Selespeed prob - do I have one....

OK, I have read all the horror stories, and I guess I am just asking whether I am going to become another one

I have an 02 147 2.0 Selespeed, only 27,000 miles on the clock, next service due either Feb or 5,000 miles I think. I have only owned for 2 1/2 months and done about 1,000 miles in it. It has been faultless for my brief ownership, I went out in it this morning, first time was fine, I got to my brothers parked up, left it, went back 2 hours later, no reverse and no first gears, it goes into first and then just drops out after about 2 seconds, it has second gear still though and I can still hear the changes click.

The car is still under a parts warranty, but not labour. I am also a member fo the AA so monday will call my local Alfa garage and see if they will take it to look at and then get the AA to come and pick up it to get it there.

So my question is, am I another casualty of the selespeed box and how much may i be looking at to get it fixed and back and running again.

Thanks

I hope it's a simple fix for you Jim, if the gears are changing themselves, dropping into neutral or other gears, or not selecting correctly then you need it looking at.

I drive a 156 Sele and although the engine has only done 19K the box has done 84K. As a general rule later Sele's were more reliable, I was told from approx. year 2000 onwards. Are you sure the Sele resevoir is topped up and are you aware of the correct method to check this.

You can get the system checked for about £35 and recalibrated for peace of mind, I had mine done this very morning at Lyles of Newcastle, not my nearest Alfa dealer as I'm from Sunderland but they have dealt in Alfa Romeo for nearly 80 years and can probably run rings round my local Reg Vardy outfit which from previous experience I avoid like the plague.

Hope you get it sorted without that big hit to the wallet.

Thanks Ascari, its just that its not selecting reverse or from first is popping back to neutral, i drove it in second fine for about 50 meters and had no prob.

I didn't know about the reservoir, but have just been reading about it, are the guidelines for checking it, I won't do it tonight now, as the car is else where, but will check tomorrow.

I have a couple of garages close by, but with the AA will get it towed somewhere anyway, maybe Rog

Honestly, I bought this as thought I needed something more reliable than the coops, which neither of ever let me down

Is Your Selespeed Warning Light Flashin Or Solid ? Flashing Means Ether Low Pressure Or Overheatin(ive Never Enconted A Box OverHeatin) Solid Light Means Conponant Failure,Is Light Is Flashin Chech Fliud Level If Low Make Sure You Use The CVorrect Fliud To Top Up,Also A Tip The Pump Relay Usually Packs In,Not A Lot Of Dealers Ar Up On Selespeeds They Avoid Them Like The Plauge

The warning for "overheating" is not for the gearbox or any part of the Selespeed system, it is for the clutch. There are no temperature sensors in there, the ECU just calculates situations when clutch overheating may happen. i.e. holding the car on a hill using just the throttle with the clutch slipping.

Originally Posted by JimO

Thanks Ascari, its just that its not selecting reverse or from first is popping back to neutral, i drove it in second fine for about 50 meters and had no prob.

I didn't know about the reservoir, but have just been reading about it, are the guidelines for checking it, I won't do it tonight now, as the car is else where, but will check tomorrow.

I have a couple of garages close by, but with the AA will get it towed somewhere anyway, maybe Rog

Honestly, I bought this as thought I needed something more reliable than the coops, which neither of ever let me down

When I saw your user name I recognised you from the Fiat Coupe forum, Sprint Blue Coupe the same as mine if I'm correct ?.

I'd take the car to an independent Alfa Romeo specialist rather than your average Fiat/Alfa Dealer who is crowded with Fiat Punto's, Roger at PowerFiat sounds like your man. It's more reassuring to see a place full of 20vT's, 156's and 147's and somewhere where they don't give you a funny look when you mention the dreaded word Selespeed.

Mine's a 2002 model and apart from myself overfilling the resevoir when I first got it, it has given me no problems whatsoever. The full engine in my car was replaced under Alfa warranty at 64K (I assume cambelt failure) and the car has done approx. 20K since, for peace of mind I had the system checked and recalibrated as I was unsure if the clutch was changed along with the engine, they found a small intermittent fault with a speed sensor that was corrected when it was calibrated and they told me it drives as well as the 2 Sele's they have for sale which gave me something to smile about.

