What they had discovered, (at the previous repair shop), was that one of the shift cables was bent which prevented (at the very least) the shift lever from engaging into gear(s).
The cable being bent most likely occurred when attempting (not only by me but possibly the mechanic as well ) to force the car into gear. Therefore - I authorized the shop to move forward and replace the shift cables.
Although with the new shift cables installed, the movement at/of the shift lever felt much improved but would still bind or seize up randomly in any gear.
It is still hard to shift most times. Even if the clutch isn't engaged/pedal pushed down.
This now has me thinking - There is an internal problem in the gearbox itself. Perhaps related to a worn, bent or broken shift fork (?) or syncro's are shot (?).
I never drove the car hard (speed shifting, grinding gears, money shifting or dumping the clutch)....

I had dug into a swing axle transmission from one of my VW's many, many years ago and would've loved to dissect a Getrag if my circumstances were different.
However, it's my understanding that; regardless - It would be more cost effective to swap out the entire gearbox on a Mini than it would be to try and fix/ a shift fork or rebuild the transmission.(?)

Sad to think that my car has been well maintained only to have the transmission prematurely meet it's end with only 98k mi on the clock.

 

That would be very sad. Keep us posted. :fingerscrossed:

 

.

 

The Short Version:
My transmission is internally damaged and had to be replaced.

The Long Version:
Backstory_*According to my records*:
In 2017 @ 72k my clutch went out and was replaced by an independent BMW/"Mini" repair garage, in Decatur, Ga.
In 2021 @ 86k, I began to experience stiff shifting issues. Noticeably when the drivetrane got hot in heavy stop and go traffic or after an occasional spirited burst @ 5,200 - 6,200 rpms.
At which point (2021); during one of my (every 5k) routine oil and filter changes, I decided to change the gearbox oil as well. I was shocked to discover no more than a 1/2 quart of oil in the gearbox since/after the time of the clutch replacement in 2017.
There were absolutely no signs of leakage or slipping. Therefore - I had been driving around in my Mini for a little over 4years (14k mi) with only a little less than 1/2qt of oil in the transmission!
I contacted the repair shop but to no avail. I refilled the box w/2qts Redline MTL. Shifting seemed a bit smoother afterwards. But even so, in all probability, - the damage had already been done.
In 2022 @ approx 93k - I began to experience stiff shifting again.
In April of 2023 I did more research on the possible symptoms and replaced the shift weight bushings which helped tremendously.
Flash forward to September 2023 the transmission has completely failed @ 98k.
It has been determined that due to the insufficient amount of oil in the gearbox from 2017 - 2021, 14,000 mi/4years was enough to cause damage to (possibly) the shift fork and other internals within the gearbox.

It is belief that since I don't drive my Mini hard; it's probably the only reason why the transmission didn't fail sooner.
Though still not enough to have avoided the inevitable.

Way, @WayMotorWorks did a great job of replacing the transmission and installed a new genuine Mini clutch kit.
He evaluated the current condition of my Mini, provided me with a list of priorities where other repairs or replacements needed to be made.
Since the subframe and gearbox were out; I gave him the go-ahead to replace a few other components while the opportunity to do so made sense.
After replacing the transmission and a new clutch installed - I had almost forgotten what a manual transmission and clutch should actually feel like.

A big thank you to Way!

 

Glad to hear that it’s fixed, but sorry it ended up being the gearbox =/

 

Thanks for the resolution. I bet some shop monkey tipped it over while axles were out amd dumped the fluid, amd didn’t tell anyone, or did and they still forgot to refill it.

 

It sucks for the gearbox, and unfortunately you probably don't have any recourse against the shop that did the job in the 2017.
That's a shame, Getrags are pretty bulletproof, but running without the proper oil level for so long is outright abuse. I'm also surprised it lasted that long.

Thanks for explaining what was going on, and enjoy your like-new drivetrain!

 

Very sorry to hear this but the good news being you got the car running properly again and you're both back on the road together. And FWIW we now know just how stalwart the Getrag six speed actually is - this car went 21K miles and six years on a fraction of its prescribed gearbox oil before giving up the ghost. While nothing is actually Bullet Proof® - especially without oil - one would say that comes pretty close.

 

Thanks to all for your interest, support and kind input.
@Onizukachan To your speculation *A little anecdote - Years ago my brother had a beautiful well kept 87 Thunderbird. He was due for an oil change when without warning the alternator failed. He brought the car in to a tire and auto repair chain to have the oil service and alternator replaced. 2wo knuckleheads were working on the car at the same time. One doing the oil change while the other attended to the alternator replacement. Lunch time came around and my brother was told the car was ready. He happily left the shop and drove 6 miles down the road when the engine seized up. Seems the alternator was installed but the guy doing the oil change drained the oil and then went to lunch and forgot to put oil in the engine.

@Daftlad @deepgrey @Fradow I have to give you guys credit where credit is due. In one of my previous threads regarding shifting/clutch issues; as dismal as your assessments (guess') may have seemed at the time, I turns out you were right = "an internal gearbox problem"

Last but certainly not least - @shrevemini , @deepgrey = What can I say? You guys are too cool. Thank you so much for your willingness and generosity to offer the kindness and help you could afford me. I sincerely thank you!