7 replies to this topic

[TimC]

First and foremost, this is my first post. And my first injection mini, and to top it off, my first automatic mini! So its a new realm to me in the voodoo black magic of what i'm used to working with. I've been browsing the forums a lot for any answers to my problems and havent exactly had any luck so far. First i'll mention a little bit about this car...
Its a 1995 Rover Mini Mayfair 1.3SPI w/automatic transmission and has about 38,000km. The car is fitted with a K&N factory style filter in the factory box.

The main problem i'm having with this is when the car is shifting from 3rd gear to 4th gear under acceleration the RPM goes up real quick and then hesitates a half sec before engaging into 4th and then its will clunk and grind a gear for just a split second (at least this is what i think it sounds like).... I changed my oil religiously with 10w40 as recommended by the Factory Manual, and do so every 1600-2000km. I also disconnected the ECU for 30sec, reconnected and let idle for 10mins to see if that helped... still no change with the odd RPM change between 3rd and 4th... and it subtley does it from 2nd to 3rd but never a grind... The grinding happens once in a while from 3rd to 4th. I don't even know if its the transmission making the noise, but it sure seems like it is. I'm wondering if there is any sensor that could be failing that would cause erratic RPM changes between shifts with the automatic transmission?

I also am having very odd gas consumption that varies from 34km to 58km to US gallon. checked all my capillary hoses (red, yellow and black/green) and noticed that the Red one was broken and hanging loose... i almost thought for sure this might be causing the problem, i re-hooked it up today and it doesn't seem like there is any difference in performance. I also blew air through all the hoses to check if they were clogged with oil or anything...nothing wrong here. I will re-check later to see if the fuel consumption problem is improved. would this red hose make a difference? I checked to see that all hoses didn't leak and didn't have cracks...the look new really. The one elbow of the red one tore, but i replaced it with a new rubber piece of hose that fits super snug and air tight.


My last problem is that the car will start in any gear, even reverse or drive...whatever...kinda dangerous i thought... the Haynes manual says something about an inhibitor switch but has no pictures really...i assume its under the metal box with two big screws on the bottom front side of the transmission...the problem is that the sensor or switch is silconed or seals onto the transmission...is this indeed the inhibitor switch? I really want to fix this problem with the car starting in any gear...It scared the *rubbish* out of me once when i was working on the car once and carelessly bumped the car into a different gear and not knowing it until i started the car up and it clunked into gear and started rolling.

oh yea, one last thing... oddly... in the morning the car doesn't like to run until its warmed up... It starts right up everytime....but once i engage into drive it usually dies unless ya tap the gas real quick to prevent it from dying. Another symptom i've had is a slight hesitation when accelerating...not always, just sometimes... kind of annoying actually... as well as the gearbox hesitates to engage...about 1 or 2 seconds sometimes!


i'm wondering if the Lamda sensor is failing and causing problems with the fuel consumption and also the odd RPM changes between gears... i would think the transmission should shift smoothly through all gears!!! like all the other automatics i've driven in other makes and models of cars.

Any information would be helpful, i'm new to this and have a bit of technical experience in general, and i would love to learn more about my new SPI mini!

-Tim Connor

Edited by TimC, 03 September 2008 - 05:16 AM.

[BoyracerAU]

I just wonder if you are using mineral oil and not any synthetic stuff. Synthetic oils are a definite no no!

[TimC]

I can only help you with the auto aspect, the inhibitor switch is faulty or has been wired to make a circuit continuously, a garage can easily fix this to make it safe, also your clunking would be down to the selector which would need some adjusting, also a competent garage could do this.
Had mine done for £25.
Would not attempr this if you are not very competent with a haynes manual like myself.

thank you for the suggestions, as i'll have to look it more.

a garage that knows anything about mini's in the USA is like finding hen's teeth. especially a mini that is an automatic and japanese! If anyone can lead me in the right direction on how to adjust the selector i would really appreciate it! at least some sort of direction to show a mechanic and maybe fix this grinding problem.

and the switch i had looked at by a mechanic and he didn't spend much time with it since it looked like it was sealed to the transmission. he didn't feel comfortable breaking the seal if he didn't know for sure this was the switch...the haynes manual doesn't show any photo's of the switch and what it looks like, only describes generally where it is. And should this switch be sealed, is this a factory seal?

[TimC]

I just wonder if you are using mineral oil and not any synthetic stuff. Synthetic oils are a definite no no!

No synthetic... i did use 10w30 at first, and someone said NOT to use that. and that was only in the car for 1000miles before i changed to 10w40... the results are a little better, but still have a clunk once in a while. The oddest thing is the strange RPM shift between 3rd and 4th...its its like a little rev and then a clunk. Does the selector have to be adjusted on the ECU? or how is this done?

[Guess-Works.com]

I wish I were...

Auto's are a strange beast...

The only thing I can suggest is to adjust the bands ( this maybe what IABN is referring to )

There are 3 bands in the box which engage and disengage the rotating clutches/gears... these are strategically placed behind the front cover of the gearbox and the earlier haynes and rover manuals go over the adjustment procedure...

So while your garage is sorting that one out, they can have a look at the inhibitor which is attached to the front cover.

PS, your's is the latest type of AP Auto gearbox for the mini which is slightly different to the earlier models, Ideally you need a Haynes manual for a Metro or the Rover Manual.

[TimC]

Another new problem this morning...and i can replicate this problem...
the motor dies when coming to a stop, usually when its stopping fast.
and did it a few times in a row to see if i could replicate the problem... what do you think this could be? i don't believe this car has an inertia switch does it?

i think that cuts the fuel off in case of a collision? am i right?

anything else to check?

[TimC]

One other wierd problem i've had in the last week is that the transmission sometimes never shifts to any gear at all and then the engine revs up real high since you have the foot on the accel pedal...and i just release the pedal and wait a second and then re apply the accel pedal and then it will engage... usually happens at slow speeds and steady stop and go traffic situations...kinda scared my wife one day when it just went to redline out of no where and no connection with the drivetrain. Maybe this is a symptom of those bands as well?

Edited by TimC, 03 September 2008 - 05:07 PM.

[TimC]

Can anybody add their opinion to whether using a 20w50 VR1 Valvoline oil in an automatic is OK? and possibly might improve my situation?