To anyone used to an 850, a 998 auto would be (was a revelation...As a town car they're great - must admit though we didn't settle for the "auto" mode that often....and I don't remember any highway use.

There is one guy down in Victoria who does very well with his 1275 auto motokhana (autocross) car...

Back in the day they were the only 4 speed auto you could buy other than a Merc or RR.

Cheers, Ian

Todds website has some good auto info. Look under "Technical Advice". Check it out.

//www.austinamericausa.com/

 

The dip stick is located where the clutch housing would be on a manual Mini. Change the oil every 1500 to 2000 miles depending on your driving habits and use 20w50, if it is dirty now change several times until it is clean looking. To adjust the bands you need to remove the front cover which can be done with the transmission still in the car, there is a adjusting rod attached to the accelerator linkage which can be adjusted to move the shift points. Most of the Mini auto's problems stem from lack of oil changes.

I've owned one (1968 wet) and looked after and driven another (1990 dry)  You can have fun in them. The bands are pretty easy to tighten and set up, and if you change oil a lot you should be fine.  Watch for flares and such when shifting. On both cars I used to manual shift as it just felt better, and honestly... given the abuse.. they were still amazingly good handeling cars.

Reviving an old thread.   A friend of mine recently purchased an auto and asked me to look it it (I've owned 2 minis and am a novice but I know more than him.   Car was looked after but not decently,  I'm assuming it has sat with old oil,  so let me know what I should look for.   Oil pressure gauge shows good pressure but I don't plan on relying on that.   (I see no dip stick and am perplexed)  only looked at it quickly for 20 minutes in cold nyc weather.   Plan on giving it a spin in the next couple of months when weather warms up.   Any info will help.   And as far as performance is concerned he's not to worried about that it's for local driving it reliability we're after (and yes I know auto such in that regards)  thanks

Well my Japanese spec auto box was crap.

cox says to only get later model jap spec??

If the body is decent...I'g go for it.
Fun to drive shifting manually......in D you're in 4th by 30kph it seems ( unless you floor it ).
If it craps out....very easy to swap to a manual.

I drive a 998 auto daily. When you go look at it check the boss where the up-shift linkage enters the case (LH back of block) they are made of plastic and and crack and cause problems over time. Good news is if it is going bad there is a company in Japan making new ones out alloy with O-ring seals. The bands in the trans can be relined if needed but rarely do they get that bad. As far as working on them the first thing to go is the forward clutch, if the car has ever set with old oil in it it will go out sooner than later.

Regarding oil changes, only if the owner has records but the average Mini driver does less than 3k miles per year. Just drive it and feel the shifts they should be crisp with no lag and no lag when going into reverse, try to drive it with the engine cold as most of the problems seem to be worse then if it has problems of course. All the parts except the bands are available from Jpat in the UK, you have to re line your own bands but Jpat in the UK will do it for you.

Thanks Big Al, wouldn't buy it if it needs work. And there is a Kiwi nearby can fix anything. He tuned up DAEK before he went to California. I'm sure your pal Cox is now burning up the interwebs trying to figure out which car I am after so he can tell me what a POS it is. Some things never change! ;-)

BILLY-

Go, for it- You can drink your morning coffee and talk on your cell while cruising around Essex CT-

Personally, l would pass on it, where are you going to get it serviced ??

The last auto mechanic expert l met was flown in from the U K to do the surgery-

BIG AL-

Thanks malsal! Don't suppose there's any way to detect if the oil was regularly changed?

The later 1275 auto's with the Park feature are decent as long as the oil has been changed regulary around every 2000 miles. They are "quirky" and 1960's technology with no computer controlled shifting but are reasonably agile if you shift them manually. The earlier 998cc auto's with no park feature are a little sluggish and run high revs at cruising speed with a 3.7 diff ratio.

Please save me from searching through all the old threads. Should I consider an auto? One not far from me looks to be worth checking out. Not my cuppa for personal driving, but resalable to non-stick drivers. What in particular do I need to look for? Usually I just do compression check on the donk and visual inspection in all the usual places. Thanks in advance!