Hey guys. I think my paranoia is getting the best of me, but I figured I'd ask because something feels different.

We were driving down the road, just speeding up from a red light. Got into third, then accidentally shifted kind of hard into fourth. Right away I noticed something. Can't really explain it. Anyways, now all my lower gears (second, fourth, and sixth) almost have a springy feeling to them when I shift into them. Like, when I shift, it feels rubbery/bouncy. I HAVE NO IDEA. Just hoping maybe someone has experienced this. We got underneath and checked linkages to the transmission and everything looks right. Unless someone can show me where I should be looking. The car shifts just fine. Even when driving, it shifts perfect. Just feels different now. Almost smoother? You'd think I'd be happy if it shifts smoother, just seems a little fishy right after a accidental hard shift. 2003 MCS 107k

Any help will be appreciated.

Sara

 

The answer is forth coming.
There are a lot of very knowledgeable Mini Owners on here.

I suspect this is a cable problem.

Your 6 speed is really a 4 speed with two shafts giving it two more gears.
the cables connect to your tranny.
Something has messed up. Either in the cable ends, connections, or something has gotten in the way of the connections and cables.

Check back in a short while and you will have the answer.

I am guessing and I lack any actual knowledge.

 

Thanks for the reply. I know these boards give great advice. Just hoping its not a big deal. It still drives great, but I'm scared I'm messing something up so right now I'm hopping from first, third, fifth. I don't know if this helps, but when going into sixth, it almost pulls to the left some instead of going straight down.

 

My old 2002 shifted fine until one morning it became hard to shift. All the gears worked but it took a greater effort to shift. I tried lubing the cables by spraying PB Blaster in and that helped quite a bit but it would always return. One day the shifting was becoming harder and harder to the point that I almost could not even shift. Out of frustration I really pushed the shifter hard into gear and must have snapped a cable back into place as suddenly the shifting was back to normal and was smoother then ever before. For the next 30K miles I had no problems.

Sounds like yours may have been out of place and is now back in place if it is shifting smoother now.

 

Sounds like maybe one of the two shifter cables popped out of the retaining yolks at the tranny. Each is held in with a V shaped expanding clip. Are you getting full articulation of the shifter for each gear or do shifts seem a bit shallow ? Does it pop out of gear in reverse, 1st, 3rd or 5th ?

I suppose if engine / tranny mounts (3) are soft enough allowing engine/tranny to rock back and forth enough they could become dislodged from the retaining yolk...But that is highly speculative.

You can get a look at this setup by completely removing the hard plastic front fresh air intake from the front panel, rubber intake hose to the throttle body and the complete air box including the bottom.

Only other thing I would add is that you're about the average mileage where cable(s) replacememt is fairly common for our MINI's too. If the latter, there are 4 possible cables to pick from. To determine the correct ones you have to check your shifter box.

Remove the leather shifter boot/ring by just popping the ring straight up. Look at the face panel of the shifter box closest to the e-brake. MINI made two assemblies. One has three deep ribs, the other is smooth. You will need to have this information before ordering any cables.

While doing this job, I really can't think of anything else to do while in there. Except checking lower engine mount(s).

 

Thanks for the help, and specific post! We looked at all the cables when it first happened. Could see them from under the car on a jack. Everything seemed right, pulled on cables to make sure they were tight, etc. It almost feels like I'm not shifting when going into sixth. I'll go from fifth, slide through neutral and feel like I never got to sixth but I do. It's weird. Will it affect my car/get worse to drive like this?

 

I think you need new cables....as they get worse it will affect your tansmission, if the motion of the shift lever doesn't translate to the right motion in the box, then it's up to the synchros and shift sleeves to complete the engagement of the gear - if it's only partially engaged then you could damage internal transmission parts. A rebuilt tranny is way more expensive than a pair of shoft cables.

While you're in there, check all your motor mounts to be sure one hasn't failed, causing the engine to shift and make the cables out of adjustment.

 

Oh man. :(
Where can I get shift cables? Asked before I lurked, I see them at REALOEM. I'm reading online that it's commonly the rubber bushing.. could that possibly be it? I'm going to go run to the dealer after I'm done typing this out. Am I safe to drive like this? Dealer is only about 10 minutes away but I've driven a bit since this has happened..

 

Well after a trip to the mechanic, he said nothing is wrong and my cables are perfect. Needless to say, I don't believe that at all seeing as I was probably sitting in there for about 30 minutes max. Can't imagine he pulled out the mid-exhaust and heatshield.
Thanks to this thread and this thread, we're going to go ahead and find out ourselves. It feels like NOTHING shifting into second and sixth now. Fourth has a little more engagement for some reason. Thank you Raven for pointing me in the right direction and explaining everything. I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Is it safe to drive with it like this?