Hello All,

I was looking online for possible causes to this issue on my 06 Cooper S Automatic and possibly a good recommendation on where or who to take it to to get it repaired. I can tell you for one I WILL NOT BE TAKING IT TO THE DEALER soo please spare the "take it to dealer" comments lol. Below are the details:

Model: 2006 Cooper S Checkmate Edition
Transmission: Aisin 6 Spd Auto (NON CVT) GAF21WA-TANA
Mileage: 123k

I was driving the car one day and decided to try the paddle shifters for a change since I had the car almost a year and never really messed with them. I am familiar with paddle shifters as I have had many vehicles with them. So, I began to drive and as i shifter properly into 3rd gear, I felt a "violent jerk" into 3rd gear which was unusual and felt a loss power immediately. I pulled over, turned off the car and drove off again on normal drive without paddle shifter usage and the car drove fine until it reached 3rd gear, it jerked into 3rd and would not shift into 4th gear or downshift into 2nd on its own. When I slowed down to a stop, I noticed the the Triangle +! , CEL and EML lights all come on and when driving off again the car was as if it was slipping and trying to catch up to speed (almost like when a clutch is slipping and your car slowly builds up speed). Once I caught speed, it would not go past 3rd at all or downshift to 2nd when I slowed down....UNTIL, I turned the car off and on again it would drive fine as long as I did not go into 3rd, otherwise it would get stuck there.

If i drive from a standstill as say into a clear freeway, the car will go thru 1, 2 normal and when going into 3rd it jerks but still goes into 4, 5 and 6th fine UNTIL I once again slow down It gets stuck on 3rd and the process of shutting off and on continues in order for me to get it out of the "stuck" mode.

I have googled endless scenarios and read about the possible solenoids being bad, valve body issues, reset adaptations etc, etc... and even took it to get diagnosed at a local INDIE mechanic shop which the tech could not give me a definite answer and said it could be the trans itself and would cost $5k to replace (more than the car is worth) or that due to a power steering leak that was current, fluid may have seeped into the connectors causing an electrical failure but he then checked the connectors and said they were not moist. He was also stumped and said the part where he felt it was an electrical issue was the fact that turning off the car and back on would reset the transmission computer which if it was s trans fault, it would be stuck in 3rd for good.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

BTW, I was even opting to simply change out the transmission and to my surprise...I have to get the "specific" trans for my year and model versus other makes that fit a range of years...is this even true or ?? I managed to find out the trans is the GAf21WA-TANA but have yet to find one on offerup/craigslist or other outlets as they are mostly manual, CVT, non S models or for newer coopers.