newbie ,sportronic help please

hi every one my 166 seems to be only driving in one gear third or fourth does not change up or down cant use the box manualy at all and the the box on dash does not show anything at all could somebody out there give me a list of things to start looking at as this is my first 166 i dont no were to start any help would be appreciated regards toscana

A good start would be to change the gear oil and put some additive in there to make the valve work better..My bet is that the oil has not been changed..and take it from there..if that does not help, look for an electrician for electrical faults, fuses,etc...if that does not help,then I'm afraid you have a broken gearbox...good luck..

hi dafi 166 i will start with an oil change first can you recomend a good quality oil and additive regards toscana

if you ll need a used good gearbox please pm , it might be cheaper than getting yours repaired

Also check for a leaking heating radiator. Coolant liquid dripping down from it can do severely harm to the underlying ECU of the Sportronic.

thanks marco166 i will do all my checks first and bear it mind about your good used box regards toscana

hi klaasw i will check for any leaks on the ecu regards toscana

if you think the ecu is at fault, if you can drive here i ll lend you a good gearbox ecu sa you can try it, rule the ecu out. If its stuck in 3rd , is the gearbox warning light on? it is limp home mode, i m not sure, but i think that engine problems can cause the car to go into 'limp home mode'

do a search on this forum for the correct oil - i think its LM or LH something, Castrol? Cheapest from a Citroen/Peugeout dealer.
Or get Redline D4 - but it aint cheap and you'll need at least 20 litre to do a full change.
Are all the connections sound in the actual gearlever mechanism?

just found previous thread :
Esso ATF LT 71741
=> Audi Oil No. G 052162A1x
=> BMW Oil No. 8322 9407807x
=> Citroen Oil No. Z 000169756x
=> Jaguar Oil No. JLM 20238x
=> Mercedes Benz Oil No. A 0019892203x
=> Peugeot Oil No. Z 000169756x
=> Porsche Oil No. 999.917.547.00
or Transmax Z
also Q8 and Redline 4 fluids can be used.

hi marco the gearbox light isnt on ive checked the wires around the base of the gear stick they seem ok i am going to change the gearbox oil check the wires that go into the box and do ecu reset if no good i would like to take you up on your offer of lending me good gearbox ecu to illiminate the ecu im,e struglingto find time at the moment to do all this but i will get back to you regards toscana

hi crispdust thanks for the info on oil regards toscana

Re the oil change....I'm still getting around to this on mine. Mainly as I don't trust anyone in the motor trade! What's putting me off DIY at the moment is the lack of a proper procedure to do it on this car. I've seen the thread talking about using the cooler pipes to gain access and doing a sort of total loss refill job on it (hence the comment about needing 20L of oil).


But....is there a better way????

No, not as far as I can see or work out. If Alfa had put a simple filler on the top of box it would be no problem.
Anyone know what the blue plastic twirly knob ontop of the 'box is? All it seems to do is vent oil in small amounts. Perhaps this is removable for access?

I think the biggest problem is that the 'drain plug' only empties the diff area, so only a small quantitiy of the actual box contents comes out.

Blue plastic chap sounds like a vent, so could do as a fill point...but may be a very restricted path into the internals. Besides, no dipstick so you'd still have to remove the filler plug and watch it dribble onto the floor.

Darn stupid arrangement. Who to blame though? ZF or Alfa??

Alfa. cos the similar ZF box is fitted to Citroen and Beemers but they have an oil filter within the box, otherwise is identical 4HP20 or something

I tracked down a PDF of the service manual for the Citroen version of the 4HP20 hoping it would be handy. Typical Alfa though isn't it..

was pdf useful, if so have you a link?

Originally Posted by CrispDust

was pdf useful, if so have you a link?

It's pretty comprehensive...but as for useful....

Can't recall where I found it, but it was only 3 or 4 clicks away from a basic google search for 4HP20. I's a Citroen manual BTW.

Originally Posted by Marco166

if you ll need a used good gearbox please pm , it might be cheaper than getting yours repaired

Marco166, you have mail.