David will keep you right here as he helped me 18 months ago when I bought my car, you will need at least ATF Dextron III (Halfords) or preferably Dextron IIII which can be ordered from Demon Tweeks and make sure the ignition is switched on and the Sele pump is primed before you top up the resevoir, you will hear the pump prime up for approx. 4-5 secs. I made the error of topping up without the ignition on and lost everthing I put in down the inner wing.
It's a good idea to replace as much of the fluid as possible with new stuff especially if it's a dull grey colour like mine was, it should be a nice blood red, use the wife's turkey baster to remove the old stuff but remember to clean it out for next month.

Other than that, let your Alfa Specialist sort it for you, £35 is cheap enough and gives you a lot of peace of mind. Hope all goes well.

the present seles (or at least the 2001s) can also handle a lot of grief, a good number of track days, aggressive driving and well in excess of 200bhp... just thought id share that!

i hope you get your car sorted, i have heard of the problem of it dropping into neutral before but the only thing i can remember is something to do with a link pin in the engine bay... i may be miles off tho, just sounds familiar (thats twice in 3 days ive said that now yay).

best of luck.

im sure someone will be along shortly who knows exactly the cause

Originally Posted by ASCARI

When I saw your user name I recognised you from the Fiat Coupe forum, Sprint Blue Coupe the same as mine if I'm correct ?.

Thats me

From what i remember I had no warning lights come on at all, the pump always primes itself, where is the reservoir located to check?

I will prob use DTR in Mortlake as that is walking distance (ish) from my office and I have used them in the past on both of the coops as have others from fccuk, so am confident taking it there. I am off on monday, so fingers crossed wil get it towed there and let them fix it.

[quote=JimO]Thats me From what i remember I had no warning lights come on at all, the pump always primes itself, where is the reservoir located to check?QUOTE]

Your Selespeed dashboard warning light is either red or amber (can't remember which) and looks like a small oblong box with a little gearlever sticking out from the top, the resevoir is located on the passenger side inner wing as you open the bonnet, it also has the same diagram on the filler cap which looks like a little gearbox.

Well went to look at my car again this morning, it was still outside my brothers from yesterday and thats where it still is

I got in, the pump primed itself, switched key to MAR no warning lights came on, checked the fluid for the selespeed and it was completely empty So I topped up with dextron from halfords, got it to the right level. Switched off, primed the pump again and tried again and still nothing Still doing the same thing, no reverse and pops out of first, but still has second and once rolling has 3, 4 and 5.

So it will now be the AA in the morning and a call to DTR to see if they will accept from the AA and have a look at it for me before my warranty runs out on Monday week

Well I fancied a GT anyway, maybe it will be sooner that I thought

suspect a re-calibration will sort this out, the plunger needs tweeked from time to time and it will drop out of gear if it thinks it's not properly engaged, good luck!

....Let us know how this goes and what the problem was Jim, hope it's not too serious.

Well the AA had no clue at all, so it got towed to DTR this morning, but they were fully booked, hopefully will hear from them tomorrow with some good news. They didn't seem to be too worried about it, the fact that I still had 2, 3 and 4 gears meant that something was working, so fingers crossed its a simple, easy, cheap fix. Do they actually exist

Good luck Jim

Hi, I've had my sele for 3 years and no probs BUT!!! 1 month ago put my car in neutral to grab somethings from indoors got back into car and car would show itself in 1st or reverve but would just rev as clutch not engaging properly, no warning lights fluid levels all correct. AA man didn't have a clue unplugged and plugged back in couple of connectors and the box worked perfectly again -coincidence? The AA chap didn't know what he'd done! Yesterday did the same fatal mistake, put in neutral for 1 minute came back to no go same problem.
What's going on?! Is there an actuator to control the clutch? On the move the car clutch is rock solid but from standstill lucky to get away - help!

HHHhhhhmmm, not looking good

It could be the gearbox £1,500 or could be the PC controlling the gearbox £1,200 or could be both

Fortunately, both of these are more in parts than in labour, so may not be too bad for me, but they are still checking to dismiss all other problems before ordering a new box.

Do those prices sound about right?