I was a proud 2002 Mini Cooper owner up until yesterday morning, when my car stopped running on the way to work. I stopped at a traffic light, went to accelerate, the car rumbled, i heard a pop and then a wind down sound and that was it. My car would rev but would not move forward or backward.

Not knowing what to do, I had it towed to my dealership, which is 20 miles away from where I broke down. I have always been loyal to them and I was trying to do the right thing. A few hours later, I get a phone call that my transmission went - in a car that has under 60,000 miles. They couldn't tell me what was wrong with it. They said they don't repair transmissions, they don't look at them, NOTHING. They only replace them and the cost to do the job is 7000.00.

My warrantee expired at 50,000 miles. I have always taken great care of my car, getting maintenace checks, purchasing the extended warrantee, etc. and everytime I needed anything for the car - new windshield, new tires, etc. I have ALWAYS taken it to my dealership. And now they are telling me that I am out of luck and if I want my car fixed, I will have to pay that amount.

I started to look around onlline and realized that other people have had the same problem as myself. So I called service and they would only come down 1000.00 dollars.
I still feel as though this is UNACCEPTABLE. So I've moved on to corporate... We will see how far I get. I don't want to give up my MINI but I can't justify spending that much on the repair.

I am still so sad that MY car, the car that I have LOVED and treated so well, is no longer in running condition and I had no warning. No lights came on, nothing. I still owe 4000.00 on the car, so to repair it for 7000.00 when it is only worth around 11,000 book value right now, seems wrong.

I'm just not sure how to proceed, and in the meantime, I have no vehicle to drive, yet I am still paying for one. It just doesn't seem fair. I am wondering if anyone else with the same problem has any advice, as I need some insight on what to do next. I am at a loss.

 

The transmission isn't covered under the extended warranty?

 

Perhaps there is another shop (non-dealer) that will do the repair for less? Any chance of getting a reman transmission out of a wrecked Mini?

 

Hi there - sorry to hear about your issue. Things like this have put the fear of God into me now - I recently purchased a 03 MC with CVT. Got a good deal on it, but the more time I spend on NAM the more I read of this problem. Is there really no warning? Is there anything that can be done to prevent this?

I have a question - prior to this, were you driving mostly in D or actually using the "CVT." Maybe one or the other could have had an effect?

Please keep us posted, pixie, and best of luck...pullin for ya.

 

When in "D" you are using the CVT. There are no real gears even if you are using the steptronic mode. Should be no affect on it.

It sounds like the belt snapped inside the transmission. Here's an interesting graphic showing how it works. When using the steptronic mode, it simply adjusts to a specified gear ratio.

 

Yucca - thanks! My first quote in someone else's message...who cares if it calls out my ingnorance. I need to learn about this car and NAM is helping immensely. What exactly is "SD" and how is that different?

Sorry pixie, looks like my "theory" is shot! From now on Im here to learn and learn only...again, I hope it works out for ya...

 

You might try posting in the Beneath The Bonnet forum also, or perhaps a mod can move this there.

 

No! Go ahead and toss your ideas out here. You would not believe the number of times I have been corrected when I was not quite right.

I use those quotes to reference my posts and not to call out ignorance. This friendly site is not about that (until you get to the performance modifications forums. . . )

and welcome to NAM, k_amato82 !

 

Since you are out of warranty... mini is not obligated to fix the problem.. and I doubt they will.. Look for an independant shop that has experience with these CVT trannys.
It is most likely a broken belt which can be repaired.
My wife is wanting a mini... I would go the MCSa route... The CVT seems to be "weak". Good luck to you..

 

Thanks again Yucca...I appreciate the encouragement. Tough to get your feet wet amongst so many knowledgeable people! No performance mods yet...lets get those bonnet stripes on first!!

Repairing a broken belt sounds much better than replacing an entire tranny. Pixie, if you arent soured on MINIs forever, Id be very interested to know how this works out for you...

 

Hey Pixie,
I just had the same thing happen on my 2002. After a 300 mile, $1,000 tow back home I'm searching the internet for a replacement. I got the same $7,000 quote from the dealership for a remanufactured CVT, and about the same amount from a local mechanic to put in a new one. I'm trying to find one from a wrecking yard for a local shop to install in hopes that it will save some money.
Good luck!

 

I'm not quite sure what you are saying regarding warranty. You said your warranty was over at around 50,000 miles (which is standard), but you then mentioned purchasing an extended warranty. Does that mean your dealer will not offer to fix it with your extended warranty? I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say.

