Hi, i have a 2005 mini cooper s with the aisin automatic trans. I want to remove the pan to get to the valve body. Do i have to drop the subframe out to remove the pan? Or can i just loosen the motor mounts and remove the pan. If anyone has any experience with Doing this i appreciate the help.
Thanks Very Much!

 

As far as I seen, you have to remove the front part of the sub frame to get to it. Best thing to do is to take the front end off to service the supercharger, and while doing that, move the sub frame to get to it. I'm biding my time to when I'm ready to do it.

 

thanks,
are you going to do valve body replacement too? My cars shifting keeps feeling rough and the trans feels "stiff" is the best way to describe it. When i get to it in about two months i will try to take pics and make a write up for the valve body replacement.

 

Before replacing the valve body, you might want to drain/fill the transmission several times. My wifes car was acting up not long after we got it. I've so far flushed it twice, and it runs so much better now, day and night if I may say. The old fluid came out soo black, I lifted the bucket up at the sun and couldn't see through the fluid!! I have one more time to do it, and then when I take the front end off I'm swapping the filter.

These cars don't have a real decent trans oil cooler system from what I've seen, and having 6 gears to go through constantly, that doesn't help it either.

There is a write up on here on how to drain and fill. With the proper tools, it should take maybe an hour to do it ( hardest part is the damn fill bolt lol). A little tip, go to a NAPA or a paint store that sells a clear gallon paint bucket with markings on the side to see how much came out, and make sure you get a funnel that will fit tightly into that fill hole, or you'll have fuid all over the trans.

 

thanks Noir,
i have been doing the drain and fills and it will be good for a week and go right back to shifting badly. i have done six drain and fills with royal purple max atf. I would get around 2.5 quarts each time i change. My next step will be the valve body. I will see if that resolves most of my harsh shifting issues. I need my car daily and this has become such a pain to deal with.

 

You don't need to remove the subframe to drop the pan!! All you need to do is take the nut loose on the passenger side top motor mount, remove the screw on the top radiator hose clamp, then remove the lower motor mount. With a jack on the passenger side of the oil pan, you can lift the motor about 2". This is more than enough room to get a t-handled torx wrench in there to remove the remaining to "screws".

 

Ok i will try this, If i can get the pan off i think i should not have any trouble getting the valve body out of the transmission. i found a section from the bentley manual online that describes how to remove the valve body. Sometime in the next month or so im gonna give this a shot.

 

I know this is an old post but planning on dropping on the transmission pan on a 06 MCS automatic, to replace the fluid and filter.

has anyone try the above procedure? and is this all it needs to clear the pan?

 

Yep, that was how I pulled the pan off my transmission. I used a straight shaft torx driver to access the remaining 2 screws. If you are using a torx socket and extension, then it may not be enough room. I didn't try that method so I can't say for sure.

 

thank you for the quick reply. are there any pics that you can post to see which bolts and mounts and hose clamps to go after?

 

Banyan,

I did a pictorial on how to swap out the valve body. Even though you are just doing a fluid and filter change these pictures will help you with your project. It starts on post #223

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-at-80k-9.html

When I did mine I did not "remove the screw on the top radiator hose clamp" and did not run into any issues although it probably wouldn't hurt to do so.

 

fantastic. that was quite a job you did with the valve body swap. How much fluid do you think I will need for a filter change? I am using the T-IV from toyota. My car has an erratic 1-2 shift issue. I got fooled by the mini lifetime trans fluid until I observed the issue. Car has 112,000 miles on it and hope to resolve issue by changing the trans fluid and filter. I have done (2) flushes with about 2 1/2 quarts taken out per flush, but still the color of the fluid is black.

there are also 2 ways in draining/fill that I am reading from the postings. some say drain it cold, others drain/fill it 95-113 temp. how did you make sure you are at the correct amount of fluid after filling? thx

 

Sorry to hear that you are in the position I was not too long ago. If you pull the pan off you will need a full refill of about 5 quarts. In my opinion this is the best way to do a transmission fluid change anyway. The partial drain of 2 or so quarts x 3 or 4 times takes longer than pulling the pan off and replacing all the fluid in one shot. I wish I would've tried that way in the beginning. I probably would've saved more time and money. I did 5 partial fluid changes and never got the fluid looking really clean. It still was hard to see through but not like burnt black coffee as it did in the beginning.

When I drained my fluid and pulled the pan I carefully measured all of the fluid that I drained out and put just about that much back in and didn't worry about the warm/cold temperature technique. I did do this over the course of a few days while I waited for my RevMax valve body so both the old and new fluid were at the same temperature and measurement. Maybe I should've been more meticulous about that but my shifting is just fine now. Most people do the stand pipe/drain test.

I don't think that changing the filter (not a bad idea though) will do much for you but the total fluid change might. If you could work it in your budget you might want to go ahead and change your valve body out. I feel pretty confident that it is the root of your problem. It would save you some time and transmission fluid money to do it all at once. I kept thinking the fluid change would help me and it never really did.

 

thx for the advise. how much was the valve body if you do not mind sharing?

 

No prob. I was $659.00 + $250 deposit.

http://www.revmaxconverters.com/inde...alve-body.html