ok thanks for the advice. much appreciated!!

[good news. the shop has worked on plenty of vw o9gs]

 

i just got quoted with $2500 max for dealer part + labor. $2000 max for reman + labor.


:( i'm tempted to just trade my car in.

 

Here is the part for the valve body with price:

Control Unit Valve Body Part # 24347551103


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/24347551103/

#1 in the diagram for the R52 Cooper S / R53 Cooper S automatic.



&

Automatic Transmission Filter Kit


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/24347551087KT/




&

There are three different brand fluids that are used with JWS 3309.

Automatic Transmission Fluid / ATF JWS 3309 - Priced Each


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/83222220438/



or

Automatic Transmission Fluid - 1 Quart Eneos


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/3103300/ES2173522/



or

Redline D4 ATF Automatic Transmission Fluid - 1 Quart


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/ES251177/



Hope that helps you out with the parts. Some of the hard-parts and wiring is available separate on the bottom end.

Thanks

 

Maybe you should drive to Chicago with Scapino above is and get it done for $1,100 including parts and labour. Stay for a few days and spend the savings. I recall RevMax was charging a lot less than $2000 for reman valvebody, less than $700 IIRC. Shop around you should be able to get this done for less than $1500 all in. Its only 3 hours labour to swap plus the VB, fluids, new drain plug washer and new gasket.

 

Easier said than done. revmax charges $1000 including core charge. and i have no clue what core charge is.

i've got phone numbers to 5 other transmission shops less than 20 miles from my location that i'll be calling on monday morning after i get home from work.

 

Revmax website says $659 for the VB plus 350 for the core. You pay $1009 and get back $350 once you ship the old VB to them. So you have shipping costs for both ways at about $50 to add to the $659.

 

Hey, what shop was this? I'm in the Chicago area and I'm looking for a shop to look at my trans. Getting hard shifts in 1st - 2nd and I want to nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.

 

Hey everyone I inherited a 2005 mini s automatic with the aisin 6 speed, 110,000 miles, it had all the symptoms of a bad valve body so I called revmax and ordered one as well as a filter and gasket. 4 hours later and some spilled fluid and I've got a brand new mini. The car drives better than it did new and it was moment well spent. I will say this. Two valve body solenoid clips that hold the harness to each one were broken and had been rigged to work. I'll show pics so you can see. A metal clip was used because half the connector was broken.

[URL=http://s63.photobucket.com/user/clemzexp6969/media/image-9.jpg.html][/URL

I will be Calling rev max to see what the deal with it was.

 

Clemzexp6969 congrats on your valve body replacement. Glad to hear yours went well. I guess whoever sent the valve body core in that you eventually got broke those connectors. I don't think it should affect performance as long as the connections stay put.

 

I have an '05 with this problem. Anyone have this work done in the Pittsburgh, PA area? I'm looking for a shop that will do the work, and would like to deal with a shop with the experience already if at all possible.

 

Pm your info to me please name phone etc

 

Hi Everyone,


I'm new to this forum because we share something in common. A slipping transmission in our beloved car. In my search for a solution, I've ended up here. This thread has been a wealth of information.


I have a question about the valve body solution. What's the longest time period since anyone has had this repair done? And how is your tranny now?


The reason I'm asking is my mechanic says it's a temporary fix. He recommends rebuilding the entire transmission. His reason is that if the tranny is already slipping, then damage is already taking place on other components. Replacing the valve body doesn't replace worn material on the clutches. What's lost is lost. He warned that maybe a few months after the valve body has been replaced, I might be looking at doing tranny work again.


It makes sense, what he says. But I'm not overflowing with cash so I'm looking for the most cost effective solution. My car has over 100K miles and it's been slipping intermittently for about a month now. The car is actually my wife's so I don't have all the details.


Any feedback is much appreciated as we want to make repairs as soon as possible. Before any more damage is done.


