Hey Guys,

I just bought a used Mini and when I picked it up, the transmission was a little challenging getting into first gear. After a couple hundred miles of driving, the problem has gotten progressively worse. Now, when it is forced into first gear, the car starts to push forward.

The clutch is obviously dragging.

The pedal is to the floor when I'm doing this. I've tried bleeding the clutch slave with a pressure bleeder and replaced the transmission fluid had it's had no effect.

Any thoughts on how to resolve this?

 

Does the car shift into any other gear? If so then it could be the first gear synro, which is bad if you have an S. Is your car a Justa or an S?

Maybe take it back to where you bought it from?

If they won't help you out, you may have certain legal rights under your state's Lemon Law, in this case, California. You could start by reading up on it here: http://www.carlemon.com/lemon/CA_law.html

 

Is this a Cooper or Cooper S??

Check out this thread in this same forum...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...into-gear.html

 

Do you know that the Mini slave cylinder needs to have the piston completely compressed into the housing before you bleed it? It's not like other slaves I've done over the years. Definitely sounds like a clutch actuation issue, probably the slave cylinder, possibly the master.

Eric

 

I have the same problem with my '06 Justa. It's very intermittent, hardly ever happens but very frustrating when it does. It's generally while cold but not always. It's been into MINI a few times and they could not duplicate the issue. I went for a drive with the tech and he noticed it was a little stiff into 1st on a few shifts and recommended new trans fluid. It has been better since, but it did refuse to shift into 1st once since then. A very frustrating issue. Please keep up updated if you find a solution!

 

Could you elaborate on this syncro point? Why is it bad for an S, and is it not so serious if it's a Justa?

Thanks

 

I assume it's because the Justa has a Midlands tranny while the S has the Getrag unit. My guess is the Getrag is more expensive to repair.

Eric

 

All manual R53's (cooper S) have a Getrag transmission. Getrag is under contract with BMW and cannot offer individual components of the transmission. It must be bought as a unit, i.e. expensive. It is not known when the contract for withheld parts expires or if a generic type syncro can be fitted. I haven't really looked into it.

The 2002-2004 Justa has a Midlands, and parts for that transmission are readily available, including the syncros.

7/2004 and on of the Justa has a 5 speed Getrag, so no parts for it either.

 

nabeshin, thanks for the info, that's good to know! I have an '06 justa manual so I suppose I have the Getrag. MINI has promised to help me out of goodwill past factory warranty, but if that falls through, I'll be very glad I purchased an extended third party warranty.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Rather than try to sort out the issue myself, I called the dealer who I bought it from, Mini of Mountain View. I told them I asked the salesman about the shifting because it was a little difficult and that it eventually had this issue.

The car has 118,000 miles on it.

They replaced the clutch, pilot bearing, flywheel and shift fork for FREE.

I went and told the sales manager that I was a little unhappy about how this finished up because the next time I came in and bought a car from them I wouldn't be able to bust there B@lls over the price. My wife and I have bought a few cars from them.

Anyway, the previous owner had bent/broke the shift fork, had it welded back into place (rather than replaced...?!?!?!), and it finally failed. Rather than tell me, "Sorry, the car has tons of miles on it and you bought it 'as is'" The did the right thing.

Thanks for the input.

Now, to start the modification process! ;-)