Laserman - yep, I micro-laser weld for a hobby. .2mm up to 2mm in size.


I do the small stuff :-) No jokes...


...anyway, I bought a 2005 MCS last week thinking it had a CVT in it and that I would do a 6 speed manual conversion.


I may still do that, but from what I have heard the Aisin Tranny isn't that bad.


I will be looking for more info on this to see what's been done before...


...thanks!

 

that's correct the MCS never had the CVT trans. They only came in the non S Cooper.

 

Interesting thing. I started pulling the car apart to get the tranny out to day and the bell housing is full of what looks like brown oil. When I turn on the car there's a stream of it that puddles...I thought it was really bad tranny fluid...but I'm not so sure.

Do the rear mains on the MCS go bad on these around 85k?

Or is this typical of how the aisin fails?

Thoughts?

I should have enough time tomorrow to separate the engine and tranny and will give an update on what I find.

 

Looks like the tranny went bad leaking all over. The spindle seal where the torque converter is was pretty chewed up and the tranny got so hot the drivers side axle wouldn't come out. When I got it out, it was obvious it got really hot because the splines on it were blue from heat and had expanded.

The rear main seal on the engine also looks bad. Bottom of the seal at about 5:30 on the clock looks extra dirty, full of oil and pretty leaky.

Now to find a rebuilt 6 speed aisin or a rebuild kit...

...any recommendations on where to buy?