Does anyone know why Mini Cooper, 02 thru 05 Midland 5 speed transmissons fail? I would appreciate your inputs. Thanks, Ron

 

They suck?

I've been told before on other forums that they "weren't strong enough" for the Coopers. I don't know exactly what that means. My guess is shoddy workmanship.

 

On the contrary, I have always heard that there is a faulty seal that will let all the fluid slowly drain out of the tranny, and that causes the failure. I don't know that the real internals are shoddy, just the stupid plastic or rubber seal that likes to fail, especially in extreme cold.

 

I know mine and a few others that had the synchros die. But, I'm not a tranny expert and I have no idea if that has anything to do with seals. I just know my fluid levels were fine, but full of metal shavings.

 

Well, no, it sounds like you are right then. If the fluid levels were fine, your failure had nothing to do with faulty seals. Very disconcerting for me and my Midlands. But I am at 22,000 miles and going strong. We'll see how it goes...

 

One question might also be...how many higher mileage Midlands units are still going strong. Mine's fine at 44K but that ain't exactly ancient. GBMiniGirl, was it you that lost several Getrag trannies, too?

 

theres a cooper that autocrosses frequently with us locally that has had two tranny failures so far, both had plenty of fluid in them. I don't know the exact details, but I can try and find out if people really want to know. . .

 

I'm at 64K on my original midlands and struttin' around strong.

 

Platic bearings/seals is part of the problem, loss of drive on the diff due to the outer ring separating, weak syncros on 1st and 2nd.

Yup. It sucks alright.

I was lucky enough to have mine garnade 1 month and 1,000km after my warranty expired.

http://www.minimaniauk.com/web/Item/.../InvDetail.cfm

This gearbox might be a better idea then getting another Midlands. Outer ring is modified by adding dowels and is spot welded, uprated syncros and output bearing with a metal race is also used.

I heard you can use the Getrag 6 speed but I'm not exactly sure if fab work is required. I think Steve's Auto Clinic in L.A. did it.

Hope that helps.

Randy

 

I'm at 65K with my original Midlands....that with a couple Auto X's and a lot of back-roads abuse!!!!!!!!!

 

well, my dad can kick your dad's @ss!..... BTW, when I come down to LA we can put our 2 Coopers to the test.....lol

 

I sure would like to know what was involved with the failures if it's not to much trouble. thanks, Ron

 

Details on this NAM thread:

Cold weather Blown Tranny...

Although not limited to cold weather entirely. Basically, the outdrive bearing seals crack (earily models were pastic! ), and the tranny fluid leaks out. If you catch it in time through regular inspection, the service runs in the $200 range-- don't quote me on that tho. If you're too late, meaning you've run the tranny w/ low are no fluid, the bill will be closer to $4600.

The link above gives helpful insights on the noises of lost trannies. From what I've seen, the noise makers are the expensive ones. Mine was a noise maker too.

Good luck.

 

I started having "ghost" issues (ie. never replicated by the techs) with mine around 32,000 miles. Finally died at 69,800. Argued with MINI about covering it forever. We finally agreed to them buying the tranny and I paid for labour.

Yes, it was me. I'm on my 3rd tranny and 2nd clutch. And guess what started today? A clattering from under the driver's side engine mount. Goes away when the clutch is in. Sounds like a throw-out bearing. I have an appt. for it to go in Tuesday.

All this sounds like I'm a horrible driver and tough on my trannies, doesn't it? I'm not! I'd like to think that is because I can drive a stick better than anyone else I know is what kept my Midland going so long. In the end, that probably screwed me too. As for the MINI I have now, she's just a lemon. I love her to bits, but a lemon none the less. I have managed to get almost 4K more miles on her before the throw-out bearing went out. She now has 6,900 miles on her: 3 trannies, 2 clutches, 2 A/C compressors (oh, did I mention that needs replacing again too?), and the rear control arms squeek like a mattress in a cheap motel. I haven't even autocrossed her yet!

 

Extreme cold is the number one killer of the Midlands 5-speed. Well below zero. I've had two fail so far.

Autocrossing and track driving don't seem to bother the gearbox that much. Perhaps drag racing would put too much strain on it, but other than that, no problem.

Just leave the car sitting outside when it's well below zero, and one of the seals will fail, the fluid will leak out, and the gearbox will fail.

I was told the the second replacement I got was a redesigned seal that will hold up better to the cold. It made it through the last Vermont winter, we'll see if it makes it through this one too.