MINI R50 Getrag 5-speed gearbox REPAIR
PART ONE: Rob Hawkins follows the removal, stripdown and rebuild of a Getrag gearbox in a 2005 MINI One and discovers some of the common problems that can arise.
The large bolts holding the differential together can loosen and cut through the bellhousing,” remarks Rich at Mad4mini as we discuss the worrying noise that’s coming from the gearbox area of the 2005 MINI One seen here. If caught in time, the bolts can be tightened and all is well, so we quickly decided to have the gearbox removed to investigate further. Removal of the gearbox is quite time-consuming, requiring the front bumper to be taken off and the front subframe lowered to the ground, though Mad4mini has seen it all before and rarely break into a sweat.
The following steps show the gearbox removal tasks. In the next issue of CM, we’ll be looking inside the gearbox to follow its rebuild at a transmission specialist.
GETRAG 5-SPEED GEARBOX REMOVAL
1 Technician Fred at Mad4mini started the gearbox removal job by disconnecting and removing the vehicle’s battery, which is located over the top of the gearbox. He also disconnected the wiring from the ECU.
2 Next, he extracted the air filter housing, which is also positioned over the top of the gearbox and is secured with a single 10mm bolt, although the induction hose to the throttle body had to be detached and the wiring routed along the side of it was disconnected.
3 Fred took a deep breath when it came to removing the battery box. It’s secured with three 10mm bolts into captive nuts, which can break loose and spin. We were lucky. There should also be a T45 bolt along the front outer edge, though ours was missing.
4 An induction hose to the air filter housing and a breather pipe to the rocker cover were dismantled and lifted from the engine bay to help make more room around the top of the gearbox. The wiring to the ECU was removed.
5 Armed with a pry bar, Fred tried to detach the gear linkage cables on the top of the gearbox but feared they will break. He managed to release one of them, but the cable that moves from side-to-side broke apart and will need renewing.
6 The reversing sensor needs to be disconnected from the side of the gearbox and can be accessed from the nearside of the engine bay, close to where the gear linkage cables were fitted. Fred managed to squeeze his hand in to release it.
7 The two gear linkage cables were still attached to the top of the gearbox mounting points, so Fred used the pry bar again to release their metal spring clips and lever them out.
8 There was still a long way to go to remove the gearbox, but two