I'm sorry about the transmission. That is quite expensive to fix.

 

Right, thats what I asked and it doesn't make sense. Although it depends on how long the extended warranty was for.

 

Extended warranty for bumper-to-bumper should be around 70,000 miles or 100,000 miles (which I have). His CVT failed at around 50,000+ miles which is under the extended warranty, if he purchased one.

I'm quite concerned since I bought the extended warranty for bumper-to-bumper (or powertrain warranty). If the extended warranty does not cover the CVT then I am screwed.

I have a '04 Mini Cooper CVT at around 42,000 miles and the news of his CVT failing is a concern to me. The amount to fix the transmission is expensive since a complete CVT replacement is the only option the dealer gives when the CVT breaks.

 

i was gonna by the extended warranty strictly for the CVT. Is it possible to just warranty the tranny? That's all i really want.

 

You are going to have to read your extended warranty policy word-for-word. The policy either has a list of excluded parts or a list covered parts. If the policy has a list of excluded parts, that is the best form of coverage because if it is not excluded, it is covered.

 

I am not aware of an extended warranty policy that covers just the CVT. You might be able to buy coverage for just the drivetrain. But regardless, make sure that the CVT is covered (not on a list of excluded parts or is on a list of covered parts).

 

I purchased a mini with a bad cvt and replaced it with a reman myself. It's not a simple task, but can be done for about $3500 in parts and about 20 hours of labor with decent tools. If you decide to go this route, let me know and I can provide some info. Also, search for my posts and there should be some details. I also posted much about the process on the mini2 forum devoted to the CVT.

 

reman? a manual? That would be sick!!

Sound like quite a task though...props for all the hardwork

 

reman=remanufactured cvt from Mini. I considered a manual convert, but it was a whole bunch more work.

 

ahh got it Still very cool

Any idea what failed in your CVT? Is it a belt that we could strengthen up or something?

I autocross my CVT (which has engine mods) weekly, so I'm kinda afraid of this weakness

 

I don't believe the original equipment CVT belt in the MINI can be strengthened...it could theoretically be replaced by a "stronger" belt that was designed to work with it, but this would of course call for a redesign from the manufacturer. I suppose a remanufactured CVT transmission could be outfitted with a stronger beltm, since a reman means taking the CVT tranny apart, removing the broken belt, and replacing it with a new belt, then putting everything back together again.

It seems that the belt is the weak link in the CVT...it is under a lot of stresses under normal operation.

Here are some pictures of how a CVT belt is made... (sorry I do not know how to post pictures, I'll post the links...maybe someone else can post the pics?)

It is actually two steel bands joined by thousands and thousands of "V" shaped metal plates to provide strength and also to distribute the forces...the more distribution of force, the less stress on each of the "V" shaped plates and therefore less stress on the two steel belts holding it all together.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/cvt-16.jpg

Here is another picture of the steel drive belt in place in the actual CVT transmission:

http://www.cvtec.co.jp/image/image21.gif

CVTs are gaining popularity...you're going to see them offered in lots of new cars in the near future, from several of the BIG car makers...


rock on,

-boognish

 

The belt in the MINI's CVT can not be strengthened. There is the other model within the model range that has a higher torque specification. Incidentally, the CVT with the higher torque specification has a wider belt. But it is not as simple as swapping parts (belts) from one to the other. In the CVT, belt width impacts bearing size, and, and, and.... The simplest solution to the risk of transmission failure is to get an extended warranty policy with explicit coverage of the CVT.

 

My CVT failure was not due to a broken belt, but was definately due to belt wear. When I removed the pan that covers the filter, the magnet was covered with strips of steel up to 2-3" in length. It appears as thought the steel edge wore off. I didn't have the car when it broke, so I can't speak to the moment of failure. However, when I picked it up, it would drive slowly for a short distance before the CVT would make a grinding noise and the car would slow. I had moments of optimism that a complete swap was not required, but reality set in quickly. The car had 110,654 miles on it at failure. My expectation is to drive it with the new CVT for another 100,000 miles.

I believe more frequent CVT fluid change will keep it working for longer. The original had the standard 30k mile change interval and, I suspect, the orginal filter when it failed since it doesn't apper to be changed during the standard maintenance.

 

A 110,000 miles out of the CVT is pretty good. It would be really nice to be able to get 200,000 miles out of the CVT, but I think that is not realistic considering the mis-match in engine power vs. rated power handling capability of the CVT that is installed in the MINI. I hope you get another 100,000+ miles on your replacement CVT.