1st Gen R53 Cooper S *HELP* Hard Shifting, what to do?

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by airmanmini, Jan 20, 2016.

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  1. airmanmini

    airmanmini New Member

    Jan 19, 2016
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    #1 airmanmini, Jan 20, 2016
    I have a 2006 mini cooper S with about 144,000 miles on it. Brought it from a Smaller Dealer in Florida. After I brought the car I notice that the car would run and shift fine cold. But once the motor get warmed up it starts to shift HARD, especially from 1st to 2nd.

    I read that it could be the fluid in Transmission probably need changing since the motor does have over 100,000 miles on it. So I took it upon myself to change the fluid and the filter myself.

    This is where the problem arise. After putting the fluid pan back up I tried to refill the transmission with fresh fluid but it started to over flow on the 2nd quart. I don't get it cause I dropped the pan and the filter so there should be no fluid in the transmission. I believe that I have the car level right. When I run the car through the gears I see NO fluid drain at all. But if i try to put fluid in it comes right out through the drain plug.

    Would the hard shifting be because of my fluid needed changing or because of the valve body. Please help me figure this out thank you.
     
  2. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    #2 Minidave, Jan 20, 2016
    You won't get a lot of oil out of the pan, most of it stays in the torque converter.

    There is a specific procedure to filling and checking the fluid level on an automatic......

    6-Speed Automatic Transmission Fluid Change - Library

    There is a wonderful feature here on M/A called the library, check it out!
     
  3. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

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    #3 wmwny, Jan 20, 2016
    I agree with the above post. I had my transmission fluid changed last Winter and was told then that all of it does not drain out. If you are looking to completely change out all the old fluid, it needs to be changed anther 2-3 times and driving it a lot in between changes. I'm about due for another fluid change, but can honestly say that, after the first one at 103k, my S has not shifted so smoothly since it was new in '06!
     
  4. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

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    #4 00Mini, Jan 20, 2016
    MINI's automatics are not alone in the multiple fluid changes as Saturn Vues with the Honda powertrain are done the same way and they don't have a replaceable filter just an internal screen which is not replaced.
     
  5. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    #5 Minidave, Jan 20, 2016
    The best way to do it is to use a fluid exchange machine, that replaces the fluid as it pumps the old stuff out, that will get almost all of it replaced in one go.

    We have a new machine at school now so I'm going to do it on my 2009 sometime this semester.
     

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