This depends on the extent of the damage, and on the shop you take it to.

The first place I went was only willing to change the fluid, then replace the entire transmission if that didn't work. That's a quicker fix, but the transmission is expensive.

If you can find a shop that isn't afraid of the transmission, they may be able to replace or repair the valve body, and repair the damage it caused. The parts are cheaper, but it takes longer, so you'll pay more for labor. The hope is that parts + labor stays less than the cost of a new transmission.

This seems to be a case where the sooner you catch it, the cheaper it is to fix. Starting with just changing the fluid every 40K miles, to replacing the valve body, to rebuilding or replacing the transmission.

 

When a valve that should be either open or closed gets stuck halfway, fluid moves through too slowly, which leads to an increase in temperature. So while the valve body itself isn't generating heat, it is causing heat to be generated elsewhere.

This was my mistake, I see a round thing with splines on the outside and I want to call it a gear. The warped part was a clutch plate, and it was the clutch plates we replaced, along with pistons and solenoids. The planetary gears have not been touched.

I lucked out and found a guy who could re-seat the valves and replace the solenoids, but replacing the valve body is probably the easier way to go.

 

What kind of cost we talking about?
Tranny replace?
Or
Valve body replace?

 

Valve body is $659.00 +$150.00 core
+new strainer
+new pan gasket
+new bolts that hold in the valve body as they are torque to yield.
looking like about $150.00 in parts.
The pan can be removed with the tranny in the car the biggest PITA is the torx bolt in the left rear corner.


Transmission Replace
Salvage $3000.00-$5000.00 bad option you could have the same issue.
New/Reman $6100.00
and your looking at 16 hours labor. Idk what labor is in SFbay area other than insane.
The motor has to be removed to change the trans.

 

Thanks!
Looks loke the valve body is the way to go. Like someone mention earlier the warranty company would probably rather pay $1000 than $6000!
Is it very labor intense for the valve body?

 

DVS DEA check your PM's

 

 

With statements like this it proves you have no clue what your talking about.

How is removing the entire engine and trans assembly faster than dropping the pan and swapping out valve bodies?

Engine removal and re installation 8-12 hours (done it twice now)

Valve body removal and re installation 1 hour (five as today)

 

It's true, I won't deny it. I don't know how to fix transmissions, I just have one that had to be fixed.

I'll take your word on the times for the valve body replacement, I didn't realize you could do that through just dropping the pan. Definitely the cheaper option for those of you who've caught it soon enough not to have to rebuild the rest of the transmission. I wasn't so lucky. Replacing a transmission is faster than pulling a transmission out, rebuilding it, and putting it back.

 

Do the MCSa valve bodies have pressure switches? My mechanic tried to install the Rev Max Valve Body today and gave me a call saying that it is worse now that it was before. Says that the car won't even go into gear now. Called up Rev Max and they said that their success rating for these VB is almost 100% and that if the car is not going into gear, it means that the technician needs to either move over the old pressure switches or use the supplies caps to plug the holes. I think I remember reading that the 05-06 MINI's VB didn't have pressure switches, but I am not positive. If someone could answer, it would be a huge help. The shop claims that they moved them over, but IDK, they could have just been filling me with BS.

2005 MINI Cooper S, Manufacture Date of the MINI: Feb 05.

Thanks.

 

They did something wrong. Either they broke a wire in one of the connectors or something isnt hooked up right. There is no reason to swap anything from from your old valve body.

 

So I am guessing that there are not pressure switches on this model and my trusted mechanic tried to pull a fast one on me. I had a feeling that the shop were the ones that screwed up... I called the shop back and gave them Rev Max's phone number and told them to talk to Frank in the morning, who is the guy that remanfactures these valve bodies which is what Rev Max asked me to do. I thought it was weird that everyone else has had no issue and then mine gets worse after install. I reeeally hope they aren't going to expect more out of me than the 700 I was quoted. Thanks and I'll keep you guys posted!

 

no pressure switches for 2005 and up. http://www.valvebodybuilders.com/mini_6f21watf60sn.html

 

Thanks. I didn't think ours did... Went by the shop and GreenR53 was correct. They only plugged in 1 of the 2 plugs going into the valve body. Rev Max helped them get it straightened out and they are currently doing adaptation processes. They say that the upshifts are perfect after an hours drive, but the downshifts are still a little rough. They expect everything to be fine by tomorrow though. I'll have it back in the morning. I'll post about it when I get it back!

