that question for me or someone else??

 

Sorry I was directing the question towards this guy.

 

OK I have been looking for a place to post a tranny question and this looks like it. Recently got an 03 MC CVT. Been reading here and there about shot transmissions at all kinds of mileage counts, without warning.

Can anyone tell me if this issue is pendemic to a certain year or model? Differences between CVT - Manual? Is there anything that can be done to prevent it (aside from your regular maintenance, and from what Ive read, even that doesnt help)?

Also, does anyone know what the frequency of these occurences are???

Thanks in adavance!!!

 

outta curiosity, is there any preventive maintenance on the transmission (assuming a manual transmission) that can be done like changing the differential or gear box fluids?

 

Yes changing the tranny oil is very good preventive maintenance. It's normal for all tranny's to have a bit of metal in the oil. There is no filter to pull metal out of the oil, so changing the oil is a good thing to do. On my cars I do it at 30,000.

 

Of the different transmission options (manual, conventional auto, cvt) on the MINI, the CVT seems to have the most amount of problem posts. My personal opinion (and that is all it is - I don't have access to empirical data to be able to prove my contention) is that MINI matched an over-powered engine to the particular model of CVT. Within the CVT model series that was selected for the MINI, there are two models (unfortunately, the exact model numbers escape me). The model that was selected for the MINI has the lower torque rating of the two.

You might be able to reduce the failure risk by changing the transmission fluid more frequently. Not mashing the go pedal off the line at a traffic light would also help. But bottomline, I think it is an issue of the wrong transmission being selected (probably for cost reasons, as it inevitably comes down to cost).

 

My blown tranny came on an '03 manual MINI with under 40k miles. I don't think I'm that hard on the car. I simply think some crap parts got into some cars. Especially the '02 and '03 makes.

 

Could be. Even more reason to get an extended warranty.

 

The clutch is considered a 'wearable part.' Would that come under the extended warranty?

 

It all depends on the policy language. There are a number of components to the "clutch". The friction piece (which is generally the wearable part) is only one of the clutch components. You really have to look at the actual language of the extended warranty contract.