Hi!

I have just purchased a 2010 Mini Cooper (Non S) and would like to do a transmission fluid change however I had a few questions if someone could help please

1) since NOT all the fluid can be drained and JWS 3309 is not a synthetic fluid, can I still use a synthetic fluid for the partial drain/fill procedure? I mean there any issue with mixing the synthetic with non synthetic...
2) if yes for question 1, would you prefer Redline D4 or Mobil 1?
3) once I do this procedure, when is the next time I should drain and fill again?
4) how many litres/quarts should I be expecting in the pan? how many (1L) bottles should I be getting?

the reason I want to do this is because my car is now about 55k miles and I do notice some jerky shifting. I tried searching lots with mixed opinions on which fluid to use however I would love to hear about your experience and what made your transmission very smooth!

Thank you

 

Probably safe to mix. However I'm not a fan of going synthetic on old cars that used conventional fluids. In my case the switch with engine oil cause seeping oil at the gaskets, a major expense potentially. Not sure if this plays the same with tranny.

 

If you will do just a drain and fill service and not a full transmission service you need to do the drain and fill at least 3 times in one seating to get as much of the old fluid out. you will only get around 2-2.25 liters at the most from the drain plug and I do believe the tranny contains 5 litters of fluid.Also if you do this you will not get all the old fluid out but it will be better than not changing it. I also advice you to NOT reuse the drain and fill plugs as it might leak as usually those are only one time use but people still reuse them. Why do I know? Because I did it previously and the drain plug leaked afterwards.

If I were you do the proper tranny service which means opening up the pan and replacing the filter. ECS has the kit:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...4347566358kt3/

My Justa had the full service done and it is silky smooth afterwards too smooth to my liking actually as the hard shifts went away and tamed the little gremlin. Pelican parts has a guide on how to do it but when I was watching my mechanic do it he did not move the subframe to get the pan out but it was a messy job.

Just get the Mini tranny fluid and not cheap on a few dollars as that fluid is tested and you will be sure it won't crap on you but only use it if you will do the full tranny service and not drain and fill as it will be a very expensive fluid change if you will be draining and filling it 2x to 3x.

After you do the tranny service do it again after 60 to 80k depending how you drive your car (hint - if you use the paddle shifters alot and the tach needle always sees the red line and you drive it like an F1 car with 102hp then you should do it at 60k).

 

I did this on a 07 r56 with a 6 speed automatic aisin transmission.
I replaced the oil with Valvoline max life synthetic. Its available at wal mart or any usual auto parts store. it is about 24 bucks a gallon. It is also Toyota T-IV compatible. It shifts so much smoother and I will probably change it after about 25k.because it was easy
Google you tube where a guy filled it on the side by removing the drivers tire and used a handpump that went directly in the hole he mentioned. way easier then from the top and less messy then from the bottom.
good luck
phillip

 

thank you sir for the detailed reply! I actually want to do the whole service but when I was reaching out for quotes earlier one mechanic asked me why I wanted to do a flush and that it may be harmful (i still don't see how though), but my main concern was leaks afterwards (from pan)? they also mentioned the sub-frame so thank you for letting me know that it doesn't need removing.

as for fluid, I will keep that in mind If i do end up doing just drain and fill do you think synthetic mixed with regular should be fine? and after every 60k! got it!

If I get the whole service, is there anything else that should be taken care of while pan is off?

thanks for the reply, did you just do the drain/fill?

yeah I guess since its sometimes done with engine oil, maybe its not a big deal. Thanks

 

You can change it twice, most of the time you will get it mostly out. Third time should get it all.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...id-change.html

 

We only use the Aisin fluid. To be honest you don't need much more than that, it's a quality fluid.

When we are doing these, we're trying to do them around 50-60k miles and we always replace the filter and gasket. We also replace about 4 quarts of fluid during the service, and when the trans specs for approximately 5 quarts there is no need to do multiple fluid changes. One service every 50k miles is more than sufficient.

 

Thanks for the reply! I was planning on doing that myself but because my schedule is super tight, its cold here now and I don't want to drive knowing I have a pending task to finish :( so i decides to go for the flush with filter/gasket!

btw love your website, appreciate every little small piece of car you carry! very useful when I had to get so many things for my M3


Thank you for the reply! I will go ahead and get this done! as for the fluid I actually already ordered the Castrol Transmax Full Synthetic since its JWS 3309 compatible! I will post back about my experience with it!

 

[QUOTE=715tt;4350992]Thanks for the reply! I was planning on doing that myself but because my schedule is super tight, its cold here now and I don't want to drive knowing I have a pending task to finish :( so i decides to go for the flush with filter/gasket!

btw love your website, appreciate every little small piece of car you carry! very useful when I had to get so many things for my M3


Welcome.

 

Just an update, while I wait for parts to arrive.. my transmission randomly started giving a harsh jerk when slowing down from 2nd to 1st. Like I was hitting the brake really hard. And It would do it lightly when upshifting from 3 to 4th..

I decided to leave battery unplugged for a few hours and its solved all of that for now

 

Thanks for the update.

 

does anyone know how much transmission fluid comes out when you take the pan/filter off?

 

The VW Passat variant of the Asin Trans requires 3.25 litres to refill after dropping the pan. I would expect the Mini to be very close.