 

Got the MINI back today and it is about 90% better. I think I waited a little too long to address this issue (106,XXX on the clock), as I still have a shutter transitioning into the 3rd gear, but going into R and the rest of the gears are flawless. All downshifts are perfect and the car is pulling stronger than it ever has at any temperature. This is definitely the fix! Thanks for all the help guys, you guys also tought my mechanic a little something about the MINI's too!

 

Hi,

My shifts seem to be getting worse with time, not sure when the tranny will fail completely.

No one seems to want to help or give me any advice for least cost route to see how far I can go before having to replace.

2005 Cooper S automatic, harsh shifts 2-3 3-2 and reverse after warm up. only 101 K km. I'm looking for a local shop in Toronto that can give me some direction, dealer says if you can still drive it don't waste your money wait until it fails??? what kind of advice is that??

 

I've tried reading this thread and can't make head nor tails of it. My '06 S Convertible 6 speed automatic with 87k on it is having the same issues as some of the other posters on this thread. I took it to Seattle Mini and was told the EGS module was not communicating anything so agreed to have it replaced with the understanding it may solve the problem. It didn't. After waiting 4 weeks for the new module, it wouldn't communicate anything either when they installed it. It took them 4 days to program it because lo and behold their "system" couldn't talk to my car because my car was "too old." I asked how they knew the original module was bad if the new one did exactly the same thing but didn't get a good answer. So I'm out $1700 for a module I'm not sure I even needed and the transmission is no better. The quote for a new transmission was $8400. I checked Angie's List for another alternative and found a shop that will charge me $1800 labor to replace it. They can send it out to be rebuilt for between $3500 & $4000, or I can try and buy a rebuilt one on my own. Is there any chance at all that I don't need to replace it? I was trying to sort out all the talk of valve bodies, etc. Could someone give me the Dummies version? Or some advice on how I can get a shop to look into it for me? What ought I ask them to check? If it helps, I took it to a different transmission shop before Mini and he checked the fluid and didn't see anything wrong with it - no discoloration or bits of anything.

 

What exactly are your issues with the tranny?

Depending on your answer to the above, you may need a valve body or other work.

You need to find a tranny shop that works on either VW or MINI auto trannies. There are competent shops out there.

I would not get a used tranny, because it might be just as bad. Also it sounds like you were totally ripped off on the module replacement.

 

Hopefully you paid with a credit card for the $1700.

If I we're you, I would file a dispute with the credit card company as the repair was not completed, and was misdiagnosed by the service department.

Misdiagnosed = To diagnose incorrectly. Therefore an error on their part !

 

Hi,

My 2-3, 3-2 and reverse are becoming more consistent in harsh shifting after warm up. Also occasional RPM flare from 2-3 happens.

I'm having the fluid changed, I will report on any improvements in shifting. I hope this helps.

 

Hi,

Dealer did not want to change the fluid, they pursuaded me not to do as they thought it would cause more damage and they acknowledged the fact that it was now harsh in reverse as well as 2-3 3-2.

I'm now left on my own to try to find a place to repair it. They thought from the harsh slamming from park to reverse they think the clutch plates are barely holding on.

2005 cooper S automatic, 100K km on it.

 

Of course the dealer wont change it. It lifetime fluid otherwise know as bulshit. They want you to buy an $8000 transmission job. Get ready to buy a valve body.

 

Aside from the valve body, at this stage in the symptoms would other parts of the transmission need to be replaced? I have no codes, it runs find when it's cold first 20-30 min of driving then the harshness starts

first symptoms after warm up, delayed shifting but not harsh, eventually the slamming happens with occasional RPM spikes, get to my destination park the car and try reverse, slams hard and sometimes while moving in reverse it might slam again like it can't figure out what gear it's in (weird is this possible??)

I'm from Toronto, Canada and haven't found too many places that specialized in rebuilidng these things.

 

These are the common symptoms of a bad valve body. Mine was the same without the harsh reverse. I doubt that changing the fluid will help much if any and it is quite expensive. Find a tranny specialist that knows these units and suggest to them to check out the valve body diagnostic. The longer it goes on the more likely to cause other damage.

 

Just out of curiosity, what's the optimal time to do a valve body transplant? My tranny seems to be okay -- honestly, I'm not sure what baseline to compare it to; the shifting doesn't seem harsh, just a little delayed sometimes -- but is just past 70k on the odometer. I had a partial drain-and-fill done at the dealer about 10k ago, which offered some improvement, I think, but is obvioulsy not a long-term solution.

Obviously I wouldn't want to let it go too long (if the original valve body will be sent back to RevMax -- or similar -- as a "core"). I suppose there probably isn't a downside other than cost to getting the work done sooner rather than later, is there?