usually go way before hand.... and if the car is running a pre verto clutch (as ALL proper minis should be-its just a better system!) then it wont have any fingers at all, just a diaphram spring. good luck in getting it sorted mate! i dont remember what mini you drive.... and i cant check now as im home using dialiup >_< i seem to remember it being a 97/98 mpi.... if so, good luck! my 'bodge' really does work a treat though, and i think goes a long way to improving on the standard setup.... i still say its hydraulic, but if it isnt, extending the arm will give you a fair few thousand miles of use before oyu need a new plate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butcha87 Posted November 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2005 Hmm,just trying to absorb all this information, and disect it so it's useful!It might seem like I'm not listening but it's jsut with all this technical language I have to read up on that part of the car!Thanks for all the comments and answers, I will hopefully have the car in my hands soon (Now parked at my grans). Some guy has said that the front subby is bent,and this is causing all the trouble. He wants 500 quid for it!!!This msut be a load of shite right?£120 for a front subby,labour £200?Surely a bent front subby wouldn't do this!Anyway, I will get back to you when I've had a look at the car! Cheers for all the replies!God send the lot of you! Might take this as a warning and just start the rebuild I was planning for all next year! '90 British Racing Green 998 with John Cooper Works conversion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prawny Baby Posted November 7, 2005 Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 i wouldnt believe that a bent subby can be the cause of your problems mate.... a bent subby could be the cause of it not going into 1st and 3rd, or 2nd/4th/reverse. but not all of them the only way a bent subby can do such a thing is if the box has moved forward in relation to the selector housing under the gearbox.... and even if it has, because the two are linked by the top rod anyway, its VERY unlikely :P my flame started off life in 1990 as a john cooper conversion car as well! awesome little car you got there mate.... if its a 90 itll be on a nasty verto clutch as tehy all were after about 82ish-soon after the introduction of the metro :) (sad times) the arm is the litle short arm thats being pushed by the master cylinder.... to find it, go directly above the clutch pedal-thats the master, follow the pipe to the slave cylinder, and you will see it pushing a small rod about 3'' long, sloped at around 45 degrees, and parallel to the alluminium flywheel housing end cover. whip the rod out and tap a thread onto it, then stick a few nuts on the end and ur sorted! try that, and give the system a good bleed before you spend ANY money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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