Take a Moment to Analyze What’s Going on
The service adviser transcribed the customer’s complaint as “stuck in manual mode,” and it was coming from a shop that didn’t want to work on it. After chiseling the Midwest winter ice off the vehicle I was able to go through my initial checkout. I found code P0705 stored in the PCM (Transmission Position Sensor (P R N D L) Malfunction).
A Very Big Clutch Job for a Very Small Car
My article is going to be a little different this time, and geared more toward the R&R technician. It’s about a car that came to us from a large local dealership that has 13 different locations and works on 14 different makes of vehicles. The subject vehicle is a 2014 Mini Cooper Countryman AWD, with a six-speed manual transmission.
Give ’Em an Upgrade
This half-ton carryall came to us with an illuminated malfunction indicator light (MIL), accompanied by P0300 (random misfire) and P0304 (cylinder 4 misfire) codes. During our test drive, the MIL also flashed.
With 180,000 miles, a plethora of possibilities existed for the root cause, so I began with a GM original: the Strategy-Based Diagnostic Chart.
Adjusting Clutch-Control Valves on the Aisin FWD 6-Speeds
Have you ever installed a TF80, TF81 or TF60 after overhaul and it has had harsh shifts or engagements, or maybe there has been a flare/bump upshift or harsh coast-down clunks? Most times, clearing the shift adapts and driving the vehicle to relearn the shifts will correct these annoying problems. After a good, long test drive to relearn the shift adapts, sometimes a shifting or engagement problem remains. Assuming that there is not excessive wear in the valve body and the linear solenoids are good, the clutch-control valves on the valve body can be adjusted to correct these problems.
