Help me figure out what's wrong!
 

Hello folks! I have a 2004 mini Cooper and it's my first car. I Have been doing minor repairs here and there like new springs and brakes. Last week when I was pulling into work the shifter would not catch any gears and and had to roll the car to the side of the street. I thought it was maybe the fork that went on the shifter. I got it towed to my local mechanic and he got a 3rd party to inspect it and said the transmission had went and would be 2500 for a rebuild used one put in. Now my question is could it be something else?! I wanna bring it to a second mechanic and get a different opinion. I just don't wanna pay 2500 if it's something else that's causing the problem and might be a money grab. The car was shifting awesome and not sluggish at all leading up to this. That's why I question the diagonics. I have to make a decision soon this week on what to do. Any help or input would be great. Thanks guys
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Definitely Worth getting a second opinion. That is a lot of money.

Did it feel like the shifter was still moving gears around (Feel some resistance on the shifter?). What about the clutch? Did the pedal feel normal when you pushed on it?

Was there any work done recently (half shaft replaced or rebooted, etc).

Did you notice any fluids on the ground?

When I try to shift the shifter it does not catch anything and just wobbles. There was no transmission fluid on the ground or any weird noises coming from it. I am just wondering if it could be one of the levers connected to the tranny that went? The car turns on fine and engine sounds smooth when turned on. Iam just trying to figure out can it be something else. I don't wanna pay 2500 for something that might not be it.
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The clutch pedal feels the same when I push it down. Iam just wondering why the mechanic said I need a new transmission? Is this a common problem if the car won't shift at all into any gears and is related to the transmission?

I guess it is possible, but usually one or more gears go bad first. I had one "grenade" and sound like a blender full of metal bits. No mystery there...

The shift lever connects to the transmission with two flexible cables (like bicycle shifter cables).they attach to the transmission right below the air intake. Get a flashlight and mirror (and a friend) and confirm they are moving the linkage on the transmission when you move the shift lever.

Got to say I am wondering if you don't have a half shaft popped out. But that would let transmission fluid get out. You should still feel the shift lever moving gears around, too.

As to why they would say that 1) they may be right, 2) they may not like working on MINIs and hope you go away 3) they may be inept 4) they may be crooked.

Just realized you never said specifically - I'm assuming you have a manual transmission. Is that true? If you have the CVT automatic, they ate a common source of failure and I don't have any advice on that.

It is a manual transmission. I did look with a buddy before and it did look like one of the cables was not connected to the lever but hard to see because everything is compact in the engine bay. If one of the cables is not connected to the tranny I wonder if the easiest thing for him to say is it. Needs a new tranny? If that was the case with the cable broken would just a new cable be needed? I really appreciate the advice and just trying to make the right descion

Like David.R53 said i would definitely check and make sure you see the shifter cables on the transmission are moving first. Hopefully its just a simple fix.

Yes, if the cable is broken, it would just need to be replaced. There are two. I think there are some dIY posted. You can see it much better if you remove the air filter housing, which is pretty easy.

If that's it, pay attention as there are two versions of the shifter assembly and different cables to match. There are some pictures posted to help you figure out which version you have. No way to tell from year or VIN it seems.

Thanks for the info Dave really appreciate the quick response. Will go ask some more questions tomorrow. I hope it's just a cable because there was no indication of a bad transmission leading up to it. Can manual transmission just go out of the blue like that? Will keep you informed on what's going to happen.

I had a cable rip at the rubber connection. It kept popping off. Remove the air box and watch for movement on both cables. They could pop off at the shifter as well. I have also had a driveshaft pop out of the tranny on the drivers side. So it is not unheard of. So inspect that too. Good luck. Very uncommon for a manual tranny to loose all functions at the same time. But as pointed out. A manual tranny can loose all functions if a driveshaft popped out or a shift cable came off or broke.

Did the shop tell you anything more specific? You should ask them exactly what they did to diagnose it and how they came to the conclusion that the transmission needs replacement. It doesn't sound like they pulled the transmission to examine it.

One more thought (but someone with more expertise will have to chime in)... I wonder if a clutch problem could cause your symptoms.

+1 on the cables, get them in pairs , there is condition A and condition B cables based on what year, the best way is to pull up the shift boot and look under while on the realoem or ETK site and then decide condition A or Condition B for the shifter lug, then match up the cables.



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Iam getting the car towed to a transmission shop tomorrow. I talked to the first mechanic and he said he could see the cables moving. He said he thought it could be the pull fork inside the transmission that needs to be replaced. So iam banking that's the only problem. Leading up to this there was no sluggish feel to the car or burning or leaking of the a transmission and no slippage. If the pull fork was the problem would that cease the whole car and not be able to catch any gears? Thanks