our 08 mini (NON S) has started acting very strangely recently.

It seems to get weirdness between gear 4 and 5. sometims you can be in 5 sort of coasting down a hill and it will down shift into 4 for no apprently reason. So say im at 58mph and the car slows to 54-53 bam it will down shift into 4. Sometimes going up hill it won;t up shift.

If you put it manual paddle mode it will do the same thing. if I put it into 5 around 55mph RPMS are a good range for what I need and hit the gas it will down shift into 4 for no apparent reason. No other gears do this other than to downshift because it needs to (either in paddle mode or not)

 

do some searches, could be many things. You will find several issues if you use R56 auto trans

transmission fluid
Connector wiring harness
Valve Body
Transmission itself

good luck!

 

trans fluid was just changed out because we had a leak in one of the shaft seals which was replaced and refilled.

the other odd thing is, least for us, we didn't notice this until we put snow tires on that are 15s over the standard 16s that came with the car. could just be a coincidence thouhg.

 

Did the correct fluid get put back in?

This transmission needs a special JWS3309 fluid.

 

Mine won't let me into 6th at lower speeds like 40-45 Are you confusing 5-6 with 4-5?

 

no I am not confusing them.

get the car up to 60 in 5 start going down hill and lay off the gas. car will slow itself down to about 54 and then drop into 4 for no apparent reason. RPMs are still above 2k. it will stay in 4 until you hit the gas, then it will put itself back into 5.

Again, in paddle mode, if I am 5, same speeds and give it a lot of gas, it will downshift into 4 for no apparent reason and sit there until I lay off the gas.

I know paddle mode will downshift for you, but it is doing so for no reason.

other gears it won't do this. only between 4 and 5 or 5 and 4

 

taking it in on monday, hopefully they don't do the "cant recreate" and hopefully it is covered under our warranty.

 

transmission wiring harness had trans fluid in/on it which was causing issues. Trans harness was replaced. Not sure it 100% solved it though because it idid happen again. Still going down hill at 60mph touch the brake and BAM, drops into 4 and revs up to 4000-4500 rpms. Hit gas or paddle shift and it goes back to the appropriate gear.

 

Take it back in until the problem is resolved. Try driving a loaner and see if the behaviour is the same.

 

So we took the car back and they said there is nothing wrong. My wife mentioned (multiple times) that this started happening when we put snow tires on the car which are 15" and not 16" (I think whatever the standard 15" size is for mini 175/65/15)

they are saying it is the fault of the smaller wheels/tires and that the computer can't compensate or something liek that.

I honestly don't think that would cause an issue. the problem only happens when going downhill on decent grades for which there are none out where the dealer is. We live in WV and the dealer is in northern VA.

anyone else think that is BS or are they correct in some way?

 

I have an 09 Justa and I notice that when I am going down a steep hill. The transmission will downshift on me. Similiar to what you are saying. I haven't worried about it. I havent changed tires or anything. Mine seems to always downshift on this one big hill near me when I am going down. I think for me its just the transmission trying to find the right gear for the speed.

 

My wife calls her brother and since he works on GM cars, that makes him a master (joking) and he says we'll kill the transmission and computer (which is BS) because the tires are smaller than what it came with from the factory.

Any incite on htis? I say its all BS but what do I know. I don't feel the cars compjuter is set from the factory for only size X/Y/Z when they offer LOTS ofg different wheel/tire configs from the factory and I can go down to mini and purchase an entire wheel/tire package and they'd installe them even though they CLAIM the computer can't be reset and you HAVE to use the 16s that came with it

wife is freaking out now thinking we are going to kill the car.....

 

I had a mazda a while ago and it would do the same when I was driving in the mountains. I think its just programmed in the car for mountain/hill driving. Since I've had my mini, I've only been in the mountains once and never noticed it. I would just check out any options that deal with mountain/hill driving, it could just be normal rather than a problem.