It could be the TCU, I've only driven this car the past 2 weeks with a total of less than 300 miles since the new VB, 75% highway 25% city stop and go. My wife has been driving the Mini for the first 100-200 miles for the TCU relearn, so I really don't know what she did to have it "relearn". I've been driving it more aggressively this week so the TCU learns to shift later. It would shift hard because it shifted before 2k rpm. If changing my driving behavior doesn't adjust the TCU, I'll warranty it out within a year, I just don't want to pay another $1000 right now for more labor.

 

Cold start, hard shift from 1-2, and 2-1, these two gear the puts the most of amount of strain on the transmission. But after 15 minutes of driving the symptoms occurred 1 out of 10 shifts.

So what happens when fluid heats up? It expands and if it expands and it lubricates the gears more.... I filled 1/6 of a bottle of redline D4 ATF and redid the tranny fluid procedure: P to R to N to D, pausing 2 seconds for each, did that 3 times, and two more times on separate cold starts. Now I am no longer hard shifting on a cold start, it is now an aggressive shift, similar to reeving to the card to the redline. I am going to fill another 1/6 of redline D4. Then have the shop reset the adaptive drive. They were nice enough to agree to reset it for free.

 

I'm still surprised MINI has not issued a TSB on the transmission valve body.

Just completed a 3,500 mile trip without any problems. After 12 months on a new transmission, I'm happy to report all is well.

 

So after reading this entire thread I think I have all the classic signs of needing a new valve body on my '06 MCS. <gulp >

Though, I'd like a second opinion before going down this moderately expensive road. (eyeckr, GreenR53, KB30, RevMax, others pls comment)
- @ 50k was hard downshifting 3-2 & 2-1
- I replaced the ATF (using Mobil 3309) three times, 2 qts at a time
- fluid replacement helped with the hard down shifts, but now flairs in upshifts 3-4
- I only drive the MCS on wknds, but it seems to be getting worse (last night it would not pop into 4th at all on it's own, I had to use the paddle shifters)

Question, how important is the ATF fluid level?
Any possibility it contributes to the problem? I ask b/c, when changing the ATF, as soon as I pulled the plug I got about 1qt flowing out over the standpipe. Once I pulled the pipe I got another qt (I had the front up on ramps trying to 'tilt' the pan to get more fluid). Getting 2qts out I just automatically refilled with 2qts. I saw the fluid check procedure but it seemed a bit dubious at the time...

And this next part - at the time it seemed like a good idea but now I'm not so sure. With the ATF drained and the MCS on ramps I started the car (foot on brake) and shifted through all the gears. This was done in attempt to get as much fluid out as possible (and it did cause abt another 1/4 Qt to drain). Wondering if this screwed up the Valve Body??

Anyway, @ RevMax you can probably expect a call from me in the next coming weeks to order the valve body.

Also, can anyone recommend a Trans Shop in the Chicago area? I'm half tempted to do the job myself. But frankly, having to unbolt / pull the engine has me a bit scared!

 

I don't think running your car for that short of time would cause valve body damage..IMO... But having the proper level of ATF is a must.. It is a pita checking for the proper level.. But I would refill and make sure your at the proper level.. run it for awhile and if the problem still is there after time then I would replace the valve body..lol

 

I'm just going to say you need a valve body. With the problems you've described.

PM me Im in Indy I could probably put it in for you.

But the parts youll need are:
Revmax Valve Body
5 Quarts of Royal Purple Max ATF
Transmission pan gasket
Strainer Filter
Drain plug crush ring

 

I was also experiencing similar symptoms with rough shifting so I thought I had a valve body problem as well. Well my harmnic balancer broke while driving on the freeway. I got stuck and needed a tow. I replaced the harmonic balancer with the super damper and to my surprise the rough shifting went away. I figure that then the harmonic balancer started to deteriorate that it affected somehow other peripherals like controls to the shifting logic.

 

All, I wanted to give an update here.

To recap, a year ago I bought a used '06 MCS with 44k miles on it. Shortly after purchasing (maybe around 50k miles) it began having hard down shifts in 3>2 and 2>1. So at 60k miles I did an ATF change three times (2qt at a time). Hard downshifts stopped completely but it then started 'flaring' from 3>4 - all other gears / shifts were fine, just 3>4 would miss. (is flaring the correct term for this - it would completely miss the gear and go into neutral)

As I stated previously, when I did the ATF change I got about 2qts out each time so I simply refilled with 2qts (Mobil 3309). Well, in a last ditch effort (before doing the valve body job) I checked the ATF fluid level as per the procedure. The battery was dead in my thermo probe so I guesstimated the tranny temp at 45C / 110F by touch. When I pulled the "inspection plug" out I got exactly 16 oz / half Qt ATF overflowing the standpipe. Viola - flaring in 3>4 is cured!! I've been driving it 2wks now and has not flared once.

But... (there is always a phucking but), new symptom now - it 'stutters' upshifting 2>3. It's not bad - I could live with it. Seems better when cold. I probably could trade it in and dealer would never know till it was too late.

