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Oh No It's the Gear Box!

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2K views 28 replies 13 participants last post by  fangbosun 
#1 ·
Guys,

I posted this thread yesterday

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=42370

Regarding my 147 jtd gear box not re-centering when in neutral, I have had the car looked at by the garage and apparently it needs a whole new gear box priced at a wait for it...

£1300 including fitting with a possible extra 120 for clutch peices.

This is for a 27 month old car with 45k on the clock. Granted I got a service done late, so the warranty is apparently void.

But if you factor in a new gearbox and spares over a 3 year ownership period then add depreciation Alfa Romeo have turned what is otherwise a good car into a financial disaster!

Any advice (apart from ensure service is done on time next time around!)?

Has anybody had dealings like this with Alfa Romeo previously and got anything back?
 
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#3 ·
Don't panic....I read on here that there is a problem with the TS gearboxes (which I think are the same as your 8v JTD) centering. Apparently it needs a few cheap bits replaced...it could be the solution for yours.
As for your dealer quoting that....get a second opinion. It was only a month or two ago I had a water leak on mine coming from the bulkhead. The first dealer I spoke to said the dash, engine and gearbox needed to come out and the car would be out of action for upto 6 weeks!! I was doubtful, so I took it to another dealer and they cured it in 1.5 hours...turned out the modified extention pipe for the aircon had popped off.
I advise you NOT take your first dealer's view on the problem. Get a second, or even a third.
 
#4 ·
I had exactly the same problem (was ok on short journeys but once it warmed up the lever wouldn't self-centre) within the last year, but I was lucky as the car was still in warranty...they replaced the gearbox and clutch and all seems ok now.

At the time I had read the posts on AO about the linkage and bushes being the problem and not the gearbox itself. I'm still not totally convinced the gearbox was fauilty but as the warranty sorted it out I didn't take it any further.

Your Alfa dealer appears to be diagnosing the problem exactly as mine did, maybe it's the same dealer - where are you located?

I would suggest as you no longer have warranty cover you get a good Alfa specialist to look at the problem - he will be cheaper anyway and they might find that in their opinion it is the selectors and not the gearbox itself.
 
#5 ·
Sunbar said:
I had exactly the same problem (was ok on short journeys but once it warmed up the lever wouldn't self-centre) within the last year, but I was lucky as the car was still in warranty...they replaced the gearbox and clutch and all seems ok now.

At the time I had read the posts on AO about the linkage and bushes being the problem and not the gearbox itself. I'm still not totally convinced the gearbox was fauilty but as the warranty sorted it out I didn't take it any further.

Your Alfa dealer appears to be diagnosing the problem exactly as mine did, maybe it's the same dealer - where are you located?

I would suggest as you no longer have warranty cover you get a good Alfa specialist to look at the problem - he will be cheaper anyway and they might find that in their opinion it is the selectors and not the gearbox itself.
The car has now been to the dealers in Reading and in Northampton. I cannot understand why it is the gearbox as once in gear the gears themselves are fine so is the clutch.

I think that they are trying to sting me can anybody reccomend somewhere local to northamptonshire?
 
#6 ·
Hi, when I bought my 147 I had it in to north leeds dixon alfa for a health check, their report was pretty nasty and conclusively they reckoned it needed £1600's worth of work doing on it to bring it into line. THEY reckoned my gear selector box needed stripping down and rebuilding/relubricating for which they wanted the princely sum of £200.

I took my car to a local specialist (Wynn Lear in Keighley) and he fixed the problem with a new selector box just before christmas, showed me what the problem was as well and's its been spot on since. The numerous other things dixon alfa told me were wrong haven't caused any issues or broken/failed at all.

They also wanted to do a proxy alignment because they reckoned my mileage had been flashing and its only done that once in all the time I've had it and I now know it's because I set off too soon before letting the checks complete (so I don't do that anymore).

The moral of this story?

GET A SECOND OPINION

My local alfa dealers SUCK.

Hope this helps quell some of the anxiety you must be feeling.

:)

Sean
 
#7 ·
GhostyDog said:
Hi, when I bought my 147 I had it in to north leeds dixon alfa for a health check, their report was pretty nasty and conclusively they reckoned it needed £1600's worth of work doing on it to bring it into line. THEY reckoned my gear selector box needed stripping down and rebuilding/relubricating for which they wanted the princely sum of £200.

I took my car to a local specialist (Wynn Lear in Keighley) and he fixed the problem with a new selector box just before christmas, showed me what the problem was as well and's its been spot on since. The numerous other things dixon alfa told me were wrong haven't caused any issues or broken/failed at all.

They also wanted to do a proxy alignment because they reckoned my mileage had been flashing and its only done that once in all the time I've had it and I now know it's because I set off too soon before letting the checks complete (so I don't do that anymore).

The moral of this story?

GET A SECOND OPINION

My local alfa dealers SUCK.

Hope this helps quell some of the anxiety you must be feeling.

:)

Sean
I have previously had this with the first dealer mentioned, they quoted me a whopping 3k of work needed doing, and on pushing they backed off and said that the car was ok.

They changed ownership and personality overnight. Not only this but they forgot to update the log book when they serviced the car and tried to say it had not been done.

