As some of you might have seen from my other thread, I am having to consider
scrapping my mini entirely, because of a gearbox that is doing odd things.
It would absolutely break my heart do do this, as the engine itself - along
with the majority of the rest of the car - is in pretty good shape. My
choice as to what to do will therefore depend on what is wrong with the
gearbox.

The problem:

When giving a lot of gas from standstill, there is a fairly loud whining
sound (try saying "eeeep" while breathing in, that is the closest
onomatopoeticon I can come up with). The same sound happens when
accelerating hard, as the gearbox changes from 2-3 and from 3-4.

As the sound happens, there is little or no power going to the wheels.

In my little layman world, the effect is the same as when you are driving
around with a "tired" clutch - as in: The clutch won't grip properly.
However, as this is an automatic, I assume there is no clutch involved, so
ut must be another part (synchro? Is there such a part?) that is worn.

My question, then: Which part is literally singing on its last verse? And -
far more importantly - is there any way you can replace this part, instead
of having to scrap a perfectly usable engine, or sourcing a "new" automatic
gearbox? The engine in question is a 1988 998 automatic.

H Kamps