Clutch questions

[DG04]

I bought a 2004 (April) Cooper S all of 7 months ago, and have since covered 3700 miles in it. Fairly soon after I bought it I heard a whining noise when pulling away (something similar to an elongated / repetitive seal noise), but this was mainly when it was cold / wet. I asked around and the general consensus from friends was that it was probably the drive belt.

Rather foolishly I left the situation as it was until the service (which has just been carried out) and have just been told by the garrage that it's the clutch, not the drive belt, and that it may not be covered by warranty.

The miles I have covered have been mostly motorway miles, and the MPG is showing roughly 31 - 32 (I reset it when I left the garage the first time to see what the car would do).

Apart from generally moaning about the whole scenario, I was really interested to know what sort of mileage people are typically getting out of their minis - my general argument against footing any bill will be that a) I've not covered many miles so I couldn't have caused the "fair wear and tear", it must've been the guy who owned it before me, and b) the mini clutches clearly have a systemic problem given that the average expected lifespan of a modern clutch should be a minimum of 60,000 miles and realistically more like 80,000 - 100,000 if driven nicely.

So if anyone could indulge me in a few figures I'd be very grateful!

Ta

DG

[BlueMax]

I share your problem. Mine is a April 04 MCS with the "clutch squeeling" problem for quite a while now. Low milage 32000km. I do not "ride" or abuse the clutch, it is not possible to be clutch wear unless it was really abused, Igot 300 000km out of a clutch on a Jetta 2, use a Scenic to pull a caravan with 76000km w/o any clutch problems. Clutch wear would lead to slipping and not only cause a noise in 1st gear at pullaway, I have done many searches on Mini2 and NAM with inconclusive results. Common opinion is either 1) clutch release bearing - replacement requires clutch removal or 2) dual mass flywheel. I have not been able to establish what happens if the problem is not rectified or if a new design part is available, I do not want to go to all the expense of a clutch or bearing replacement and then have it return again after say 20000km. Please anybody who knows exactly what this problem is and whether it can be ignored please reply. Many R53 MCS's have this problem and many at low milage and later than 04 model years. Even saw some 06's that had this problem which makes me conclude that a redesign has not been done to eliminate it. The noise is more embarrasing and irritating than anything else, it does not affect performance but I am afraid of a failed/seized bearing if left unattented.

[mab01uk]

If it is the flywheel this has been quoted in the very long MCS gearbox/clutch noise thread as a possible cure for the noise:-

"For anyone fighting their dealer on this problem the Service Information Bulletin number to fix this is SI M 21 01 05 and the replacement fly wheels part number is 21 20 7 548 804."

[BlueMax]

Thanks - will look into this