166 Transmission Warning

Hello,
on my 166 3.0 24V Sportronic, 2 mins after having started the car, I got stuck in traffic for 10minutes, and then when it was my turn at the roundabout I lunged forward by flooring the accelerator. The car responded nicely, but suddenly I heard a clonk and it seemed to change up more quickly than I had expected. Looking at the dashboard, the transmission sign came on , so I immediately stopped and switched the engine off. Checked the manual, then switched the car back on and the sign had disappeared. I tried (later) some accelerations and it seemed fine.
Tomorrow I am bringing it for an oil change (only bought it a week ago) and I am thinking of doing also a transmission oil change. Do you think that is a good idea?

Thanks for all your replies...

Just wanted to add, do you think this may have happened because the car had not reached temperature yet, and perhaps the gearbox was not lubricated properly yet?

Is Sportwotsit like Selespeed?
Either way this probably won't be any use!! .....
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...undabouts.html

Though the symtoms do sound similar. I think there are other posts in the same vein, but have difficulty using the search facility.

sportronic is fully automatic, while selespeed I think is robotised manual, so it is still manual. Has anybody else had similar problems with their auto boxes or are they all perfect?

Sounds like you just confused (perhaps not warmed up yet)
When tyou confuse it or it throws a wobbly it goes to limp home/protective mode ie it stays in 3rd. Turn off /start up again usually sorts it.
If your bella has done more than 50k then box may well need an oil change. Alfa says oil is for life - well Citroen/Peugeot, BMW, Merc use the same ZF HP20 box and schudule oil changes on it at varying intervals, so change is a good idea.
Have a look for previous threads on how it might be done, since there are no specific instructions anywhere!
Just emptying it won't remove all oil, prob only 1/2 since alot stays in cooling and torque convertor systems.

yes I have seen some discussions but I am not going to change it myself, I will ask the mechanic to do it. Hopefully he knows what he is doing. If it is only changed 1/2 surely that is better than just old transmission liquid?

well yes and no, you've still got half the old oil, contaminating the new oil, with a possibilty that they may have some incompatability issues.

Hello again, at the end I did not change the transmission fluid, because apart from that event it was fine, that is until it happened again yesterday. I had only driven the car for 8 minutes, and at a busy roundabout I floored it and again I heard a clonk, the hard acceleration stopped (but the car ran fine) and the transmission warning came on.
Does anyone know how to easily check how much fluid is left? I know we are not supposed to change, but just wanted to check. Many thanks for your help,
Stam

I occasionally get the gearbox transmission light flicker on however no other event occurs at the same time - a dealer mechanic suggested it may have been low oil level however as it is so intermittent I recon its just dodgy Italian electrics (are Ducati and Alfa linked in any way?). Certainly in the two years with my 3.0 sportstronic I have had no problems - certainly nothing like you have experienced. Problem is the dealer network probably don't have a clue either.

Had exactly the same experience about 3 years ago whilst sitting in a slow moving line of traffic. It sounded serious when it happened but after restarting the engine the warning light went out and it has never happened again. My thought at the time was that perhaps I had accelerated too soon after selecting drive and that perhaps the gearbox hadn't fully engaged first, it certainly appeared to go into a default setting as suggested above.

Oil level check procedure is out lined in the DTE manual.
Its tricky cos you have check when oil is the correct temp, but not normal working temp. 35 deg C I think. ATF/Dextron must expand a bit when it heats up since check levels on power steering are very different with only 70 deg difference.
The check level is one of the hex plugs on side of box, where you fill it if you don't use the oil coooler method.

Forgive my newbie ignorance, but what's the DTE manual, and how can I get hold of a copy? Just bought a 2001 166 3.0 Sportronic. It goes beautifully but today I was driving on cruise control at 110 km/h, with the engine showing 75C when the gearbox light came on. I stopped, switched the engine off and on, but the light stayed on. The car was driving perfectly so I cautiously continued at 110 km/h and after about ten minutes the light went out.

I'd like to change the fluid - I don't know its history and nothing lasts forever - but have no idea how to do that.

Any ideas on what else could have caused the light to come on?

Your engine should show a rock steady 90,all the time. If its low at that speed your thermoststa is knackered.
Shouldn't affect autobox though.
DTE is available from ebay but elearn is better apparently

Thanks CrispDust. I figured the thermostat was broken, but as the temperature reaches 90 pretty quickly if you drive with an Italian accent and never goes above 90, I wasn't too worried.
Thanks also for the tip about where to get the manual.

If I do 120 km/h on the motorway and the outside temp is ~2-3°C, then the dash shows 75-80°C. As soon as slow down, or the outside temp is above ~6-7°C, the dash shows steady 90°C. I thought it's OK.