Timesert for drain plug

[Spud75]

I took my transmission to a mechanic earlier this year because my drain plug had completely stripped out. I wasn't super confident in fixing it myself so I asked him what he would do and he recommended getting a timesert kit for it, $500 and a month later he gave me back my transmission with a drain plug already fitted into it and a couple months after that I had the car up and running and driving around.

Around August I realized that I had an oil leak from my drain plug so I drained all of my oil and what did I find? No timesert... He charged be $500 dollars to drill and tap a hole and he didn't even install the kit that he spent $400 on. I have been calling his shop about 2-3 times a week sense just trying to get ahold of him and finally THIS MORNING I got a text from him basically saying that he won't refund me for the kit because he will never be able to use it on another car.

At some point one of his employees said something about how a timesert wouldn't work in the transmission and they have given me a lot of other stories. Has anyone on here installed a timesert in your transmission and what possible reason could he have for saying that it "wouldn't work"?

[94touring]

Probably cause he's a liar and a thief. 

[MiniDave]

So, did he use a helicoil or what to do the repair?

Timeserts do have a shoulder that I would think would tend to seal better, but unless he treated the threads of the insert (between it and the hole it threads into) with a sealer of some sort (Locktite?) I would think it would be prone to a very slight leak. It would be really hard to make sure you get the hole square to the surface of the gearbox tho.....at least by hand. I've seen Mini gearbox drain plugs repaired in all sorts of bodgy ways. I've used SS helicoils successfully myself, but I've seen everything from rubber plugs to self threading stock style Mini plugs.

Given the way Mini plugs seal with a large copper flat washer, did he use this type of plug, or even the stock, original plug?

These are some of the heli-coil kits I have, and a timesert kit for spark plug holes. In the close up pic you can see the shoulder on the timesert inserts. When you use these you not only drill the hole oversize, you then use the included special drill bit to drill a square shouldered countersink, then you tap the hole to fit the timesert, which then brings you back to the stock or original size.

You can imagine that it's almost impossible to insure that you get the hole, countersink and tapped hole dead square to the surface of the gearbox unless you could set it up in a mill.

If he won't refund the kit but charged you for it and the repair, I would see if he'll give you the kit - you paid for it and he says he'll never use it again. You could easily sell it on to a shop that repairs Minis, like maybe Nate Kulpa's Wild Child or even Ax and Allies in Denver. Someone might even buy it for their own home shop.

There's another type called "Keenserts" that use an insert similar to a Timesert, but have pins that drive down once the insert is threaded in to lock it into the hole.

Keenserts 

[Spud75]

So, did he use a helicoil or what to do the repair?

Timeserts do have a shoulder that I would think would tend to seal better, but unless he treated the threads of the insert (between it and the hole it threads into) with a sealer of some sort (Locktite?) I would think it would be prone to a very slight leak. It would be really hard to make sure you get the hole square to the surface of the gearbox tho.....at least by hand. I've seen Mini gearbox drain plugs repaired in all sorts of bodgy ways. I've used SS helicoils successfully myself, but I've seen everything from rubber plugs to self threading stock style Mini plugs.

Given the way Mini plugs seal with a large copper flat washer, did he use this type of plug, or even the stock, original plug?

These are some of the heli-coil kits I have, and a timesert kit for spark plug holes. In the close up pic you can see the shoulder on the timesert inserts. When you use these you not only drill the hole oversize, you then use the included special drill bit to drill a square shouldered countersink, then you tap the hole to fit the timesert, which then brings you back to the stock or original size.

You can imagine that it's almost impossible to insure that you get the hole, countersink and tapped hole dead square to the surface of the gearbox unless you could set it up in a mill.

If he won't refund the kit but charged you for it and the repair, I would see if he'll give you the kit - you paid for it and he says he'll never use it again. You could easily sell it on to a shop that repairs Minis, like maybe Nate Kulpa's Wild Child or even Ax and Allies in Denver. Someone might even buy it for their own home shop.

There's another type called "Keenserts" that use an insert similar to a Timesert, but have pins that drive down once the insert is threaded in to lock it into the hole.

Keenserts 

He literally just drilled and tapped the hole. That is it. I finally got a response and he said he'd give me a refund because he is "tired of this bs" but I won't trust that till I have money in my hand. He got some huge plug that he put in there for me but of course, him not being a mini guy, it didn't have a magnet. Thankfully Gold Plug had a drain plug my size so I just bought that and called it good, it still leak's slightly so next time I do an oil change I'll have to add some kind of thread sealant or tape.

The real issue is that now I know if my aluminum threads pull out again I am probably going to have to replace the transmission. There just isn't much meat left for me to make another repair.

[MiniDave]

It's an aluminum case so you could have it welded up and redrilled and tapped back to std, but like I said, you need a machine shop to do it so that it's square to the surface and the seal will lie flat on the machined boss.

[Dan Moffet]

Reminds me of my own Mini transmission "expert bodge". Back around 1972, I bought for $300 or $350 CDN my second Mini with the 998 engine out due to a transmission problem. One of the shifter forks had come loose and the transmission would not shift properly. My first Mini was a Countryman, which was ideal for moving Mini lumps.

In our family carport, I removed the diff to see what might be done. I discovered that the bolt that holds the fork on the shift rail had loosened, but otherwise things were fine. The problem was that it was out of reach of any sort of wrench and the Mini manual (Not Haynes, but a real one!) said that the fork and rail were the last pieces to come out.. In other words, everything else needed to come out. But I had no place, experience or inclination to do such a daunting project.

After some study, I realized that if I drilled a hole in the right position and angle, I could insert a 7/16" socket. So, with a hand-held electric drill (plug-in, single speed!) I went at it. Success!

The next problem was how to plug it. The solution: one of those cast iron plumber's plugs with the tapered thread. TA-DAAAaaa!

After I buttoned everything up, the engine ran fine and so did the transmission - syncro-mesh 1st gear was something new and nice. But a new problem exposed itself: the clutch was slipping. It was OK most of the time, but as time passed, it got more slippy going uphill and demanded downshifts. BUT, I took it to the deaker (we had those back then too...) and for a few bucks more, they put in a nice new clutch disk. Happy car, happy owner.

[Dan Moffet]

[/quote]

The real issue is that now I know if my aluminum threads pull out again I am probably going to have to replace the transmission. There just isn't much meat left for me to make another repair.
[/quote]

As was said,  machine shop can weld it up, drill and tap a fresh hole, including machining a fresh flat surface for the sealing washer. Cheaper than a "new" case. They could even build it up if you waned to.

[94touring]

Post a picture if you can.