Mini Coopers suck.

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94H_Ex

Under employed
Why? because I'm biting off alot more than I think I can chew right now. My gf's brother owns a 2002 Mini Cooper S, and he comes to me with this "I blew my clutch" issue. Well, shoot, I've changed clutches before. Their not that hard. I was f'cking wrong. :eek: I just spent about 3 hours on pulling the front end off, being cautious and makeing sure I'm not wasteing time on doing extra stuff that doesnt need to be done. I'll take pics tomorrow and show you what I've done so far in order to pull this tranny out, We discussed if we should just drop the tranny, and thats a no go, we dont have the tools nore the space to pull just the tranny. So we're going with pulling the engine and tranny. Which is starting to look alot more easier than we thought. My only issue, how the f'ck do you disconnect the shifter cables?!?!?!
 
I beleive there are pins you remove? I mite be mistaken... But a picture would be helpful. Sux in FL, I'd let u use the lift and tools here if ya were in VT
 
Yeah euro cars = pain in the ass

At my work (garage) I have a co-worker and hes a vw fan. Hes got a corrado and a golf and when they breakdown he brings them in and suddenly all the macanics make up excuses and leave work lol. They hate european cars! Or should I say euro-pain
 
Euro - Pain... I worked on a new Audi S4 for the 1st time today... that engine bay is crazy looking... I was like! Hey im taking personal time today... have fun! Seriusoly, nice car but DAMN!
 
you've got to drop the subframe..

to get at the shifter cable ends you've got to take the airbox, TB, intake tube, and the intake runner on that side....theres a "special" tool to get them off but you should be able to wrestle them off w/a prybar and a screwdriver (it takes some force to get them off)


pop the tie rods at the tapers w/a splitter and un-bolt the ball joints = no need for an alignment when you put it back together
 
you've got to drop the subframe..

to get at the shifter cable ends you've got to take the airbox, TB, intake tube, and the intake runner on that side....theres a "special" tool to get them off but you should be able to wrestle them off w/a prybar and a screwdriver (it takes some force to get them off)


pop the tie rods at the tapers w/a splitter and un-bolt the ball joints = no need for an alignment when you put it back together

Sounds like someone works at a Euro shop a bit haha!:p
 
Hey Sam, how's the progress going? If you say you're not done yet though, :ban: :D. That is all for now.
 
We'll being I still work for a living and my one day off is sundays. I'm not allowed to take this project around the shop as "my car" job, I had to do it in a more primitive manner. I got the shifter cables off. Oh.... and this..


THE F"CKING ENGINE IS F"CKING OUT!! xD

But the thing that sucks the most is that he ordered the clutch (the whole reason I'm doing this) friday night and the order hasnt gone in yet, plus he has to go to school sunday. I dont think the car will be done till erm. tuesday, or wensday depending on shipping. But I'm so happy the engine is out.
 
Oh joy! This is why I don't buy Euro haha! Honda Trany install simple, Mini , got to drop the motor? sigh!
 
Oh joy! This is why I don't buy Euro haha! Honda Trany install simple, Mini , got to drop the motor? sigh!

I know. His mini makes me appreciate my honda SO MUCH MORE.
 
Ahh, my dad's Beemer has a nice engine bay... Myneighbor owms a mini, and the car looks nice and all, but WTF is up with the dash setup??? the speedo is where my radio is! I love my Honda, but the oil filter is a pain I the ass to replace. D:<
 
I love working on hondas. I hate working on domestics. (over simplified, working on domestics irritates me because of the sloppy construction and shitty engineering) European.. Only worked on a few. alot of extra nuts/bolts/clips/unnecesary bits and pieces. Tighter work spaces. Less efficient to work on because of all the extra crap. They aren't mechanic friendly.
 
I work on Audis on a daily basis, and even without formal factory training (thats comming up in March) some things are a bitch to do. Even so, there are tricks that every experienced tech can show you. On a lot of the V6/V8 cars, doing a timing belt requires you to remove the entire front clip. not many do it this way, instead - we unbolt the front clip and move it forward just enough to allow us room to work on the front of the engines.

The 2.7T's and 4.2T's (RS6) can be nightmares, and even doing plugs and coils really sucks. Clutches aren't too bad, but pulling engines is also a bitch. Going from wrenching on Hondas 90% of the time to working on German cars is a kind of a culture shock - but a key is to do things in the right order.
 
So of course I was right. the clutch is bad, and heres some pics.

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This is what i collected around where the starter is located.
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Heres the new clutch he wants in it.
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I ll load a vid some time soon
 
Well, now im just f'cking aggravated with Mini. I got the old clutch out and i went to go check clearance on the flywheel for the new one. and guess f'cking what. The clutch doesnt make contact with the flywheel. why? because the f'ing fly wheel bolt heads are sticking too far up and they make contact with the clutch, instead of the flywheel surface. wtf.. So now he's either got to scrap the money up for a new flywheel, or I have to break ass to try to find some type of f'ing bolts and can tourqe on, and are low pro so they dont touch the clutch... I will never work on another mini. ever, High grade BMW enginering my ass. Honda has always went out and made more sense then Mini. At least my after market clutches will fit on my stock flywheels.

Mini can blow it out their ass.

/rant.
 
maybe thats why the old one blew apart?....I know a couple people who've specifically used *that* brand clutch (Spec) on a stock flywheel with no issues

are they loose?



-theres a TSB on the early Minis flywheels BTW
 
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