Hi folks. Yesterday was the first real snow that my MCS has ever experienced. He handled like a dream, except for one small problem. I couldn't get out of first gear! The shifter would not budge. After about 10 minutes it loosened up, but it was pretty scary at first. I am also concerned because yesterday's snowfall is only the beginning of a long, cold winter (I'm in upstate NY).

So, is this normal? Is a trip to the dealer warranted? Any information would be greatly appreciated... Thanks.

 

I can't say about the Mini as my 04 mcs hasn't seen any real cold temps. yet. Had the same problem in my wife's Accord a number of years ago. I drained the oem gear lube and put in Redline MTL (Manual Transmission Lube) and haven't had a problem since. I always change the trans. lube every 25K miles. Check you manual or ask your dealer about using a syn.lube in the manual trans.

 

Actually, I had this same thing happen to me this morning, I was told by a much more experienced motorer that this is normal in some trannys. The oil becomes like rock until it warms up, just takes some work to get the oil loose again.

Then again, I'm getting the tranny replaced tomorrow anyway (10k miles is about right for a tranny, right?). Dealer said it was necessary to fix the throw out bearing. I didn't believe him, but hey, I'm always down for a new tranny under warranty!

 

Don't know about mini's but my last two cars (both early '80's BMW's, a 3-series and a 5-series) had this same problem. You could shift it but it took quite a bit of effort and some rev matching for the first 10 minutes or so.

I don't know much about transmisions but I would wonder about putting a "lighter" oil in, I would think that the transmision has a certain weight oil based on the heat and abuse the gears would take. I the six speed in my MCS gets quite the run around on a regular basis.

Only 10k on the tranny? Probabley easier for them to replace than fix, and what do they care under warrenty. I finally had to have my 5-series rebuilt at about 225,000.

 

Now that my area is below freezing again, I'm back to warming up the engine before taking off. How long do you all let your MINI warm up?

God speed.

 

Now that my area is below freezing again, I'm back to warming up the engine before taking off. How long do you all let your MINI warm up?

God speed.

 

usually just long enough so I can say, "wow, heated seats are quite nice"

 

I believe that your problem is water/moisture in your shift linkage cable. This was a particular problem on early build MINIs, and I haven't heard of it happening on 2003 or newer cars...but I suppose it's still possible.

You need to get to service and have the gromets on the end of the cable replaced. Some dealers may simply choose to replace the whole cable (and housing)...and that may be the best way to go. Hopefully they'll know the issue/problem and won't hassle you about it. Otherwise, you'll want to leave it overnight at the dealer and let THEM experience the frozen linkage the next morning (make sure that they try it first thing in the morning before the sun thaws it...and make sure they park the car outside so that it freezes).

Most importantly, DO NOT FORCE THE SHIFT before it thaws!! You can break the cable and/or other parts. While all of this would be covered by warranty, there's no sense making more of a problem than already exists.

Sorry to those who have suggested problems with transmission oil...but that's almost certainly not trailblazer's problem. NAM has many Canadian members who made it through last winter with the stock transmission oil; so if there was a common viscosity problem, it'd have shown up by now. On the other hand, MINIs have proven to be very sensitive to water leakage around under-hood parts (and around doors/windows).

Good luck!

 

>>Now that my area is below freezing again, I'm back to warming up the engine before taking off. How long do you all let your MINI warm up?
>>

I live in Massachusetts, just below the NH line...so it gets cold here (not Canadian or western NY cold, but still pretty cold). When I have to leave my car outside, overnight, during the winter I tend to let it warm up about a minute before attempting to drove off. Further, I always try to park inside (I have a semi-heated garage). Last winter I experienced frozen doors (glass to the weatherstrip), frozen windows (window wouldn't roll down as there was water in the door mechanism), frozen door releases/latches (freezing me INSIDE the car once, and keeping me out several times), frozen shifter, and other sticky things...so whenever I can avoid that by keeping the car above freezing, I do. It's a nice excuse to pamper the car...and it hopefully will keep me from busting parts off in the winter

 

jsun, thanks for your advice. I'll call the dealer to see what they have to say. Hopefully I'll be able to get this sorted out soon. The good news is that I didn't try to force the shifter. This is the first time I have ever felt resistance, so I figured it was because of the cold. Fortunately, I did not need to go on the highway, so I just decided to stay in 1st for the trip... :smile:

 

Thx jsun, mentioned this to service today, they said they will "look into it"

