problem on gearbox, lack of power, mini can't go forward

[guyinbritain]

Hello, I live in Brittany, France, and I am the proud owner of a mini mayfair automatic gearbox from 1989 for 2 years.

But since a few weeks, she has been in the garage, the gears do not pass, there is no catch, she can only go back.

For the story, at the beginning there was, at every gear change (especially first-second), like blockages, a big lack of power and as a friction (it sounded like the sound of a metal plate that rubs ), then it was the same with the other gear, worse and worse, power drop, until the impossibility to put the slightest gear.

Here, in France, I can't find answers to my problem. Except : "change into a manual engine" :/

Do you have any idea for this problem ?

Thank you so much and sorry for my english

[jockduck]

Hi, Your problem sounds similar to problems that other owners have inquired about over the years, If you intend to fix the autobox yourself then you need a good workshop manual. The autobox is dependent on oil pressure to control its functions, if there is a problem with the oil system then there will be problems, bad oil, wrong oil, low oil will all cause problems. You don't say how much mileage the 'box has done, they do wear out and need rebuilding at some point. There should still be some people in the U.K. who could help JPAT for example, you are a bit closer than I am.
Jock

[69hcode]

Sounds like the forward clutch is shot to me. 

[guyinbritain]

ok... Thanks for your answer. I was hoping it could be outside the gear box

but if this kind of problem comes up and there are no answers, I do not really know what to do. I do not have the level to redo a gearbox

a point that I had not mentioned, I got another engine with automatic gearbox, no guarantee that it still works and when the mechanic has installed it, it was the same. Could this be a problem between the gear lever and the gearbox?

[guyinbritain]

www.minimania.com/Gearbox___Common_sources_of_problems

I'm not sure I understand everything, can this page give me some ideas?

[dhorsler]

sounds like forward clutch has worn out to me too, they are not that difficult to change the clutch plates as it comes out fairly easily on the right hand side of the gearbox, no need to remove the torque converter etc. but you still need to remove the engine from the car, replacement parts are still available from jpat.

But ... if you are going to that amount of effort then you might as well refurbish the entire gearbox and replace the brake bands as they wear and give poor gear change performance and then it last much longer once repaired, otherwise you would most likely just be fixing the next failure in a short period of time.

Its not a trivial job though, so if you are not confident in this kind of work, it would be best getting someone with the necessary skills to undertake the repair if you can find any in France, there are some in the UK which might be an option but will no doubt cost a bit to get gearbox removed and then shipped to UK for repair.


It is highly likely that the second auto engine you got had also failed in the same way, its a common failure, hence it being removed from the car.

People go for the manual conversion as it quite often works out cheaper and there are more of them about, albeit getting rarer by the day, prices for manual engines are now going up and up.

I have been attempting to rebuild my auto gearbox that failed for the last 2 years but got nowhere at all until the last few weeks due to lack of time, now cracking on at a significant rate.

[guyinbritain]

Goodmorning,

Thanks a lot, for your long reply and sharing your experience. i am not a great mecanician, but i am curious, i need to think about it...

Have you got video or page who explain method to do that ?

[notamini]

For quick online help go to
Todd's Website
For books there are many available from ebay under BMC or Haynes.
A very complicated but very complete book is Foulis' Overhaul Manual AP Automatic Transmission.
It is hard to find and can get quite expensive to purchase.

[limby2000]

Good luck trying to find the Foulis book, been trying to find that one for years. Got most of the others.

[notamini]

I have a book searching site with the foulis book on my search. Every time one comes up I post it here under the advice section. Just posted one not that long ago.

[notamini]

Correction. How to section. Posted March 02, 2019.