Alfa Kiwi

Hi I have read through the posts and cant determine what may be the cause of my issues so hope that someone can help with the diagnosis. Had some issues several years ago with the first turning out to be the "rotor sensor" and later with an inability to select gears which was remedied by replacing the brushes in the pump. 12 months ago I imported an accumulator and relay which I got the local mechanic to fit while replacing the cam belt. At the time I asked regarding the loud clunky/graunchy noise when changing between 2-3, 3-4 and 4- and 3-2 which he advised was the gearbox that needed replacing but might be ok for another 20,000kms or so. So I haven't had that done as yet. Car drove great for about 5 months then the following symptoms started appearing: When the car has travelled about 20kms it is warm enough for the issues Stopping and turning the engine off, then when trying to restart the car the gears flash through on the dash display5,4,3,2,1,N (flashing on N) so unable to restart. I make gear selection in each direction until N appears and I quickly restart the car before it flashes or moves to a different gear on the display. Moving off from a stop position can cause bunny hops and or "wheelies" Selecting R, quite a considerable pause and then a car shuddering clunk. A considerable delay when changing gears The pump runs upon opening the door and again when inserting the key prior to selecting N for start Apologies for the non-technical speak as I am not very mechanical but trying my best to understand as over the 5 years I have had my car I have found that it really helps to have a pretty good idea what may be the cause before engaging the services of the auto-electrician or mechanic. Many thanks

Thanks Smaky for the advice, I am in the process of getting an accumulator and relay from the UK as it so much cheaper than sourcing them from the dealers here. I'm hoping that will solve the problem. They told me a relay would cost me $100 NZD and they are only 6.50 GBP. Can I get your advice on explaining how the accumulator can be causing the issue just for piece of mind as it seems if you mention "accumulator" people seem to be scared by the word and think it's some highly complicated part that can't be understood. In simple language, if it is not functioning correctly, because it holds the pressure which enables gear selection then you will get intermittent faults of not being able to select gears or as in my case it pops out of gear. So the malfunctioning accumulator tricks the computer into thinking that the relay that controls the selespeed pump is not working properly because the pump is getting the message from the relay? One other thing, with the graunching of gear changes between 2-3 and 3-4 using both the gear stick and paddles, does that indicate that the gear box needs replacing, or is there something else to investigate. Cheers

Hi I love my Alfa, but am no mechanic. I had issues last year with gear selection, after lots of $ at the auto electrician via the mechanic the brushes were replaced - I wasn't getting any error messages - fixed! Now I am getting the message "Selespeed System Failure", occaisionally while driving the car goes from gears into neutral, then I stop select 1st and drive off (while every 20 seconds or so the dash reports the error and beeps. Have also noticed there is a delay with gear changes. The gears have been graunching when going from 2nd-3rd and 3rd-4th - mechanic said it needs a new gearbox. The mechanic has plugged in diagnostics and wants to take it back to the auto electrician - for the Selespeed fault. I would so appreciate some advice from people in the know , so I can get my car fixed without having to replace unnecessary things as I feel that they aren't too sure themselves - but pretty scarce to find a mechanic who knows anything about Alfa's where I am. Cheers