Thanks for any advice/info,


Manny


PS. Forgot to mention that we have a 2005 MCS with the automatic transmission.

 

My question to you is... During the time you have had your MINI have you ever changed your fluid in your transmission?

 

We were like most people, just following the manufacturer's maintenance schedule. Which means the ATF has never been changed.

 

:-(. $$$$ although i have to say 100k is pretty long for not changing fluid. Even if you changed it every 10-15k miles not sure how much further it would have gone.

 

I wish MINI would be more realistic about there fluid change in there transmissions.. Its like they are setting up to fail with that type of maintenance. A good transmission shop will tell you that you should change your fluid every 30k or so.. When they tell you lifetime or no service needed that's when a red flag should pop up! Both of those two terms mean money down the road.. What ever you do either valve body or full rebuild its kind of hit and miss. good luck!

 

Toyota/Lexus says lifetime also. Aisin tranny of course. I drain/filled the wiff's tC with 4 qts of royal purple at 50k miles and the shifts are much more on the imperceptible side. Drained 2qts from the mini (1/3 total capacity) this weekend (10k miles) and the shifts are like a hot knife through butter.

 

Very true..MINI isn't the only one that uses the term lifetime.. many are starting to back away from the term lifetime.. I also noticed a big difference when I changed my ATF.. I used a synthetic and is shifts like a dream!!

 

Any updates? I'm experiencing the same thing... tempted to do the whole thing in my garage when it gets warmer. I've seen the instructions and I think I can manage... oddly enough, the only part that intimidates me is getting the right amount of ATF in.... a thermometer?!? Really?!?!?!?

 

How many miles do you have on your MINI? Plus if you keep track of how much you take out just put the same amount back in!

 

Right now, I just crossed over 55xxx miles. Symptoms aren't bad, if I'm honest. The GF and I always use the paddles to dictate the shift point and that seems to be helping. The problem is pretty obvious when I, or the car, switch from 4th to 3rd. It's like it slams it into 3rd very abruptly. To get it to go smooth, I have to give a tiny bit of gas. Shifting up from 2nd to 3rd to 4th, it seems to slip into neutral mid-shift, almost like it can't find the next gear - although this is very rare - I maybe see this once every 2-3 months.

Edit: forgot to mention about the filling - I'm pretty clumsy when it comes to fluids... actually, we'll say I'm pretty good at spilling so keeping track of what's coming out is a tall order. The thought of really having to be careful about overfilling is such a foreign concept to me... I mean, I can't think of a situation where too much lube is bad.........

 

If you wait till the fluid cools down to about the temp of the fluid in the bottles I say drain the 2-2.5 quarts out, pump most of it back through the bottom then slowly drip the last ounce or so into the fill hole on top and leave it at that. If you don't notice any difference you can repeat a second time but if after that no change fluid isn't gonna help you.

I ordered the T55 bit for the top, the fill adapter to screw in the drain hole and a spare stand pipe for that fateful day it disintegrates from being drowned in 230 degree chemicals. And a 6-pack of royal purple ATF. I did have a laser thermometer ready but we didn't use it.

 

I ran 8 litres of fresh fluid through my trans didn't over complicate it with measuring temp. I read that approx 2 litres comes out so bought two clear 3.5 litre containers drained fluid from car into one put container on level surface put other container next to it and filled to same level with fresh fluid. Slooooowly poured back in, did this four times on the last fill used a new crunch washer to make sure it doesn't leak. In Australia Toyota wants $75 for 4 litres didn't even bother getting a price off BMW, researched and found a local company that had a fluid I could use $42 for 4 litres. My plan now is to replace 2 litres every oil change at 10k intervals.

 

My intention is to actually do the valve body replacement, not just a flush of the fluids. Found the instructions here: https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/p...geId=115179595

For those of you who did this yourself, how long did it take? Any complications?

 

New valve body at 55k? Sounds a little extreme to me. I'd flush the fluid a couple three times first and see if that makes it brand new first. But up to you