Well, I tinkered with it again - noting that it's better when cold I'm wondering if it still has too much fluid, maybe heats up expanding and causing the stuttering? So, the battery is still dead in my thermal probe but I decided to check the ATF level again tonight with the tranny hotter (guessing 55C / 130F this time). I got another ~3oz ATF to drain out. I'll drive it for another 2wks and report back - but could the ATF level really be that critical?? Low ATF is one thing - but too much ATF??

@ GreenR53, thanks again for the advise.
@ Revmax, thanks for the recommendation - I actually pass by that place every day on my way to work! If this thing starts acting up again I'll stop in and tell them you recommended them.

fingers crossed...
-joe

 

I'm really anxious to hear the latest with your kart because I've been having the same random upflairs from 3rd to 4th in mine. My baby kart is driven daily.

I used to have issues going from 2nd to 3rd but after I had my spark plugs and wires changed out in the past couple months, that's been okay. (My 3rd wire cap was cracked completely though I don't believe it caused the gear issues :/).

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Hi,

I just put in a new selector lever for my 2005 cooper S automatic, I was away on vacation and forgot how the reverse behaved, I have a dumb question, should you be able to pull the selector lever from reverse to neutral while moving in reverse or should the lever be locked? I can actually pull the lever to neutral and drive without my foot on the brake but I can't put it back into reverse unless I squeeze the handle on the selector lever. I looked at the grooves the selector lever moves over and it appears that this could be by design? also moving from drive to neutral and foot off the brake does lock it until you put foot on the brake again.

so to summarize, R -> N -> D pull lever without squeezing lever
D -> N locks with foot off brake (normal)
N -> R must squeeze lever to put into R (looked at grooves under the lever (removed the plastic circle to observe different positions) and lever stick is prevented from going into reverse unless handle is squeezed to raise lever stick.

Thanks

Anthony

 

Everything is fine the lock from N to R is there to prevent you from accidentally shifting from D directly to R if it wasn't there and you bumped the lever it could go directly from D to R.

 

I am also having transmission problems with my 05 MCSa :-( at 72,000 miles. It is not an abused car either. I guess she will be getting a new transmission. I don't live near a dealer or a trusted shop so she just did a 300 mile round trip to be diagnosed. It'll be another trip to get it replaced. I got lost trying to read through all of these posts. Any short and sweet advice on what to do until then, or what to do to get more mileage out of replacement? Is there a newer model or alt replacement available?

 

1der are you sure you need a whole new transmission? You probably just need a valve body.

 

Wait! if you are having rough shifts in the low gears when the car is hot then you likely only need a $1500 valve body replacement instead of $5k of reman tranny. If you are having the car go into neutral at 4th gear then you likely need a new tranny.
The replacement valve bodies from RevMax are upgrades.

 

Oops semi double post

 

How would one know if a valve body replacement is needed instead over full transmission (besides the rough shifts)?

Those are the issues I'm having right now. My car just reached 70k and I've been having issues for the past maybe 10k.


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Which issues? I referred to two different issues in my post. You need to take your car to a non-dealer tranny specialist. The dealer will only recommend replacement of the transmission.

 

Oops sorry. I'm just having hard shifts after it starts to get hot.

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That is the classic symptom of a failing valve body. You can change the fluid which may help a little but it is expensive and a pain or go ahead and get a shop to put in a Rev Max valve body.

 

ah ok. thanks for your expertise. much appreciated.

i had to reread a couple posts but you mentioned if going into neutral from 4th gear, then transmission needs to be replaced. in addition to the hard shifts that i've been having, i also have issues when my car is trying to shift into 4th (slightly going uphill or downhill), it'll just rev really high before shifting back down or up. depending on how long i've been driving around for, depends on how hard it shifts when that happens. what can you tell me about that??

 

There is a seal in the housing that sometimes spins and when it does the car will not go into gear. This is a bigger problem to fix.
I recommend seeing a tranny shop, they have test equipment and experience. You don't want to throw money at a bad tranny.

 

alright. thanks a bunch.

 

I just wanted to give an update on my Mini. I'm having the exact same problems as Minted - hard downshifting and missing 4th when upshifting. I have gotten great improvements when adjusting the ATF fluid to the proper level. Too much fluid and it would miss 4th gear, too little and I got the hard downshifting. Somewhere in the middle is (an almost) happy medium. I can't say it's perfect, but it's 70% better. I could almost sell the car as is now and new buyer wouldn't notice during a test drive - but I don't want to be 'that guy'.

Note that I got a quote from a local tranny shop to rebuild my Valve Body for $1100 - said he's down 5 or 6 of them already ( a couple Mini's and a few VW's). And he gives an 18mth / 18k warranty - I think I might get this done next month...

 

I'm calling the local transmission place on Monday to get mine checked out. Hopefully I only need a new valve body.

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The transmission shop I called said they've worked on a lot of BMWs and Hondas but never really any MINIs. I don't know what to say or think about that. I'm just really irritated at the moment about all of this. :/

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