[rics56]

Greetings from New Jersey !
Has anyone experienced early clutch failure in their MCS ?
My 2003 MCS was delivered in December and has been flawless until Yesterday !

While sitting in traffic for about 40 minutes, I noticed a strong smell from under the car. It didn't overheat, but as traffic progressed, the clutch began to grab higher and higher. The smell gave me concern that an engine fire might occur. The car went from perfect to near disaster in 40 minutes of stop and go driving...

The car was flatbedded to PRINCETON MINI today, and service called to say that it uis probably be the clutch!
At 3300 miles ??????
They inferred that they would make some judgement after tearing down the transmission and DECIDE if I was covered under warranty??? After 3300 miles???

Having driven clutches for over 27 years I am confident that it wasn't abused. I'm the only driver, and my commute is about 10m miles a day.

Has this happened to others with documented light use, and did the company stand behind their product or try and shaft the purchaser?

Can anyone help me with more info ?

RickS

[NYCguy]

Sorry to hear about your clutch. If you do a search with "clutch burn problems" you should be able to find other posts about this.

A recent thread is at this LINK (CLICK) from Sidney Australia but sitll relevant for warranty questions.

[wow]

Happened to me and will determine find out if it is covered by warranty tommorow. Mine was bought in October 2002. How did you resolve your problem?

[Redleg13]

at 3300 miles, it's gotta be a defective clutch assembly -- which should be a warranty item.

[NEMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by Max

Sorry to hear this guys

I think you should gather as much evidence as you can off here (of other low mileage clutch burn outs) and hit your dealers with it.

Don't be fobbed off. The car is under warranty and unless you have abused the clutch, they should fix/replace it.

Good luck

MINI new car warranty in the US specifically states that clutches are NOT covered. Its nice to see that the dealer hasn't hardlined you straight away and is willing to look at it before saying its not covered. Why are they not covered? They CAN be burned out in less then a day if abused hard enough (my father a retired mechanic with 65 years experience has had that happen) so manufacturers cover their butts. I'm sure no one here has abused it and when the service tech's take the tranny apart I'm sure they will come to the same conclusion. If at that time they try to hardline you then get mad but until then sit back and wait

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by GMINI03

MINI new car warranty in the US specifically states that clutches are NOT covered. Its nice to see that the dealer hasn't hardlined you straight away and is willing to look at it before saying its not covered. Why are they not covered? They CAN be burned out in less then a day if abused hard enough (my father a retired mechanic with 65 years experience has had that happen) so manufacturers cover their butts.

Really?!

I had my Cooper clutch replaced in the UK under warranty, I'd have NOT been happy if they'd have turned me away!

[NEMINI]

clutch falls into the catagory of wearable items like tires, light bulbs, wiper blades etc. Did the dealer determine your clutch to have failed for some other reason Paul? I would not be the least bit surprised though if warranties varied by country as each country has their own laws on what must be covered.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by GMINI03

clutch falls into the catagory of wearable items like tires, light bulbs, wiper blades etc. Did the dealer determine your clutch to have failed for some other reason Paul? I would not be the least bit surprised though if warranties varied by country as each country has their own laws on what must be covered.

I think our warranty is different, going from memory though (and this could be very wrong) I think the clutch has a smaller warranty than the engine etc. But I'm not sure.