Hi, I'm new to the forum, and new to Minis- just bought an 03 R50 with CVT which won't come out of 1st gear. Anyone experience this, and what did you do? I am a very experienced mechanic, but CVT is also new to me, so please, don't say, "take it to the shop"- pride-and budget- forbids! Thanks.

 

First off, before anyone else tells you the obvious, CVTs have no gears! Second, by any chance have you searched this wide world of NAM? May be a common problem? Good luck.

 

O.k. I looked under 1ST Gen problems/issues. Lots of problems with these. So I understand, is the "gear selector" stuck and won't shift or is the CVT not engaging? Reving and not moving? Man this doesn't look good. I hope someone here can help.

 

Thanks for the quick reply- yes, I know the CVT doesn't have "gears" as such- it was my way of saying that it won't upshift. Revs keep climbing, it goes faster, and...then I run out of courage thinking I'll blow something up.
I understand that the car was in a front-end collision and repaired, but the tranny has been like this since. Hence my 'bargain' acquisition. Is there some kind of relearning pattern the trans must go through? Thanks again

 

Here is an excellent document from motoringfile.com

http://www.motoringfile.com/files/CVT_description.pdf

 

When you give it a small amount of pedal input it revs past say 2000-3000 RPMs?

Since it's a CVT, the more you push, the more it revs. Want less revs, back off on the pedal some. It's not going to "drop revs" and feel like it's changed gears as you accelerate faster and faster...it's just going to keep going.

 

I have to be honest, it doesn't sound good at all...CVTs are notorious for just randomly having the belt snap, requiring a costly replacement. Have you tried it in sport mode?

 

Excellent PDF on the CVT, thanks. In answer to the other question, I'll be at 4000 rpm + by 25 mph, with no drop in engine revs or upshift in sight. No, it doesn't sound good, but there is the slim chance it is "limp home" mode of some kind, and might be reprogrammed...?

 

Oops, forgot: the selector is not stuck, and Sport/Manual mode makes no difference. Reverse is normal. Thanks for the helpful input, it is genuinely appreciated.

 

If it goes 25mph, I doubt it's in "limp mode". The times I've heard someone say that the car was in limp mode, they couldn't get above 2-3 mph.

However, if the CVT belt broke, would the car continue to move even in 'first' gear? It seems that if the belt broke, you wouldn't be able to go anywhere. (I don't know for sure and I'm definitely not a mechanic.)

 

It's really hard saying, because I'm pretty sure if I press the accelerator pedal hard enough I could get it to do 4000+ RPMs by 25 MPH.

 

Look at the last few pages of the pdf. It mentions something about a "stuck low" failure. It doesn't describe a fix but there may be hope. Seeing as there was some accident damage, maybe its an electrical problem. How's the condition of the battery?

 

Yes, that last item caught my eye, too. Battery was dead when I picked up the car, but a good charge and a half dozen on-drive-off cycles haven't improved matters...yet. I will have to go through everything, but at the mo, 1 degree temps discourage a lot of outdoor wrench time.

 

I'll do this if I were you:
If you have another car to move around try removing the battery in the MINI and taking it to a Pep-boys or Autozone. They can check the battery condition free of charge. If the Battery is fried, get a new one. New cars are very dependable on electronics.
If the battery proves to be O.K. I'll suggest bringing it to your local MINI dealer. I know you stated that you wanted to avoid dealer service as part of your options, but honestly from what I've read and learned here in NAM forums, the CVT transmission is something you DON"T want to mess with by yourself. Just to provide the complexity of the transmission, when they need service at the dealerships, and they determine it's not a matter of flashing the computer or changing the fluid in them, they just replace them, rather than mess with it. Also, the transmission might need a "computer flashing" from the dealer, (don't know of any independent shop that can do this).

AVOID independent mechanics/shops unless they have experience with MINIs.

Just my 2 cents

 

A local shop has done so much to my car that they are now experts in MINIs.

 

 

i have a problem also with my 2002 mini it was driving before now it wont come out of first gear and i had the cvt checked the valve body is good and the solenoids and it goes up in rpm up to 5000 rpm and still no change wont go pass 20mph and the dealer here are not good at all they dont know anything at all been months my car has been off the road

 

As bizarre as this will sound, try removing the tachometer.

Mine had a problem and it caused all sorts of CanBus communication issues including forcing the transmission to go into a limp home mode where the revs ran wild.

Think of a loud five year old at Thanksgiving dinner. Nobody can get a word in edge wise. The same happens with a zapped tachometer and the CVT can’t get an engine signal and saves itself by leaving it in a low gear.to assure it doesn’t bog down. No tachometer is actually kind of cool in that there are no gages in front of the driver at all. Sexy looking. But no CEL either.

I just drove that way for a month and then bought another used tach online and forgot about it.

Peter

 

well did try that same thing happen

 

well did try that same thing happen

 

mine did 27mph in limpmode
It could be as simple as low fluid to a bad solenoid in the automatic transmission valvebody .there are solenoids for each " gear" you could say and one or more may have bad seals or the valvebody it's self can wear around them and need a whole new valvebody.

 

unless you have the proper tools diagnosing the issue is going to be very very difficult...if I were you I'd fake to to a transmission specialist and get an opinion and go from there.. I wish you luck ! I went through a similar situation with one just a few months ago.

 

i have been and they said my transmisson is good but something in the car module or wiring wise is not allowing the transmission to change and it sayin on the test that the ecm and the tcm have someting going on i link the test results

 

did you use inpa and reset the transmission adaptions ?