I've been posting re: my recent R50 head rebuild and thought I should create a new thread.

I had success doing a valve job to correct a misfire on cylinder 3 issue.
Problem solved with an exhaust valve job, exhaust vale replacement and cam replacement. Thanks for all who chimed in to help me get the Mini off her blocks!

HOWEVER.....

Now a new development is the sticky shifting issue.
This is an R50 with a 5 speed manual trans.

We just had the clutch replaced last year, about 9,000 miles ago.
Suddenly after doing this head work the trans is shifting clunky between gears and really gets fussy in 3rd. I visually inspected the outer shifting linkage. Seems ok. We had the clutch fork replaced prior to the clutch job btw.

Of course I had to jack up the engine and remove a motor mount. Only moved the engine an inch or so and the motor mount appeared to fit right back to where it was.

When assembling the battery tray I noticed the white plastic brake reservoir had a crusty crack sound when I pushed down on the top of the back corner to move some hoses. (I need to get that replaced asap.) Is this system related to that brake master and is the system relying on a "closed" pressure from this little wonky crusty plastic brake reservoir? I cant get the cap off right now by hand and judging by the deteriorating sound of the back top part of the rez I don't want to crack the whole top off!--Just tossing this out there as a possibility that this could be related.

Otherwise, what causes a sudden crappy double clunk and hard push between gears? You can feel this in most gears with 3rd being the worst.

There is normal pedal pressure btw. Not dropping to the floor in other words.
Is there a clutch slave that operates independently from the way the pedal feels? Maybe it is not moving enough?

Or is this the dreaded output shaft bearing issue?

Any help is greatly appreciated as we would like to enjoy the newly restored power of the head rebuild job :-)

 

Pop the shift cables off the transmission, then manually try to shift the transmission from the engine compartment. If the trans engages gears then you have ruled out the trans being an issue.

We've seen cars that the relay lever becomes worn out and causes difficulty between gears and sometimes even locks you out of certain gears due to it not articulating properly.


Number 11 in the picture

 

The pivot pints on the shift cable bracket can gum up. also i would make sure those shift cables move freely , i have seen many with the dust boots coming apart and junk and water get in there and the cables get sticky.

Last but not least make sure there is grease in the pivot ball on the shiftier lug and its moves freely. Then of course before that make sure the trans moves freely itself ( with the cable off ) .

https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2002-Cooper-R50-Base-Coupe-L4_1.6L_W10B16A/Drivetrain/Manual_Transmission/

 

NKFRY,
I saw this answer in another post. Thanks for that.
You mean, take the battery tray back out, disconnect the cables going from shift linkage to the relay lever? Is the Relay Lever visible?

And would I be manually pushing the shifter on trans and can this be done, through the gears, without the clutch pedal down? or does someonw need to push the clutch down while doing this.

I may have to do this alone, reason I ask :-) I can use my trusty PVC pipe I used to hold the brake down when installing the cam.
Thanks again.

 

You will need to get the battery out of the way to facilitate this, but once you have it out just pop the cables off the relay lever and try to manually operate the lever on the transmission with the car off and on flat ground. If it engages gears then you have ruled out the trans for now, no clutch pedal depression required.

 

Thanks guys for your amazingly speedy response.
Just so I can visualize before ripping into this, is the relay lever NOT mounted to the trans? Looks like this might also be referred to as a "deflection" lever?

 

Yes, the lever is bolted to the transmission. It is also called a deflection lever, MINI has a lot of ridiculous names for normal parts.

Guide support = strut mount
Bellows repair kit = axle boot

 

Or cable shift bracket.

Here is a pic

 

Thanks, OK the Electrical Supply Unit Restraining System (Battery tray) is out. :-)

How does one pop those cable ends off? I don't want to break anything.
Do you just pry off with a screwdriver?

 

Technically there is a special pry tool to pop them off, which we use, but you could also use a prybar if need be.

 

Well the left one broke off /came loose from the rubber ball insert and the right one simply won't budge. Is the tool some sort of wedged fork like a ball joint tool?

 

New Information:
The car when in neutral and idling has a whirring sound until you press the clutch pedal. Increasing rpm increases the whirring sound.

When driving sometimes you have to put the trans in neutral in order to get it to set to the next gear. Sometimes the position of the stick feels like it is not in all the way producing a gear grind.

And yes the forward / aft shift cable has now disconnected itself from the rubber ball end (the ring part). It still works if you simply press the ring down over the ball piece but, of course, not optimal.

It appears there might be some slight binding at the end of the gear positioning when testing the shifter by hand. Hard to say. it seems intermittent.

 

Guys, the cable shift bracket seems ok. Not gummy. Very dry. A little wobbly maybe. Would the slightest wobbiness cause these symptoms I'm having?
Also I just talked to a local shop who said the line to the slave cylinder can sometimes get air in the line causing it to not shift well. Anyone ever seen that issue resolved after bleeding that line?

I need to find that slave cylinder location.

 

The slave cylinder is a bit more difficult to get to on the R50 Cooper models. This requires removal of the airbox, battery and the battery box as the slave cylinder sits on the top of the transmission. Once you have removed all of these components, the slave cylinder is accessible from the top of the transmission. We cover this in our tech article.

 

Thanks for that.
The question is, would the clutch pedal feel "normal" if the slave was acting intermittently? Would air in the line be undetectable by the feel of the clutch pedal? Because it seems like the clutch is pulling in and out, based on the "feel" of the pedal. I had to replace a clutch fork once because the pedal was to the floor..

 

Update!
Had my BMW shop down the street check it out on a test drive. Most likely internal transmission failure.

What are the options upgrading this 2002 5 speed transmission? I believe it is the GS5-65BH.

Are their upgrade possibilities without changing out computers and CV joints / axels etc?

 

A lot do the swap to the Getrag 6-Speed as you can see here, but most of this is the swap from the auto to the manual. You having the 5-speed makes it much easier already. This thread on NAM here gives you info on what exactly you'll need to do the conversion if that is the route you decide to do. You can search www.car-part.com for a used transmission if needed. If you need any other new parts, if you decide to do the swap, let me know. Otherwise you might be able to find used parts as well. Let me know if you need anything and good luck!

 

Ok, got the R50 all backed up and ready for trans removal.
So,trying to decide whether to take the whole engine/trans out with an engine hoist (which I own)
OR
Remove subframe and drop the trans with an engine support bar on top along with a trans jack underneath. (about $200)

Which is easier? This might make a good new thread. Maybe one exists?

 

Some good advice in this NAM thread HERE.

 

the shift cable that connects to the large shift arm on the trans that is responsible for the actual "gears", is it cable number 6 (Part# 25117515455)
or cable 7 (Part #25117515456) ?

 

We go over the shifter cables in our DIY, ignore the arrows, but the driver side cable is 25-11-7-515-455 and the passenger side cable is 25-11-7-515-456. You first need to determine if you have condition A or condition B gear shift in order to confirm the right cable part numbers. They're shown in that diagram above.

 

Thanks PP,
The bottom of the shifter box looks different? What is an 02 R50 supposed to have?
Do the cables cross over in an X at some point? the linkage that goes to the shift arm extends out further in the engine compartment but is located on the Passenger (USA) side.
Would be nice to know so as to have something on oder prior to finding time to drop the whole exhaust etc.

 

You'd need to determine if you have the shifter box with reinforcement ribs on the housing which I believe is white (condition A) or the smooth box which I believe is black (condition B). Good discussion of them in this NAM thread HERE. In our DIY we show images of the cables behind the exhaust and to the point of where they connect. I don't believe they cross anywhere, but not sure.