I know that two of these issues have been discussed, but I did not see or I missed the fixes. (1) Dash rattle - dealer put felt at contact points, 2 weeks later, rattle(s) just about as bad as prior to service. Is there a real fix? (2) Shifter vibration/buzz - paricularly bad in first and third at 4000 rpm. Happened with stock and B&M short shifter. Holding the shift **** (a UUC in my case) or squeezing the shifter stalk virtually eliminates the problem. Is there a fix? (3) The new one, and quite odd - from a dead stop, in either first or reverse, there is a sound like metal on metal rubbing/shifting (a kind of lower pitch groan, for a lack of a clear way to describe it). This only happens some of the time, appears to be more prevalent with a cold motor, although it has happened after driving for awhile, and has not happened consistently with a cold car. Nothing obvious or seemingly amiss under the car. Any ideas?

 

welcome to the world of mini.. problems that just about everyone's got

1)none on mine, or just that im not hearing them... iknow the panel beneath the steering wheel on mine is loose and is banging against the dash...

2) i got the pilo ss and apparently it is partly due to the metal bushings you replaced when u got the b&m installed.. it amplifies the problem.. but i think its a common problem... mine buzzes like crazy above 4 grand...

3)metal rubbing seems pretty normal.. the pre 05 s have a pretty clunky gearbox...

 

I have been experiencing #3 on and off for the past month. I spoke to my service manager about it.....said he didn't think it was serious and I decided to let it go until my 25,000 mi. service which is coming up soon. However, since the weather turned colder this week it is more pronounced again. I'm taking it in tomorrow afternoon to see if I can reproduce the sound with someone else in the car. Of course, it probably won't make a squeak!

 

For #1, when we took our Cooper in for the 1 year service, the rattle was one of the things mentioned.
The dealer used velcro (not felt) to deal with the problem and there's been no rattle since then.

 

#3 sounds familiar to me as well. Very audible when going from 1st to 2nd gear. The MINI tech said it was the synchronizer.

 

Pebblecrusher.......did you have the work done to repair the synchronizer?
As I suspected there wasn't so much as a squeak today, so I didn't take it in to be checked. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be deafening tomorrow!

 

What year and model is your MINI?

How many miles?

 

Wanda's dash rattle was cured by having the dash removed, a rubber washer installed somewhere near the center, on a KNOWN spot that needs extra padding! No problems at all since that fix was done in early summer. There may even be a service bulletin about it...

Clover

 

I don't have any of those problems at all...04 built!

 

Cooper4us - I have a 2003 MCS, approximately 32,000 miles, with the following somewhat typical type mods: Alta 15% reduction pulley, Alta CAI, Nology wires, Denso plugs, UUC exhaust, B&M short shifter, H-Sport springs, Flik wheels. I love my car and I won't be parting with it, but I put alot of miles on her pretty quickly and my warranty period is approaching its end and I would like to get the little annoyances dealt with under warranty.

Pebblecrusher - Can you tell me a little bit more about the synchronizer diagnosis and fix? What exactly is the synchronizer, what is it doing wrong, and what creates the noise? I have gone to two dealers for repairs on various issues with mixed results, repeat visits, burned up leave time (closest dealers are two plus hours away), and would like to be able to suggest potential fixes to them.

Thanks to everyone for the responses so far, keep them coming.

 

well for lack of better explanation the metal whining you hear at take off especially with a cold engine could be the clutch and flywheel coming into contact, does it onley hapen while letting of the clutch!!!!!

thats onley when i hear mine, its like a muffled wha wha wha wha but in fast repition, never hear more than 2 or 3 of them at a time and it onley hapines with cold start with me, the dash rattle, well thats a multitude of things my dealer did the felt thing witch was a copout! so i just disasembled my dash and did it right, no more rattles, i found it was the auto matic air sensore on the top of the dash!!! well the stuff underneath anyway!! and im over 80, ooo miles!!!! and no rattles anymore

 

A synchonizer is a part of the gear cluster assembly inside the transaxle housing. Its function is to match speeds between gears as a gearchange occurs, in order to ease the shifting process. The synchro rings are usually made of brass, and they will thus wear faster than the steel gears with which they mate. This is a natural process that occurs over time, but it can be accelerated by improper lubrication, improper assembly prcedures or tolerances, or defective components.

Hard use will also have an adverse impact on synchro life- especially when a driver inexperienced in the art of "rev matching" tries to "speed-shift" the transmission without disengaging the clutch.

The symptoms of worn synchros include balky shifting and abnormal noises, and significant amounts of brass residue in the transmission fluid.

Typically, if a transaxle is diagnosed as having bad synchronizers, the transaxle assembly will be replaced to correct it. Although the worn parts can be replaced individually, few dealerships will want to tear down a transaxle in-house to do it. There may be other problems present with other components inside the case due to loose metal particles in the fluid, etc. Instead, they will normally opt exchange the unit and send the defective transaxle back to a facility that does nothing but transmission rebuilds, in order to ensure that the rebuild is thorough, and is done by specialists who have all the correct tools at hand.