17 replies to this topic

[ste3po]

HI,

I have a 1991 Mini City E (998cc), I have had it for almost 2 months now, but yesterday it started making a sound that was quite obviously not right. It sounds like it is coming from the clutch housing (inside).

 

The sound is a slightly high pitched tapping which gets higher pitched over time, (not so high pitched that it's squealing but a clearly higher pitch than the engine).When the clutch is depressed or not the noise is pretty constant. Once in gear however (seems very hard to get into gear) the noise is almost gone, once you start to take your foot off the clutch.

I haven't driven it since as I am unsure of the problem and don't want to make it worse.

Any advice would be great, I have looked into this slightly on other forums, where people have been told that the problem lies with the release bearing. But with this in mind, in every case I have come across the noise goes once the clutch is depressed or compressed and does not persist either way. Whereas with my current problem the noise is there whether the clutch is depressed or not.

Every now and again once the engine is turned off and there should be nothing, the engine does keep running for a few seconds (not a nice noise). I believe this may be a timing issue. I have added this as I am unsure to whether the two are connected.

Any help would be great. I apologise if I step on anyone else's topic with the same question but I am yet to find one that details the exact same problem.

 

[Cooperman]

Possibly too much end float on the transfer gear or, maybe, the primary gear.

[ste3po]

Hi cooperman, thanks for your reply. If you are right what does this mean? Is it a big problem? And what would of caused this? The whole time I have had it has sounded perfect.

Any more knowledge you can give on this would be great. Was planned for a nice trip this weekend in him but perhaps not as don't want to make it worse...

Thanks again.

[ste3po]

Any more ideas/help? Thanks!

[Cooperman]

It's always hard to diagnose knocking or tapping issues without seeing and hearing for oneself.

As said, it could be excess end float on primary or transfer gears. To investigate these requires removal of clutch cover and flywheel. Then the primary gear can be checked and removal of the primary gear oil seal and primary gear itself enables the transfer gear to be checked for end float, although it's difficult to measure it as the gear is still hidden down the inside of the casing and you can just get to touch it and see if it slides back & forth.

That might be the best thing to do as removal of the flywheel/clutch will enable everything else inside the clutch/flywheel housing to be checked.

Let's wait & see if anyone else has any ideas.

[ste3po]

Okay, thanks for the information, sounds doable. Just to add, can you think of anything that could cause it to come on suddenly? Thanks again.

[Cooperman]

It is hard to imaging excessive end float happening suddenly as it is normally a wear related thing. The only time I've experienced a rattle from excessive end float was after someone did a new build without correctly setting the float on those 2 gears.

Are you sure it's coming from the clutch end of the engine and is not a valve clearance which needs adjustment, maybe at that end of the head, but that would not alter when you put it in gear or drove it.

I guess the clutch arm could rattle, but it would not be a regular sound and a worn thrust bearing will normally just make a whining noise.

If it was a loose flywheel, depressing the clutch would alter the situation as the flywheel is then loaded onto the crank end.

It's a Verto clutch, so is self-adjusting.

[ste3po]

I have recorded a video of the engine running, there is the constant engine sound and then the noise I have mentioned coming in and out, it has the same timing as in off and on, but does seem to get slowly more higher pitched the longer the engine is running.

Link-

Thanks.

[ste3po]

Any thoughts based on the recording?

[ste3po]

Just to add, makes a hell of a noise putting into first, after some persuasion. Just trying to put it into reverse makes a very loud grinding noise, so reverse is a no no.

[welshdan]

In my mind i would top up the clutch fluid if it needs it, and bleed the clutch. If this does not help with the gear selections i think i would be thinking about pulling the engine and strip the clutch end down for inspection.

[petey81]

Just remove flywheel cover to check it. No need to remove engine straight away. As cooperman said check thrust bearing and clutch arm.

[Guess-Works.com]

I assume I listening to the 'buzzer' sort of sound ?

 

If so that's the oddest thing I've ever heard coming from a mini engine.

[ste3po]

Yeah that's the noise. It's the only other noise that can be heard over the engine, as if a switch was being turned on and off every few seconds to make the noise.

[miniman3003]

One suggestion I could make is to drain the oil and have a look to see what amount of swarf is there. If your engine has a magnetic plug and there is also plenty of swarf in the container, that would indicate that something is breaking up inside the engine/gearbox.

 

You should be able to tell if it is hardened swarf such as off a bearing race or aluminium if something is chewing up the transfer gear case.

 

As others have said, take the clutch cover off first and see what is going on underneath it. If that does not reveal any problems, then the problem must lie further into the engine and the next step would be to take the transfer gear casing off and see what is going on inside there.