brought the mini 2 weeks ago knowing it had a recon gearbox put in 17 April 2013 with 12 month warranty, last week heard a noise when changing gears so took it to local garage he said sounds like clutch going, told him that it has a recon gearbox so he said get back in touch with them to see if they fitted a new clutch when they done the gearbox. phoned the gearbox place up and they said no. so we had the clutch changed today but was told hardly any wear on the one on it, seeing it was all taken apart carried on and had new one fitted costing £475, that done can still hear noise when pressing down clutch pedal, mechanic said it must be the gearbox. so got back on to gearbox place and they said cant help warranty is non transferrable.
Does anyone have any ideas what the noise could be or what I can do?????

What year and model? And what sort of noise?

2003 Mini One, like a wering noise?

it seems more when you put clutch down.

When the clutch was changed did they do all the bearings? If they did then could be gearbox. Depends how well it was rebuilt. If you are struggling Kev at Sussex Road and Race has been repairing those boxes for years. Knows them inside out!

Just a thought its not the power steering pump you can hear? Pretty sure you would know that sound though.

the gearbox was done for the person before us just know it was reconditioned he paid £600 for it, when we had the clutch done today all was new.
yeah we know the power steering noise(whinning)

If this has the Midlands R65 box this is a known problem - this box was fitted up to mid 2004 and received a special mention in Car Mechanics (January 2013).

This box is described as a "repackaged Peugeot unit and.....it's really not very good".

They can develop a whine and need to be rebuilt as quickly as they can after that whine develops. Of course some rebuilds are more extensive and better than others so not all reconditioned units will be as good as each other.

Car Mechanics guru is All Gears - 01909 478581

When you press the clutch pedal the release bearing makes contact with the pressure plate. The release bearing should have been replaced when the did the clutch. Did they do that?

That's not good that warranty isn't transferable!!

It's a long time since I've had a gearbox in bits and certainly before the MINI.....

Tom is there a thrust bearing? this was a common complaint back in the day! Although I'd assume it was changed with the clutch?

clutch bearing was changed when clutch was done

Reconditioned units are available from BMW.

Also, have a look at http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues/234730-transmission-noise-i-have-no-idea-whats-going-on.html

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGP6ikUH6xQ The release bearing is in the centre of the bell housing at 2mins 29 seconds.

marklee1967 wrote:

clutch bearing was changed when clutch was done

Good. that rules that out.

Stuck now as hard to say without hearing....

As Tom said Kev is the man to tell you

I've emailed him hopefully he can help out. thanks for your help

kev said have to take it to him so can test drive to say for def whats wrong, think bit far to go if gearbox is knackered.
guy we brought car off nicely got onto gearbox place where he got it and they are willing to take it for test drive and go from there.

just a quick question when talking to the gearbox place they said has he still got the 17" wheel on because they can knacker the gearbox is that right?

I wouldn't have thought that makes any difference provided the wheel and tyre combination give the right rolling radius (wall height plus half the diameter of the wheel).

Well that's what gearbox place recons the problem is with the gearbox.

I can see it making a difference if the wheel tyre combination changes the gearing but not otherwise. It is obviously a weak box however.

You can change to a Getrag box but that is apparently lots of aggro due to the different mounting points and bell housing etc.

taking it Saturday to gearbox place lets see what they come up with.

they can't be serious can they??? the 17" wheel is damaging the gearbox??? More likely the bearings have failed or the box hasn't been rebuilt correctly. By all means we can drive it and let you know what is broken but seems like it is going to need a new box in it. I know it is a drive to us from Croydon but if you get stuck we can have a look for you.

Will

What you saying Will 17" wheels won't cause these problems with this make of gearbox 10 out of 10 for them trying though...

TWG-Automotive wrote:

they can't be serious can they??? the 17" wheel is damaging the gearbox??? More likely the bearings have failed or the box hasn't been rebuilt correctly. By all means we can drive it and let you know what is broken but seems like it is going to need a new box in it. I know it is a drive to us from Croydon but if you get stuck we can have a look for you.

Will

i'm going tomorrow to see what they say is wrong with it, just think there being funny about the warranty not wanting to sort it out, but thought that was a load of rubbish about the wheels..

not having a Mini before could it be the natural noise of the car because it drives fine in all gears???

Best to ask someone who is familiar with these.

it is possible but by all means pop down and see us and we can drive it and give you a honest opinion of what the noise is and if it is normal or not.