Transmission Issue on Manual 2006 MCS

[DER_MINI]

Hey all. Former DCMM member (and soon-to-be again). My 2006 MCS, DER_MINI, died a little last night. Or a lot. I'm not sure.

 

Before details, here's the car's vitals: 24k miles, 15% pulley reduction, CAI, and, last but not least, out of warranty.

 

And now, what happened. Last night as I was parking, I put the car in reverse and as I let up on the clutch, there's a little grinding and then a "ka-chunk". I think, "That's weird," but reverse is working, so I park the car. Then I take it out of reverse to put it into first and . . . nothing. The stick moves forward with no resistance. It will not move left or right or backwards. Just forward, and, again, there is no resistance. With clutch, without clutch, doesn't matter.

 

So, the question (of course) is: What happened? An ancillary question would be: How much am I going to be paying to fix this?

 

Any help on diagnosis or suggestions or just plain commiseration would be welcomed.

 

~Ryan

[JAB 67]

Hopefully it will be nothing more than an inexpensive, relatively-easy-to-fix, repair of the shift linkage. But somebody needs to put the car up on a lift and take a good look.

[DER_MINI]

Hopefully it will be nothing more than an inexpensive, relatively-easy-to-fix, repair of the shift linkage. But somebody needs to put the car up on a lift and take a good look.

 

Thanks. I talked on the phone with a Service Advisor at Passport MINI and he said, from the way I described it, that it may be "as simple as a snapped cable, or your clutch, or slave cylinder." Certainly better than a full transmission replacement. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Brian0758]

Shouldn't this be covered by the warranty.

 

If I am not mistaken it should be 4 years or 50,000 miles?

[Edge]

Shouldn't this be covered by the warranty.

 

If I am not mistaken it should be 4 years or 50,000 miles?

He's probably over 50,000 miles... either that or it was one of the very early 2006 models (i.e. built & sold in the latter half of 2005).

[DER_MINI]

He's probably over 50,000 miles... either that or it was one of the very early 2006 models (i.e. built & sold in the latter half of 2005).

 

I always thought the warranty was a 3-year. (And now I realize, after a quick google search that it is 4-year. Hey, good to know.) Anyway, car only has 24,500 miles.

 

And now the good news: it was just a popped clutch cable. No charge to repair. They also diagnosed a leaking thermostat (which I suspected, since two weeks ago my coolant reservoir was nearly dry), recommended a coolant flush and a brake-line flush, and the Level 1 Inspection (which I'm coming up on in a few hundred miles). Thermostat replaced under warranty, and the rest about $800.

 

I'm totally stoked right now.

 

Thanks all.

 

~Ryan

[Edge]

That's awesome news, Ryan! :top:

[Mr EZ]

Lucky, my transmission went out and I WAS out of warranty and it was 7 grand

Edited November 7, 2009 by Edge
Typo fix :)

[flyingmightylow]

I've got an 2004 mini 5spd, she's developed a horrible rattle in her tranny, I pulled it and replaced clutch disk, plate & bearing...put her back together and dagnabit, still got that blasted rattle. ANY ideas...Also considering swapping out 5spd for an automatic...How difficult would this be?

[JAB 67]

Your problem is that the 5-speed midlands transmission were problematic. Most people in your situation replaced them with a 6-speed.

[OhBe1]

never mind...