Well I knew this could happen,and it did today.Started up my MINI this morning,-22F,-39F with the windchill,let out the clutch,and it sounds really gnarly,push it back in,noise is gone,let it out bad noise is back
So I let the car warm-up for about 5 minutes,and the noise is not as bad,but when I back-up a few feet and get out to look for oil on the ground there was a blob of frozzen oil on the ground.Drive the mile to the main highway,and the noise is almost gone,so I drive into work,50 miles,phone the dealer,they make an appointment for next Monday.5 Minutes latter the tech phones me and asks if I can bring it in today,I tell him I'm on my way.
When I get there he took my car right in and told me the seal to the axle was toast,and that he will change it right away,and order me a new tranny.
They let you hang around in the service bay at my dealer,so I watched him swap out the seal,and got to see all the metal bits stuck to the magnetic plugs,yuck.
The new seals are said to not crack in the cold.But what ticks me off is that MINI CA. will not do a recall,instead they want to wait for the seal to go,then deal with it.I was lucky I caught it right away,I have been looking for oil leaks since I heard about this last winter.The tranny fluid was only down about a 1/4 of what it should be,and there were no big chucks of stuff stuck to the plugs.And after the tech. flushed out the tranny,put in the new seal,and filled it up with new fluid it sounded normal again.May go forever,but happy to be getting a new tranny,sometime next week.
Probably the fact it was so cold that all the fluid did not leak out.
And because I drive mostly on the highway,I'm not shifting to much.
But instead of a $100 fix,now MINI has to lay out $3000+
for a new tranny

 

Any idea which tranny you'll be getting ?

 

Yeah,a Midlands,with new improved seals,may ask if I can get a Gertag instead.Any costs?

 

Probably, but more likely they will have a reason why the two are not easily interchangable

 

My 2 cents on that is the powerplant did not change,so whatever tranny,needs to be able to bolt on.

 

I'd try to get a Getrag 5-speed tranny if I were in your position, Lotsie. My first, MINI, "MINIclo," an '02 Cooper, had the Midlands 5-speed. I had a heck of a time getting her into reverse way too often, which I felt was a severe safety issue. Think about the times when you are forced to back up quickly to avoid an accident!

Sorry for your trouble, but glad that you were able to get Poco into the city, and weren't stranded in that cold weather on some lonely road!

Keep us posted about Poco's progress!

Clover

 

Hey, give it a try...noth'in to loose Let us know how you make out !

 

Is this a problem to worry about with an MCS??

 

No
Midlands tranny issue.And extreme cold is what is blowing the old seals,for the most part.My tech put a new old style seal outside at about -10F,not cold for here,and it cracked when he flexed it.The new seals have different rubber in them.And the seal that goes is for the axle,which is low in the housing,so when it goes,the tranny loses most of its oil.For me the saving grace was the cold,so when parked,not much oil leaked out,as things get thick fast at -25F.
But it is not an oozze kind of leak,it drips out at a good rate.
The drip on the ground will be about 1/2 way between the center of the car and the hood release under the bonnet,in line with center of the front wheels.

 

Any idea when these "new" seals started coming into use? I had a tranny replaced last January for the same reason, and am very likely to sell my car once the warranty runs out unless I can feel pretty confident in my ability to drive in subzero temperatures without incurring a $3000 repair. The dealer told me that something had changed with the design, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe that 100%.

 

Read my update thread.
But really who knows.I have an extended warrenty,looking at an 07 myself.