Hello everyone, I'm brand new here!

This weekend I am going to drain and refill the transmission on our new (to us) 2005 MCS Automatic. It's got 130,000 miles. It will on occasion shift hard, and I thought doing a few rounds of fluid drain/re-fill cycles might be a good start. I really wanted to change the filter, but became discouraged when I learned it requires loosening the engine mount to get the pan out . From what I've been reading, if the problem is still there after a few cycles of new fluid, I may be looking at new valve body? I've never done that kind of repair before.

Since 2004, my wife and I have driven two tired Saabs. It has been my responsibility to do the majority of the maintenance on the two over the years, but her car was finally too worn out, compression is low and she leaks all over the place. The solution... we bought a MINI.

Hhhm... this happened after I swore we would never buy another import car again after the Saabs! Oh well... she fell in love. The 9-5 is for sale, and I am still driving the 1999 9-3... 292,000 miles and counting. If my Saab croaks, I'll probably stick to Ford or Chevy, so I won't have two high maintenance rides (I'm not a millionaire).

So, the bad news, years of accumulated knowledge on how to service her Saab are now going out the window... good news, I get to start learning how to service a MINI. My first impressions? Well, it has come to my attention that the great majority of repairs require removing the front bumper or removing the subframe... OH BOY.. Can I handle this car?

 

Hey shub, Its good to see your in the MINI family. If your at 130k your way over do for a change. I would recommend using a good comp synthetic ATF in these transmissions. Do several changes. It would be nice if you could drop the pan and change the filter. If you need some pointers I can help! cheers

 

Well if you buy a car with 130k on it would be no surprise there is some work to do.