Discussion
Hi I have recently purchased a mini cooper sport my2000.
I live on the cambs/beds border in ST.Neots and was after a little advice
Were would the best Mini specialist be?
The car sometimes jumps out of second gear - how quickly will I need to get this sorted and how much will it cost roughly. I assume that it is an engine out job.
Whilst the engine is out I was also thinking of upgrading it slightly with a stage 3 kit or similar what would the best option be for a MPI?
Thanks for any advice
I live on the cambs/beds border in ST.Neots and was after a little advice
Were would the best Mini specialist be?
The car sometimes jumps out of second gear - how quickly will I need to get this sorted and how much will it cost roughly. I assume that it is an engine out job.
Whilst the engine is out I was also thinking of upgrading it slightly with a stage 3 kit or similar what would the best option be for a MPI?
Thanks for any advice
If you're having the engine out to sort the gearbox, then I'd also suggest changing the final drive ratio to at least 3.1 or preferably 3.44. This on its own would increase acceleration, make use of the forth gear, but engine noise would also increase as you'll be further up the rev range for the same speed. However, this may not be an issue depending on what you use the car for.
This is relatively cheap to do if you're already paying to have the engine out to sort the gearbox. Same goes for a decent LCB and exhaust.
If you still want more power, then the stage three head, etc could be done later with the engine in situ and funds have recovered !!
You are quite central in St. Neots, so the choice really depends on how far you want to travel. MED are well respected and fairly close in Leicester. www.med-engineering.co.uk
This is relatively cheap to do if you're already paying to have the engine out to sort the gearbox. Same goes for a decent LCB and exhaust.
If you still want more power, then the stage three head, etc could be done later with the engine in situ and funds have recovered !!
You are quite central in St. Neots, so the choice really depends on how far you want to travel. MED are well respected and fairly close in Leicester. www.med-engineering.co.uk
Jumping out of second gear is not that uncommon and, apparently, it can sometimes be attributable to worn or broken engine steadies/bushes which can cause excessive engine movement. The gear linkage/bushes beneath the gear stick are also worth checking over.
If it's definitely the gearbox, then it may only require a rebuild, but any further enhancements such as twin pin diff, straight cut gears, etc. will depend on what level of power increases you are planning (and budget of course !)
An upgraded box may not be entirely necessary for mild increases in power as the standard box should be ok, so long as it's been rebuilt well with quality parts, the owner looks after it with frequent oil changes, etc. and its driven with some mechanical sympathy !!
Worth having a chat with the likes of MED to talk through what the options are...
If it's definitely the gearbox, then it may only require a rebuild, but any further enhancements such as twin pin diff, straight cut gears, etc. will depend on what level of power increases you are planning (and budget of course !)
An upgraded box may not be entirely necessary for mild increases in power as the standard box should be ok, so long as it's been rebuilt well with quality parts, the owner looks after it with frequent oil changes, etc. and its driven with some mechanical sympathy !!
Worth having a chat with the likes of MED to talk through what the options are...
Edited by miniboy1971 on Saturday 31st January 21:08
Bought my '99 car in mid 2003 - the gearbox was jumping out of 2nd gear then. As long as you know about it and make allowance for it, it's no problem. Just keep on top of the servicing (oil changes) and you should be able to motor along until you're ready to take the engine out for other reasons I do 9000 miles a year now).
I run the standard (high) diff ratio, as I commute 50-odd miles a day (partly on the M4) this suits, but yes I can see that this would be a quick performance upgrade. Also check how far your throttle opens - again this is a cheap, easy mod which can have good results. http://mcr.mywowbb.com/forum56/2579.html
Also before you go spending money at a specialist do your homework - in reality there's only so much you can do to the injection mini's because of the limitations of the ECU, without spending a lot of money. So spend wisely, and let us know how you get on!
I run the standard (high) diff ratio, as I commute 50-odd miles a day (partly on the M4) this suits, but yes I can see that this would be a quick performance upgrade. Also check how far your throttle opens - again this is a cheap, easy mod which can have good results. http://mcr.mywowbb.com/forum56/2579.html
Also before you go spending money at a specialist do your homework - in reality there's only so much you can do to the injection mini's because of the limitations of the ECU, without spending a lot of money. So spend wisely, and let us know how you get on!
mpis always had a bad reputation for weak 2nds, in part due to the gear casings been made a lot thinner and from some 'fancy' new method of casting (the late cases flex and move a lot) also, rover had started to run out of many of the selective washers and what not so just threw the boxes together with what they had left - it just wasnt worth getting more thrust washers and what not made for the low voloume they where building (i think its fair to say by this time the mini had run its race and rover had far bigger problems than the worry of a few warrenty gearboxes........)
