I would like to know were they are sourcing there parts as the Trans shops in the Indy area cant seem to be able to buy parts.

 

I checked them out and emailed them about getting a valve body for my MINI. They said that they had one in stock and seeing it was rebuilt with the Sonnax kit impressed me too. Hoping to do this soon.

 

I just had my Inspection II done at 95k km, asked about the condition of my transmission (6 speed auto) and they said fluid level and condition was ok, no codes reported from transmission either.

When I asked about the kicking I get from time to time, Park -> reverse slams sometimes, and 3-4th they noted was a bit harsh. Other than that they did not provide any indication of a potential failure and when I asked they said no way of knowing until it fails??!!? I just want to know what other serious symptoms aside from occasional abrupt shifts.

 

Who is They

Dave

 

Hi

Sorry "they" are my local mini dealership that I have been taking my car to since new 2005. I've serviced my car by the book. I'm the original owner.

Thanks

Anthony

 

06.11.2012 - Spoke to shop owner today. He explained the problem and what happened.

Valve body toast
2nd - 3rd clutches are burnt
3rd - 4th clutches are burnt
Bushing for "toy gear shaft" popped out and was sliding along shaft

He said the cause was due to the "valve body failure".

Everything is back together. Transmission is being reprogrammed today. Hopefully I should be driving the MINI again by end of day!

 

I had to replace the valve body at 95k km due to harsh 1-2; 2-3 shifts.. They sent mine out to BMW for a rebuild. It's all good now. Glad I had a warrantee no idea what it cost.

 

I ordered from Rev Max last week. they were quick, ready to answer any questions, and apparently knew a lot about these valve bodies lol. In fact, one of the brochures they send talk about the Aisin valve bodies lol.

I got it today, and looks good. I'm replacing it next week, so I'll let you guys know how it goes. Looks like they just shove all the Sonnax repairs in it, and comes with a 2 year, unlimited mileage warranty, can't beat it!!

 

As long as you get to this early enough before other damage is done, the new valve body should make the tranny better than new.

I am pretty happy right now. The shifts are firm and very fast. If my wife lets me have the car often enough I might be able to master the manual shifting to be nearly as good as an actual manual.

A REV MAX valve body, some new fluid of your choice, new gasket, maybe some new bolts, a few hours labour and it's good. Should be $1000-1200. Not a small amount of $$ but not the end of the world either. Would be nice if MINI offered up a warrantee like VW.

 

Sorry for the delayed response. They did not say if it was from dealer or distributor, only that all my parts are OEM. No rebuilds or kits.

Update:
06.14.2012 - after reprogramming the transmission, there was still a problem with the shift from 3rd-4th. even though the visual inspection of the K2 mount (support sleeve) showed no sign of damage, they went ahead and replaced the transmission housing anyway. Problem solved.

I have only driven the MINI for a 20-30 miles and the transmission is smooth and quick. I can't believe how much power the MINI has now! Like driving a new MINI again.

Albeit a costly repair (still upset), I cannot express enough how much I missed the MINI. After driving a rental car for the past 10 days, it's an absolute pleasure driving the MINI again.

Preventative Maintenance:
I plan on having a my fluids checked and/or replaced every 15k miles. That's about every 18 months for me. At least give myself a chance at catching problems before they get worse.

Good luck to all those who are venturing down this path. These transmissions have several flaws and/or problems. Unfortunately, our transmission are expensive and difficult to work on. So, be prepared for a big repair bill when the time is up on the transmission.

I would highly recommend having your transmission inspected and repaired the first sign of any problems. It's only going to get worse, if not, more expensive. Not to mention could leave you stranded.

I don't usually recommend repair shops, but I would highly recommend Dolphin Transmissions (Canarsie, Brooklyn, NY). These guys are great! Very thorough, knowledgable, fast and fair.

btw, my transmission never threw a code. I was on borrowed time, catastrophic failure was imminent.

 

I recently did a tranny flush on my 2006 MINI Cooper S R52 automatic. I purchased a new filter and pan gasket but found that one of the bolts holding the pan in place is directly above part of the frame. There is maybe .200" clearance which wouldn't even let the bolt fall out if it came loose. Is there any other way to change out the filter without pulling the engine??? Is it more important to simply flush and not so much to change the filter? I have 120K and am slipping horribly from 3rd to 4th gear.... :(

 

Changing the filter is not really necessary. Is is more of a screen for large chunks than a conventional filter. You will get most of your benefit from the fluid change. If it is still slipping after the change then you likely have a bigger issue like the spinning sleeve as decribed above which requires housing replacement or a fairly complicated repair of the existing housing. Time for an expert to diagnose the problem.
The 1-2/2-3 shift issue is mostly valve body related while the 3-4 issue is housing/sleve related. Changing fluid has helped some people with the former issue, but not the latter. Changing fluid didn't help me, but swapping the valve body cured it.

