Gear selection problems on a Selespeed

Hello,im new to the forum,can somebody help me please

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i have an alfa 2003 147 2litre selespeed which i love to bits,however a problem has arrived with the selespeed.Its fine until you go on a long run,then it doesnt like going into 3rd gear.When going from 2nd to 3rd it takes a long time ,some times it works slowly other times it goes straight into 5th,then you have to change back down to 3rd,this is in manual or City mode.All other gears seem OK.ive checked the oil level as the link suggests which is fine.im sure its nothing major but needs sorting,can anyone help.
p.s does anyone know of a good Alfa specialist in essex/suffolk

hi there.

as none of the superb techies have found you yet, i'll start you off.
don't fret, or part with a dime to have someone look at this, until you've searched the forum for threads on;

pump brushes
pump relay and connections
and, although i don't have it with my sele prob, i seem to remember 'swarf build up in the gearbox' as a possible explanation for probs with 3rd gear.

also check your battery if it's a bit weary.

good luck!

jo-anne.


keep lovin' your alfa

if you have Alfadiag do a recalibrate and above all check battery !

OK thanks,do you know where i can get this done other than a main dealer.

Originally Posted by Singhabeer

where i can get this done other than a main dealer.

It would help if you said where you are...!

Originally Posted by Singhabeer

OK thanks,do you know where i can get this done other than a main dealer.

do you mean a diagnostic?
i got mine done free by a local garage in the town, lots of indy garages offer this service in hope of getting business from you. it is not the same as alfa diag though as it's generic - but the error code 'intermittant low oil pressure' pointed me in the right direction, so to speak...
personally, i had trouble trying to find anyone other than alfa to even look at my selespeed; locals are willing but out of their depth, auto transmission specialists (and alfa), wanted to strip the whole thing down, even after i told them the diagnostic result.
and as i'm sure the guys on this forum will tell you, that is a bit drastic and quite possibly unnecessary.
i figured my problem out thanks to the knowledge and patience ( ) of the guys above.
on the + side,
cost of my diagnosis = £0.
relief at finding it = priceless.

good luck,
jo-anne (glasgow.)

Helo i have the same problem too

Originally Posted by David C

It would help if you said where you are...!

2nd ed

Please tell his guy where you are!
if anyone can etc........

Jo-Anne has actually given you the advice I would, and DC has asked the same of you as I always do, if you need help tell us roughly where you are and maybe one of us can give it a good looking at, I, like a few others on here have Alfadiag, unidiag and examiner to hand so nailing any electrical problem on a car is quick and easy, but the description you give leads me to think you have a dodgy speed sensor on the front of the gearbox, but nonetheless ALWAYS have the battery checked first on a selespeed, they don't like dead cells and get very tempremental in the winter if the batteries knacked.

Hi its me again,im near Braintree in essex which is sort of between stanstead and colchester,postcode is C06.
Im sure its not the battery as all the cells seem fine,it seemed worse in the summer when the ambient temperature was very slightly higher.the car is fine until its been driven for about 30-40 minutes,then if you park up for 10 minutes its bad then gets slightly better as it cools down[or so it seems].i bled the fluid in the selespeed resevior because i thought it might have got damp,i replaced with the proper fluid but it hasnt made any difference.I will try and find some one with the diag gear this morning to see if it gives us a clue.
Thanks for everyones help,speak soon
Singhabeer

Jamie, Alfaworkshop, Royston, sorted AVincents fairly recently.: Jamie's brilliant, and no I am not just selling his services on heresay alone, it's an absolute fact.:

Hello again ,i took car to AJR Autos in Witham,Essex yesterday,they have the proper Alfa diagnosis gear.They have 'carried out clutch bleed and set up procedure' and the only fault codes it listed was;
p1747-lever no2 switch
p1748-lever no3 switch
However the guy{Andy} said he didnt think the gearlever was the problem because it still does it in 'city' mode,and he,d heard of it before and a new gearlever hadnt solved the problem.He thinks it needs a new gearbox actuator at a price of £963 +vat
+ labour.Obviously im not a happy bunny about this and i would value one of your 'Techies' apinions on this because its fine until its had a long run i.e atleast 40 mins or more.
Ps There was no fault codes stating low oil pressure

Forgot to mention that once the car was hot and the fault accured i switch the engine off ,put the ignition to MAR ,put my foot on the brake and selected the gears and the problem still accured.Just thought id mention it
Singhabeer

I've had this on my old 147. I tried all the usual things (battery, swapping replays, checking the fluid pressure, diagnostics, relays, swapping sensors and relays)

Nothing fixed it. I ended up fitting a 2nd hand gearbox and actuator.

I partially stripped the old actuator and found nothing obviously wrong. I personally think the problem lies within the gearbox and not the actuator, I wouldn't want to risk spending nearly 1k on an actuator unless they are 100% sure.

If it was a problem with the actuator, you'd have a selespeed fluid leak or some error codes come up. Mine never produced error codes, even when I had diagnostics plugged in and it was miss-shifting.

like smaky says dodgy speed sensor on gearbox

OK ,if i try a new speed sensor on the gearbox are they expensive,also were is it on the gearbox,will it need recalibrating again[i hope not]I think im gonna change gearbox oil while im at it,what is the best stuff to use ?
Thanks Singhabeer

I don't think it's anything to do with a speed sensor, if it was the problem, it'd show up on the diagnostics.