Like I said earlier I have now ordered an Audi A3 2.0T S Line, I am sorry Alfa Romeo, sort out these issues and I will buy another one! Until then I dont think I can afford it!

Any useful links for specialists in Northants would be great!
 
#8 ·
#11 ·
I am glad to hear yours can be fixed for £120

I thought mine had siezed up as the car was left standing from September through to first half of November.

Prior to this period it was fine. So unless Alfa are shipping cars which deteriorate within a couple of months something strange is going on.

If this was the case the local dealer would be broke as stock does not seem to shift that quickly on his forecourt.....

Maybe i will try the specialist
 
#12 ·
Spoken to the dealer and apparently on the diesels the part that you describe are internal to the gearbox, and external on the petrol models.

Also Alfa are refusing any good will, even though the 12, 24k services were done on time but the 36 one was late!

This is now becoming a comedy car with Alfa Romeo rapidly dropping in my estimation....

I have owned 15 year old Fiesta's with over 100k on the clock and not had a flicker of trouble from them.....

Alas, spend on what is marketed as a premium brand and after 27 months it all falls apart..

D54 CPM come back all is forgiven!!!
 
#14 ·
I spoke to Alfa UK once before, got the rudest woman in the world at 5:55pm she said tough luck, hung up when I asked her name then closed the help desk....

It was actually quite funny, had I not been facing a bill enough to consider how tall the building is you in, and if you jumped would you survive!

I would appreciate it if you could check the parts cd, as I am not giving them the go ahead until i am absolutely positive this is the issue!

I am sure the Customer Service director at Alfa UK in Slough must be bald with worry....
 
#16 ·
Forget the dealers and let a specialist take a look - I bet if its worse case scenario it will be half what Alfa have quoted you. I had to have my 'box rebuilt last year - new 3rd gear, syncro, clutch and labour for under £550! I bet Alfa would have relived me of three times that. I tried with main agents for 18months before defecting to specialists, I've found somewhere I trust and it has transformed the ownership experience. Ditch the dealers and get a specialist :)
 
#18 ·
:rant:

Just spoken to dealer, whom to be fair were reasonable.

However, they are saying the cost is probably going to be nearer 2k.

They have spoken to Alfa whom wont help. They do admit that even tho the 36k service was late it has no relation at all to the gear box.

What a great advert for Alfa.

Apparently I am going to have to speak to Alfa customer service myself tomorrow.

:mad:

:rant:

Ok thats enough for today on this....

Morale of the story either find a good specialist or dont buy an Alfa.

sorry guys i used to like this thing
 
#19 ·
Check the service details up to 36k - do any include checking gearbox oil? If not, I'd argue strongly that even though the service is late, as your garage put it - bears no resemblence to the part which has failed.

But on the other hand terms are terms, if you've broken them, that's their easy get out. How late was the service?
 
#21 ·
Ulysse said:
If you had the service done at a Alfa garage and it was late they should have advised you that you needed to re-validate the warranty which costs £60.00.

I would fight the warranty company to be honest. How late and how many miles over were you.
The 36k service was done at 43k, however this was inline with the car computer.

The garage has now messed up the servicing records for the car totally, not being able to find the 12k service on their system.

I never knew you could re-validate your warranty, maybe they dont say anything as they want your cash directly.

Also I can confirm that the services it has had have no relation to the gearbox at all.

So therefore it could have been serviced weekly and this may still have happened. Which is annoying.
 
#22 ·
CMWright said:
Guys,

I posted this thread yesterday

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=42370

Regarding my 147 jtd gear box not re-centering when in neutral, I have had the car looked at by the garage and apparently it needs a whole new gear box priced at a wait for it...

£1300 including fitting with a possible extra 120 for clutch peices.

This is for a 27 month old car with 45k on the clock. Granted I got a service done late, so the warranty is apparently void.

But if you factor in a new gearbox and spares over a 3 year ownership period then add depreciation Alfa Romeo have turned what is otherwise a good car into a financial disaster!

Any advice (apart from ensure service is done on time next time around!)?

Has anybody had dealings like this with Alfa Romeo previously and got anything back?
I have just read this and nearly fell over! My gearbox seems to have this problem too and when I removed the gearbox cover - the lubricant looks like it has gone hard'ish. The gearbox is still "fine" the only problem is the self-centralisation.
 
#23 ·
This just proves that Alfa have a bloody long way to go before they can even think about welcoming new owners aboard. Regardless of whether your service was late, if the item is faulty, and can be classed as not fit for purpose, then surely they have to do something about it, even if it was just a good will gesture.
 
#24 ·
CMWright said:
The car has now been to the dealers in Reading and in Northampton. I cannot understand why it is the gearbox as once in gear the gears themselves are fine so is the clutch.

I think that they are trying to sting me can anybody reccomend somewhere local to northamptonshire?

i got my car 5 month ago and now the gearbox has blown up as there was no oil put back in it,, i looked who had done servicing on it and it was a main dealer from reading i adivce you to stay well clear as i have just dropped the box out myslef to find half of the bolts where not done up
 
#26 ·
So whats peoples opinions on getting something like this treated? Granted that it is not ideal but the gearbox seems to be working fine apart from the centralisation issue.

Im just trying to balance up whether to stump up this initial cash to prevent further expenditure.

Any comments welcome :)
 
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