Diggin Prestige MINI service (mahwah NJ)

 

Finally, a question I can answer! This hapened to me 4 or 5 times last winter. I would get into my mcs after work, 8 hours of sub 20 F . Gear shift would move sideways (if it had been left in neutral) but would not move forward or back into any gear. If I had left it in gear, the shifter would not budge. After starting the engine the shifter would finally move after 5 to 10 minutes, I started leaving it in neutral otherwise I had to hold the clutch in while the shifter cables warmed up.
The good news is that the two shifter cables run above the exhaust beneath the car and so warm up and thaw reasonably quickly.
My dealer replaced both cables and the problem went away. :smile:

 

I’m with MINI USA. I’m sorry to read about this problem with your MINI. If you want our assistance, please phone us at (866) ASK MINI and mention Reference # 1-126077474 so that we can discuss your concern.

 

>>Thx jsun, mentioned this to service today, they said they will "look into it"
>>
>>Diggin Prestige MINI service (mahwah NJ)

kumquat78,
I had this same problem on my '03 MCS ealier this year. It is water in the shift cables that freezes. Car warms up, ice melts, shifter works fine.
Prestige MINI swapped my cables out and problem disappeared. They are aware of this and they have swapped out at least one set of cables for this reason before - mine.
Don't let them tell you otherwise.

 

Simple solution: CVT in the islands, baby, CVT in the islands .]

 

"And, on the hood, there's a hickey, that's where the supercharger lives, right in that hickey" -The 'Cos, 200 MPH-

kumquat78,

Oh, man, I HAD that album!!

Another quote from the album that seems appropriate..."You take this car and give it to George Wallace!"

 

Going back to the topic, my MCS seems to have alittle more notchiness while
cold going into 1st. otherwise no problems with up/down shifts even in 10F
weather.

 

I always let the MCS reach operating temp before trying to go anywhere when it's extremely cold, which, I assume, warms up the transaxle somewhat. I've never had a problem. I'm in the southern NH/northern MA area.

 

Does the tranny actually warm up without any movement sitting at idle on a
manual trans? just wondering... i guess it would...maybe not the clutch?

hummm...

 

A temp of 16 and my '03 MCS would not move out of reverse. What a pain to wait for the car to warm up holding the clutch in. :???:

 

>>I always let the MCS reach operating temp before trying to go anywhere, which, I assume, warms up the transaxle somewhat. I've never had a problem. I'm in the southern NH/northern MA area.
I've never had the shifter stick but this morning I couldn't get the key into the ignition for quite a few minutes - thought I was going to have to take a day off work to get it fixed. Will put some silicon lube in to keep the mloisture out. Interior frost is a common problem and seems to come from the normal snow etc coming in on ones feet.

On the warming up issue IMHO this is a bad idea as a) it polutes like crazy (cats don't work well at start up) uses a lot of fuel for no milage and c) doesn't really warm the car up any better than just driving it away after 30 secs or so. Put the aa/c on at full heat to defrost the windows if you need to

If I was in charge i would outlaw those remote starter devices.

 

I always let my car warm up for a minute or two once it gets colder ('02 Cooper) Otherwise, it is difficult to shift, and I usually make a left hand turn from an incline to get into traffic (and I have had a stalling issue with the car in colder weather)

My car is not a hop in and drive immediately type in the colder weather. Unreal in this day and age...

 

>>I’m with MINI USA. I’m sorry to read about this problem with your MINI. If you want our assistance, please phone us at (866) ASK MINI and mention Reference # 1-126077474 so that we can discuss your concern.

I just called MINI USA and gave them the reference number. The person I spoke with must be in his first day of training. He could only respond by saying take it to the dealer and they probably (probably?) "Replicate" it. Do they have a freezer they can put it in?
I should have given him this link and he might learn something.
Thanks go out to Aqualung to his link.
:evil:

 

I had to let the car warm up at lunch time today also. This time I could not get it into gear until warm.

 

I live in Northern New Jersey (we get snow here too) and my MCS has been fine these cold mornings. I have other cars in my garage so I usually keep the MCS outside in my driveway. I do warm up the car for a couple of minutes in the morning before I begin driving it and my car has had no problems. Try warming it up a little longer than usual and see if it makes a difference.

If you plan on driving your Mini all winter, I would suggest snow tires. I got 15in Blizzacks for my MCS and they work great. Good Luck.

RaceCarDriver