Hello all.

I pulled the trans drain plug before pulling blown motor out of my 2013 Mini cooper S Automatic. A little fluid came out. I did not pull the stand pipe. I then pulled the CV axles and lost no additional fluid. Based on my shop manual and what I am reading on here, I do not need to add fluid to the trans because I did not remove the stand pipe. Whatever I lost was actually over filled? Just hoping for a quick confirmation of this before I make access to the fill ports much harder as I reassemble the engine bay.

Thanks!

 

The fluid level should be set within a specific temperature range because the fluid expands with heat. The fluid that came out was probably due to the standpipe filling from heat expansion above the fluid check range, and from fluid filling it from movement.

Depending on the history of the fluid changes I would either do a few drain and fills, or just make sure the existing fluid is topped off. Changes if lower mileage or a prior history of fluid changes and top off if the fluid has never been changed and the miles are high. This also depends on your thoughts on whether changing neglected fluid will cause transmission problems due to worn parts and lack of material buildup in new fluid.

 

The transmission should be filled with the engine running and at about 40 degrees C +/- 5 degrees as the fluid is in the torque convertor and other passages of the transmission. You are now likely low on you fluid & you should pump more in while the engine is running and fluid is up to temperature. You need a M10 X 1 filler adapter. While your there, I would remove the stand tube and drain off what you can (about 2.5 quarts) and refill.

 

Would you consider 78k miles high or low? I kind of think of that as medium.

 

Fluid should be changed at about 60K. Since you are only able to remove half the fluid each time you drain, it should be done at least 2 times to get most of the old fluid out.

 

Probably not high as in worrying about clean fluid causing issues in an old transmission, but high for these transmissions as far as a maintenance interval. They used to be considered lifetime fluid by BMW/MINI and other manufacturers, but VW revised that to around 40K. Not sure if MINI ever put out a new bulletin, but I personally would go on the conservative side with changes around 30K.

As stated above, a significant amount of fluid remains in the pan and torque converter. I’ve read it’s more like only 30-35% drains out so I would do ar least 3 changes for your first service, with short drives in between. Also noted above is the temp range of the fluid is critical when setting the fluid level. There isn’t an onboard way to check on a 1st gen, but a 2nd gen should have a way to access the trans temp sensor to get an accurate read when doing your changes. Also, the car should be level as well.