The engine of your car is elaborate, it is not always easy to read all the signs it sends us. On the other hand, it is certainly necessary to try to stay on alert for the slightest indication of weakness in your car to limit the risk of serious concerns. If you have the feeling that your clutch is slipping on your Mini Cooper, you’re right to have started looking into it. It’s a defect that must be taken into account quickly, otherwise you could end up with an unusable car. To help you in your way our team has chose to prepare this guide which should allow you to see more clearly and make the right choice to avoid aggravating the situation and make sure that it is indeed the trouble you are victim of. To achieve this, we will first have a look at what a slipping clutch on Mini Cooper is and how to verify that this is what is occurring to you, and then, what steps can be taken to resolve the situation.
What is slipping clutch on Mini Cooper and how to spot it?
A Mini Cooper with a clutch that slips
The clutch of your Mini Cooper is the component that allows your vehicle to shift gears. It is placed between your gearbox and your engine. It is the component that comes into contact with the flywheel which is located on the engine side and which will collect the power transmitted by the clutch. With wear, the clutch of your Mini Cooper slips because it is made up of notches that engage in the flywheel, and with wear and friction it wears out. It is said that the clutch slips when its teeth are too damaged for it to engage on the flywheel.
How to spot clutch slipping on an Mini Cooper?
There are some solutions to find out that the clutch of your Mini Cooper is slipping. You can accomplish all of these examinations on your own.
You can simply find out that your clutch slips when you accelerate and your engine revs up, but your car does not speed up, you may also experience a burning smell.
To verify the first observation, you can stop, pull the parking brake, engage the first gear, accelerate reasonably by releasing the clutch of your car lightly, in the event that your engine rises in revs but the Mini Cooper remains fixed it is the indication of a dead clutch.
Finally, you can put yourself, still in third gear, with the handbrake on, and by releasing it, your car should stall, if not, your clutch is probably dead.
What should I do when my clutch slips on my Mini Cooper?
Limit the wear of your Mini Cooper clutch
We will at this point give you some tips to limit the wear of your clutch and avoid your clutch slipping on your Mini Cooper. First of all, it is good not to leave your foot on the clutch pedal, even if the pressure you apply is very mild you will pre wear the clutch release bearing which will sooner or later result in a total change of the clutch kit. One more point not to be neglected, do not over-accelerate when you start your car, your acceleration must constantly be adapted to the velocity of your engine. In the event that you are at a standstill accelerate slowly, if you are at medium speed accelerate gradually when you release the clutch pedal of your car so as not to make it slip against your engine flywheel.
Replacing your Mini Cooper clutch
At last, in this last part, we will address the repair part. In circumstance the clutch of your Mini Cooper is useless, you might be stuck at a standstill and have no other option than to call the tow truck, because a dead clutch no longer allows the transmission to transmit power to the wheels. If this is the circumstance, be aware that you will have to change the complete clutch kit, this repair requires quite a few hours of work and is estimated to cost between 500 and 1200 euros according to the engine and the workshop.
Whenever you have any further questions about the Mini Cooper, do not hesitate to consult our Mini Cooper category.