the above, and the choice to run the cars on rats piss 10/40 oils instead of 20/50 didnt help matters either
if yours is only occasionally 'baulking' going into gear, its worth changing the oil for 20/50 as it really makes a difference, however if its jumping out its never going to get any better, its either weak detent springs in the 1st/2nd syncro hub (which is a easy fix, as long as the syncro teeth on the gear and the sycroniser havent suffered too much), or, the kit is 'shuffeling' back and forth in the case and everything is starting to move about a little too much. this could be various things, a collapsed main double, too much clearance in the laygear thrusts (common as rover had run out of the thicker thrust tab!), or too much clearance at either end of the mainshaft.
if its only lightly 'jumping' out of 2nd on the overrun (i.e not doing it on throttle) one (dirty) trick is to attach a bungee cord to the lever and the seats to hold the lever in a little more positivly (but no so tight that you cant get 1st and 4th!) - this will help the engine (with care from the driver) last a long time.
if, however its violently 'kicking' the lever back out when you have it in second its knackered, this is normally the sign of impending syncro tooth faliure (or full gear tooth faliure) - normally with expensive results!
the above, and the choice to run the cars on rats piss 10/40 oils instead of 20/50 didnt help matters either
if yours is only occasionally 'baulking' going into gear, its worth changing the oil for 20/50 as it really makes a difference, however if its jumping out its never going to get any better, its either weak detent springs in the 1st/2nd syncro hub (which is a easy fix, as long as the syncro teeth on the gear and the sycroniser havent suffered too much), or, the kit is 'shuffeling' back and forth in the case and everything is starting to move about a little too much. this could be various things, a collapsed main double, too much clearance in the laygear thrusts (common as rover had run out of the thicker thrust tab!), or too much clearance at either end of the mainshaft.
if its only lightly 'jumping' out of 2nd on the overrun (i.e not doing it on throttle) one (dirty) trick is to attach a bungee cord to the lever and the seats to hold the lever in a little more positivly (but no so tight that you cant get 1st and 4th!) - this will help the engine (with care from the driver) last a long time.
if, however its violently 'kicking' the lever back out when you have it in second its knackered, this is normally the sign of impending syncro tooth faliure (or full gear tooth faliure) - normally with expensive results!
Thanks for the information regarding the 2nd gear problems. It does not pop / jump out all of the time and goes days without any issues and then it just jumps out after I change down either going around a round about or corner - I then try accelerate away only to find myself in neutral (It is not like I am trying to accelerate away to quickly)
I will change oil to see if this helps. My concern is that I do not want to cause more damage to the gearbox and it cost significantly more money in the long run.
The car is so much fun and I am hoping to keep it for a long time.
I will change oil to see if this helps. My concern is that I do not want to cause more damage to the gearbox and it cost significantly more money in the long run.
The car is so much fun and I am hoping to keep it for a long time.
cooper2000 said:
Thanks for the information regarding the 2nd gear problems. It does not pop / jump out all of the time and goes days without any issues and then it just jumps out after I change down either going around a round about or corner - I then try accelerate away only to find myself in neutral (It is not like I am trying to accelerate away to quickly)
I will change oil to see if this helps. My concern is that I do not want to cause more damage to the gearbox and it cost significantly more money in the long run.
The car is so much fun and I am hoping to keep it for a long time.
hmm, it sounds as if its not going in far enough every time to let the detents do their job.I will change oil to see if this helps. My concern is that I do not want to cause more damage to the gearbox and it cost significantly more money in the long run.
The car is so much fun and I am hoping to keep it for a long time.
this is either a worn selector fork (cheap to fix, but the box needs fully stripping), or something external like a bent remote rod or very worn remote rubbers, steady bar bushes or engine mounts. its very, very rarely the external things, but they are easy and cheap to fix!
the bushes and what not are easy to check, just tug them about by hand really.
they dont cost a lot to swop
sometimes on mpis (and spis) if they have a light front end bump the engine jumps back and just bends the external rod selectors (or breaks one of the rubber mounts) which can cause all sorts of problems)
they dont cost a lot to swop
sometimes on mpis (and spis) if they have a light front end bump the engine jumps back and just bends the external rod selectors (or breaks one of the rubber mounts) which can cause all sorts of problems)
I have checked the engine and you can rock it quite easily and you can see movement in the engine steady bushes. So hopefully this might resolve the problem with the gears (depends how lucky I am)would you recommedn any improved options / bushes or is it just a case of replacing old with new bushes?
Thank you
Thank you
I visited Mini Spares today and bought replacement bushes - their modified supports are for Spi and would need modification for Mpi's so will try the bushes and see if this cures the second gear issue.
I must say that they were very friendly and even though I turned up quite late in the day they still had time for a chat.
I must say that they were very friendly and even though I turned up quite late in the day they still had time for a chat.
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