 

So I replaced my valve body this weekend....not as hard as it looks, just a pita to get the solenoid connectors out of their slots. The car shifts high in first gear when cold, but after warmed up it shifts nicely. No harsh downshifts, or upshifts, but there is a problem. It has produced an EP code on the center gauge, so I have to go to Mini to have them check it/calibrate the valve body ,since word of mouth is that pertains to the transmission control module calibrated, to a trans failure and limp mode.....but I believe it just needs the software updated. I'll keep you guys posted on if there's any problems, however a 2 year/unlimited mile warrenty on the valve body has given me piece of mind if there is a problem :D

 

Mine had a code after the vb fix for "clutch engagement" or something. The shop cleared the code and it never came back. Took about a week for the shifts to smooth out and is very smooth now.

 

Ok so keep us updated on the software update. Also where did you purchase the valve body?price?info please!!

 

I got it through http://revmaxconverters.com/ The people are waiting to assist you, answer all your questions, and it got here rather fast. It was 695 + 250 core ,but my bill was a little less, not sure why It's got all the sonnax updates as far as I can tell.

 

So I went to MINI today, and quite nervous to be honest. It's the first time I've let anybody work on a vehicle of mine outside of just me doing it. To get you guys up to date, the EP code was on for a couple days, and then went away. At no point in time did it ever have trouble shifting, so it looks like it just needed to be calibrated. No bad solenoids/sensors, or failing trans....

I don't want to come off topic, but I have to give a free plug out to MINI of Mt. Laurel, seriously, they took me and my wife in with open arms instead of with daggers. So anybody in the South Jersey/Philadelphia region, I recommend them. The service manager gave us the nickel tour of the showroom/waiting room, and the staff was very friendly...though I can't say the same for a few customers. I was really waiting for the punch in the face and boot out the door like the dealership I used to work at (:cough: Toyota :cough: )

Anyway, so even though the job was quoted for an hour, we were there for two, which is to be expected since there were a few repairs in front of us. They deleted the codes (nothing serious) and calibrated, and reset the learning deal. In the end, cost us $115 plus tax... which to me wasen't bad. Hell, they even vacuumed the inside!!

So in the end, the Rev Max Valve body is just fine. I recommend anybody needing to replace to order through them. As I said, 2 year, unlimited mileage and more Sonnax updates then you can shake a stick at. Also preplan to make an appointment with your MINI dealer to have the system reset, even if you do not have a EP light come on......and it gives you a good reason to stop by your local MINI dealer, and grab som MINI swag like we did

 

I am having the same issues. 2005 mcsa bought the car in May of this year with 100,000. At first i thought it was suppose to drive like this but did some digging and found this thread. It would do the hard shift in the lower gears 1-3 and it would only happen when the car has been driven for 45-60min. It would also downshift very hard sometimes. I did get a 2 year warranty/24,000 miles. So i am hoping that this goes smooth when I bring it in to get looked at. I love driving the car until it starts to act up. I hope it doeatnt take to long b/c I only had the car for about 2 months.

 

Sounds exactly the same as mine. I have the Chrono package and could see that it only started to shift poorly once the oil temp was up to full temp, usually after 20 minutes of driving. Make sure you tell the dealer all the symptoms and bring the car in hot. They need to diagnose on a drive because there will be no fault codes to read.

 

Just spoke to Rev Max yesterday looks like that's the route I'm going once I get some stuff paid off on the credit card.

 

Whoo hoo! You'll probably be getting my core, I just sent it back yesterday :-) just make sure to keep the invoice, and check to make sure they put the return shipping label inside. I had to call to get mine emailed since they forgot to put it in.

 

how much is labor typically to replace the valve body?

 

I think its quoted around 4-4.5 hours

 

Add me to the list, my 2005 R53 has 84K miles and the transmission's acting up. Bump shifts 1-2 and 2-3 and downshifts hard. Fluid level is good but the color and odor are bad. I have everything I need to do a fluid & filter change, and have scheduled it for next week.

Having read through this thread, it seems as though most of the reported fixes for transmissions that are already acting up involve a rebuild of some sort. Has anyone successfully saved a failing transmission with just a fluid change?

In short, is there still hope?

 

I swapped the fluid out, and seen a difference, but not enough to my liking. If you catch it in time before it does any real damage, a valve body may be in order, however, that's not always the case, but it's one of the most common issues from what I've read.

It's amazing how when I went to the MINI dealership, they did act suprised as though they never heard of them going bad.

But change your fluid, which will take a couple of times to do it. Make sure the amount you take out is the amount exactly put back in. Go the NAPA and get a 128oz paint mixing bucket, it has measurements on the side. Drain the initial oil, which is around 80oz. Mark the side of the bucket, and dispose of oil. Then the remaining oil in the pan can be poured in, and mark the bucket. Add the two numbers and you get your total.
And heads up, you will need to move the engine to get to two bolts on the pan. Take out the one bolt from the bottom engine mount, and loosen the top passenger mount, and use a big piece of 2X4 and jack it up slowly, it'll twist just enough for you to get a torx bit at the two bolts on it. After that, its a piece of cake. Hope this helps.