It costs how much?

Ok, no clutch in the MINI. Time to start making calls and doing research. First call was to my MINI dealer. They have quick quote they can give over the phone without looking at the car to give you an idea of how much it will cost.

It’s quite a lot.

Here are some things I do know.

• The MINI service department lists a clutch job as taking 18-20 hours (Thanks Todd!)
• The parts for the clutch aren’t that expensive unless…
• The flywheel has to be replaced

I’ve got some calls to make yet. I need to find a place that will trouble shoot the problem and be able to tell me what actually needs to be done without tearing the car apart. My biggest concern is that the flywheel **would** have to be replaced and that part, all by itself, costs almost $US1,000 from the dealer, which I do not understand.

Nor do I understand why it would have to be replaced. I’m sure it’s because I’m thinking about this in an old school rear-drive car kinda way.

Here is what I do know. I have no pedal on my clutch at all, which makes me think it might be a hydraulic issue. If the car is stopped and in gear, I can turn the key and the car moves. It won’t start (I didn’t try too much), but it will hop along powered by the starter. The brakes are working fine and the fluid resorvoir is full. I also looked around under the bonnet and did not see any leaks.

Like I said, more calls on Monday to find someone relatively close that can properly trouble shoot this for me.

And, hopefully tell me that it’s not going to cost almost $3k to repair.