No Go pt2....no clutch
Turbo Mini Forums

Having got the engine running fine now we've come to test the clutch gearbox etc. with the engine off you can select all gears easily as normal. Also with the car in gear and pointing down the drive, if you clutch in it starts rolling down which suggests to us that its working fine.

When we come to put it in gear now though with the engine running it just grinds as if the clutch isnt far down enough. We've put my clutch arm in as its pretty much brand new to rule any wear in the system making it happen. Also tried packing iout the slave cylinder/rod with a few nuts to get some extra travel but still no joy. Even tried levering the arm with a crowbar to see if that'll help get some extra travel but it still grinds.

Anyone got any idea's on what it could be? everythings brand new inside the wok, new flywheel/backplate, clutch, diaphragm, release bearing, drop geras etc etc...

Cheers, Nick :)

i had the exact same problem, ended up replacing the master cylinder, slave cylinder, hose, arm, release bearing, then tried a few of the tricks you listed.
And still never got to the bottom of it before the flywheel fell off....hmmm

when i asked about, people seemed to think the flywheel/backplate spacing was to blame, but it was all brand new in my case too....

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

budd remove the clutch assembley & check you have not missed anything buddy.

make sure the clutch plate is FREE to move on the primary gear splines if not you will have to sort this ie debris or a high spot or whatever!

if all the clutch CHECKS out 100% as joey has mentioned as well.

the problem will lie with the balk rings.

but my moneys on whats been mentioned.

good luck

cheers ben, we're just about to try spacing the backplate away from the flywheel a little to see if that helps at all. keans unsure if the backplate lugs have been machined for extra driving straps, we're currently using 2 per post...

if we get no joy with that then i'll dig out me flywheel puller and we'll take off the whole assembly and check it out.

it shouldn't be the baulk rings, its a brand new sccr box. pretty much 90% of the engine/drivetrain is brand new...

cheers, nick. (on me drive on keans laptop, i love wi-fi )

Hi,
I presume you've still got clearance on the big nut in the middle of the wok with the pedal to the floor? Have you fitted a stronger clutch cover since you took it out? All the air out of the system?
Cheers,
Gavin. :)

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My Mini build diary

After 6 hours, we've sorted it

After taking the whole assembley out and rebuilding it, finding nothing wrong, it still wouldnt have it.

We could jack the car up and turn the wheel by hand and see that the clutch plate was turning but the flywheel wasnt with the clutch down ie, clutch working ok.

Start it up and the feckin thing is grinding in every gear again, gearbox is definatley picking up some power from the clutch.

Few hours of head scratching later, we decide to start it up in gear with the clutch down and brakes on


Ran fine, then drove it up and down the street, all gears selecting ok

Its perfect now, Im guessing it was just binding a little because the plate was new... now its had a chance to bed in its great.

I really think this car is trying to send me round the bend :-

that car is cursed dude!

but it better be a fast cursed car in the end!