"Desu-San-Desu" (Desu-San-Desu)
01/31/2016 at 00:20 • Filed to: None
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"Desu-San-Desu" (Desu-San-Desu)
01/31/2016 at 00:20 • Filed to: None | 8
| 4 |
So, after getting my Mini back on the road, I followed the instructed break-in procedure for the new clutch to the letter. Once that was done, I began progressively working my way back up to my old driving style, as instructed, and noticed that my car seemed down on power. REALLY down on power.
I was experiencing a serious lack of low-end torque, with boost coming on much later than normal and with a noticeable lag throughout the entire powerband. Acceleration and throttle response were sluggish, the engine was sounding too much like a diesel for my comfort, the injectors were very audibly noisy, and any time I tried to do a pull at wide open throttle, my car stank of hot exhaust/sulfur immediately after.
My first thought? My cat or pre-cat is failing. My second thought? The bypass valve for the supercharger may be going bad.
I was resigning myself to these possibilities and researching fixes when I decided to just act on a hunch earlier today and reset my ECU using the button combo on the gauge.
Poof! Problem solved. Boost comes on like it used to and actually seems to pull harder than I remember. Low-end torque is improved, and the engine is notably quieter at idle while sounding less strained under acceleration. Also, the exhaust smell at wide-open throttle is gone.
My guess? When my Mini was on the lift with the battery disconnected for nearly 2 weeks, the ECU got reset. When we hooked it back up, the ECU went into “Learn” mode like it normally does upon being reset. In this mode, it’ll analyze your driving habits for a bit and set a sort of ‘general baseline’ parameter based on your driving style.
The problem was that upon getting my car back on the road after replacing the clutch, I had to spend the next few hundred miles slowly and cautiously breaking in said clutch. So for that entire time period, my ECU was thinking “Oh, here’s a little old scaredy-cat who is afraid of power and just wants to putt around in a cute car at low boost and never rev above 4,000rpm. Better lean out the mixture and tell the supercharger to take a nap.” While I can’t blame it for being effective at doing its job, it was very, very wrong in its assessment of my driving habits.
I made sure it got it right after I reset it earlier today. ;-P
AM3R shamefully returns
> Desu-San-Desu
01/31/2016 at 00:25 |
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What was the process for breaking in the new clutch? Just curious, I overhead an Indy saying just drive like normal but I feel like that isn't right.
Denver Is Stuck In The 90s
> AM3R shamefully returns
01/31/2016 at 00:29 |
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My transmission guy said the same thing, but my clutch feel definitely changed as I drove it post clutch job
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Desu-San-Desu
> AM3R shamefully returns
01/31/2016 at 00:31 |
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For mine, the procedure was “Drive at least 200 miles in a city-driving environment. Do not count highway miles. While during this period, be gentle on the clutch and do not ride it. Do not shift hard, or change gears at excessively high torque loads. Change gears slowly, letting the RPM’s drop adequately as you change gears. Once you have gone through this period, spend the next hundred miles or more progressively increasing the workload of the clutch until you are back to your typical driving technique.”
Steve in Manhattan
> Desu-San-Desu
01/31/2016 at 01:37 |
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A long time ago, an Audi owner called Car Talk to complain about a similar problem. Seems the tranny (think it was an autobox) had learned something new when she’d had it in for a major service. Like cars piping in engine sounds - maybe just let my transmission do its job instead of learning about me. Want to hear about that time in junior high school when ... well, no you don’t.