So, I noticed that my thermostat housing was leaking. Not a problem, still under the 10 yr/120K extended warranty on that part. Made the appt with the MINI dealer for this morning and dropped it off to get taken care of. I was told that it would only take a few hours and they would call once it was done, that was at 8 am.

Got busy during the day and started thinking I need to check on it at about 3 pm, but figured I'd wait to call until I was about ready to leave work for the day. I just got a call saying that it had been finished, but that it was having difficulty shifting into gear on the test drive. They are going to keep it over night and have the service manager drive it again tomorrow. The SA said that it wasn't anything related to the thermostat housing.

I have not experienced any issues at all with shifting (manual). I told the SA that and didn't push it further figuring I will see what they find tomorrow.

In researching the thermo housing replacement, there was someone who mentioned that the shift linkage is close to a cooling hose and you had to ensure that the hose was properly positioned to avoid contact with the linkage. If the linkage is close to the thermo housing, it is not hard to think that they may have done something to the linkage.

Is this a possibility? What is the best way to approach this?

 

The SA just called to tell me that it was a broken clip on top of the transmission housing that holds the shift linkage. They have one on order and it will be in tomorrow (fortunately, I got a loaner from them).

Is this an easy part to break when doing a thermo housing? What sort of things should I keep my eye out for once I get the car back?

Thanks.

(a bit less freaked out now)

 

the "clip" is a thick metal piece. I think they needed more time to finish whatever they had screwed up....

I do not like dealers, sorry!

 

I had a look at the Bentley manual when I got home last night to find a visual of the linkages. From the picture I saw, it seems that there would have to be a decent amount of force to break one of those puppies. I am going to have to grill them about what actually happened. I can't imagine that it required an extreme amount of force to free the thermo housing from the block.

But, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and the chance to do the right thing in this situation.

 

Normal t'stat housing replacement is usually done without any tranny linkage involvement. These clips can be damaged during hose disconnect, but only if the tech is taking a short-cut or gets careless. If they replace it FOC and there's no other charges besides inconvenience, it's probably not worth getting nasty about it --- you might need their services again.

 

Well, I just picked it up after it having being delayed for getting the linkage bracket in. Had an '18 Countryman as a loaner over the weekend and I am sure glad to get mine back.

I did question the SA on it in a calm manner, just restating that I had not had any issues with shifting prior and that the linkage was on top of the trans close to where the work for the housing would be done. The tech that did it had 17 years worth of experience, I was told, and they noticed this on the test drive and wanted to ensure that everything was right, but continued to deny that they had done anything. The SA said it may have distorted over time. I wasn't going to argue the point any further. I left it saying "As long as it is back to normal, that's good."

Driving it after picking it up, the shifting was as smooth as it was prior, so all should be good. I would prefer it if they would have just owned up to it, but just something to keep in the back of my mind when dealing with them in the future.