In reference to fluid choices: I've used the Valvoline product in several vehicles, both manual and auto trans with great results. The Valvoline seems to not shear down as quickly as Mobil1 in manual trans as evidenced by less noise for a given number of miles in one particular manual trans. The 2006 Passat has had rough 1-2 shifts that have almost completely resolved after switching to the Valvoline. Another fluid to consider is Swepco's 712. However, it is not cheap @ ~$60 a gallon.


Do make the effort to drop the pan at least every 50K miles (as opposed to just draining the fluid) as a lot of muck accumulates that won't drain with the fluid.

 

I just changed the ATF on a 2010 clubman and found some things that made it easier. This is the writeup I used: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-6-speed.html

First thing, I didn't need to take out the top fill plug at all. If you want to, I found a 3/8" stubby flexhead ratchet with a 3/8" drive T55 socket made it much easier to remove than a socket cap and wrench. I ended up just putting it back in and going in from the bottom.

Ratchet: Torx socket: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-T5...ST55/202940696

I jacked up the passenger side of the car and removed the fill plug. Once done draining , the standpipe was removed (both 5mm allen). After done draining (2.5qt), the standpipe was threaded back in and I threaded in a grease gun tube in place of the fill plug. These are normally M10x1.0 NPT and thread right in, with no seal needed since the threads are tapered. I connected a fluid pump to the other end of the tube and was able to fill the trans in less than a minute. Just watch the side of the container to make sure you pump in the correct amount, otherwise you have to level the car to let the fluid drain through the standpipe each time.

Fluid pump: Fluid: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline...allon/15125768

I used full synthetic Valvoline MaxLife ATF, which is listed as JWS-3309 compatible on their website and is pretty cheap: https://sharena21.springcm.com/Publi...2-ac162d889bd1

After filling the trans, I replace the tube with the drain plug and started up the car/changed gears with the shifter for about 20s each position before draining again. The trans was drained 3 times and after the last fill, I leveled out the car with a bubble level on top of the engine and let the fluid drain with the stand pipe in. Once done draining, the fill plug was installed with a new washer.

Drain plug washer: NAPA did not have any matches for a mini cooper, but they did for a 1994 BMW 325i which has the same dimensions.

This Mini had 85k miles on it and the fluid came out pitch black. Car now shifts great!

 

 

I usually get 3 and a bit more.

I use this also http://www.rmeuropean.com/Products/8...351-V6340.aspx

 

 

READ BEFORE DROPPING PAN My car was always shifting kind of hard, and recently, it developed a problem where it takes too long to shift into 4th. RPMs wind up, and car jerks into gear after a random time period. It's downright dangerous. The issue is caused by gunk buildup on the linear solenoids in the valve body. Turns out, it costs less that $100 to fix this. If you're dropping the pan, the valve body is right there. It looks pretty easy to fix, and I'll be doing this as soon as my garage frees up and the kit comes in. Here's a video on what I'm talking about: I recommend everyone do this if they've got the pan already off. Will make it shift like new. If you're experiencing problems like me, a simple fluid change is not likely to fix it (I've read of others that tried that).
Good luck!

 

I just did mine, first while waiting for the kit for a month i did initial drain and flushed 2x, followed the direction to warm up the transmission to certain temperature and heat up the new oil at certain temperature for easy fill but those recommendations i think in my previous flushed and fill is a waste of time, i experiment my last drain and fill 2 quarts every time... last week i dropped the transmission oil pan and replaced transmission filter, the car is 99,800 miles and the filter is clean as well as the oil pan.
For DYI take your time to do it and can be done, i used the top plug to refill and no problem no drip whatsoever.... Good luck

 

I did this drain and fill procedure today. The T55 torx bolt just kicked me ***. Between the hose coming out of the thermostat and the lip on the side of the bolt, I found it infuriating to get to that bolt, even after removing the air intake plumbing and turbo outlet plumbing.

My other problem was that I had the trans out totally before doing this and it tipped over in the back of my truck and an unknown quantity of fluid spilled out. So while i had the trans out i added two quarts of aisin brand fluid.

After installing the trans I heated it to 113F and removed the drain plug and two entire quarts overtopped the stand pipe.

Today l went through the fiill procedure again but after adding two whole quarts, the stand pipe didn't overtop at 113F. Ok so i must still be a little short. The weird thing is that when i turned off the car trans fluid started pouring out of the standpipe. I suppose I wasnt supposed to turn the engine off with the drain plug removed???

 

 

I believe the car has to be running while you're filling it. That's the instructions I found, and that's how I did it. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I messaged the guy who did it from the side. Although it worked fine for him, this is not the correct way to do it. There is a place for innovation but when it comes to equipment, you better follow the manual.

He is bypassing the filter and that plug is connected to a tube from inside that runs somewhere othere than the pan. If contamination gets in, you could be in trouble.

While that correct bolt is hard to get, you need to remove the middle/bottome engine mount to swing the transmission forward. You can also buy the special torx socket (Rmeuropean.com has it) and do it that way.

The engine needs to be running and levelled to properly fill it.

 

If you remove the bottom engine mount the items that block the T55 bolt (the coolant hose from the thermostat primarily) will move with it and you still wont have any better access no?

This special torx socket costs $70. I have a t55 torx socket. I dont see how it would make things any easier.
OEM t55 torx socket

 

Incorrect...The right fill plug is not by the thermostat. It is the one adjacent to the power steering pump/motor. you can still use a regular T55 but you have to be careful not strip it. This "special tool" will make the bit centered and not wobble...I might buy it and rent it out or resell it to cover the cost. In the grand scheme of things, it is worth having the right tools to do any job. cutting corners will eventually hurt.