Selespeed Issue, No Reverse Or Neutral; Switch?

[millervet 1]

I parked my 2001 156 selespeed sportwagon 2.0 TS last night, went out this morning and can't select reverse gear. Can select all other gears when moving. I hooked up Mulitecuscan and it came out with error code P1748 (Lever Switch 3) and P1746 (Failed Component Code: Switch Lever 1 Fault Symptom: Signal Not Plausible), and the gearbox is refusing to go back into neutral. It will do so if I run the "Diagnosis of Return to Neutral" calibration. Battery voltage reads 14V, car starts, revs fine, tried warming up engine, performed calibration, but no change to error codes or problem.

Anybody know what this might be e.g solanoid, cable, sensor, actuator, accumulator?

 

I took the car out today, and it drives completely normally apart from the lack of reverse gear, and for the fact that it won't go into neutral unless I take my foot off the brake with the handbrake on,. I can hear the pump working, and the fluid level appears fine with no sign of leaking. I just checked with MultiEcuScan again and there were no error codes present for the gearbox.

 

With the engine off, I went through all the gears no problem apart from reverse, which doesn't register on MultiEcuScan. No error codes found unless I move the joystick into neutral position and hold for a few seconds and then I get a switch 1 error along with a beeping, and flashing dashboard symbol. My thoughts are that it might be due to a lever switch failure? Any other ideas?

Edited June 29, 2013 by millervet

[Bigdar 62]

Smaky knows what's wrong with it

Be patient and he'll reply (he's not on here everyday).

 

Welcome by the way

[millervet 1]

Thanks, both for the welcome and the advice. Sorry about the blackhighting in the above post-did a copy and paste from another forum and couldn't remove it.

[Smaky 73]

Ignore the switch lever fault, you are causing that by holding the stick in an out of neutral position for too long.

 

What you need to do is plug in MES and connect to the gearbox,

 

Check the clutch position, ensring it is between 28 and 28.5mm if it's not then the clutch rod needs to be adjusted and LOCKED within this range, then run the EOL calibration routine.

 

That may be enough to resolve it, but would indicate a wearing clutch.

 

 

If it continues then there a 2 normal possibilities,

 

Worn out clutch/collapsed release bearing,

 

Faulty gearbox, namely the input selector guide loop has snapped off.

[millervet 1]

The clutch engage position is 31.626mm on MES. Better get the spanners out. The service records don't show a previous clutch change and the car has done 98000 miles, so I guess the clutch is on it's way out. Any idea what garages charge to plonk a new one in?

[millervet 1]

I performed a selespeed calibration 2 days ago and nothing seemed different at first. However yesterday I suddenly had neutral and reverse gears back. How is this possible?

[K9d 108]

Its an Alfa

[Smaky 73]

The clutch engage position is 31.626mm on MES. Better get the spanners out. The service records don't show a previous clutch change and the car has done 98000 miles, so I guess the clutch is on it's way out. Any idea what garages charge to plonk a new one in?

 

If you can find a garage that will attempt it on a selespeed then you're looking at around the £700 region, there are some though who can almost halve that and get you on the road again within the day.

 

But yes 31.626mm is a colapsed release bearing or worn spring plate.

[Smaky 73]

I performed a selespeed calibration 2 days ago and nothing seemed different at first. However yesterday I suddenly had neutral and reverse gears back. How is this possible?

 

Setting the clutch back to 28mm will often allow selection of all the gears again and the calibration will have allowed the system to adjust for the wear, but it is only a temporary fix, the clutch will still need replacing.

[deejeta 0]

Had my clutch replaced yesterday it was out to 30+ on the rod. Suffering same symptoms plus would occasionally grind gears changing down from 3rd to 2nd. There was no meat left on the clutch thats for sure it was toast. Did a good job though to last 208k kms though. Plus the rear main seal was leaking so it was a good chance to tidy the whole area up. Selespeed changes so nice now as well.

 

OP I would personally be saving for a new clutch just in case it is on its way to alfa heaven.

[Smaky 73]

Had my clutch replaced yesterday it was out to 30+ on the rod. Suffering same symptoms plus would occasionally grind gears changing down from 3rd to 2nd. There was no meat left on the clutch thats for sure it was toast. Did a good job though to last 208k kms though. Plus the rear main seal was leaking so it was a good chance to tidy the whole area up. Selespeed changes so nice now as well.

 

OP I would personally be saving for a new clutch just in case it is on its way to alfa heaven.

 

Rear main seal??? do you mean one of the driveshaft seals or the input shaft seal??? If it's the latter then you have a faulty front bearing and that needs replacing before it takes out your new clutch too.

[millervet 1]

I set the clutch rod back to 28.1mm (though it's reading 27.97 after calibration and test drive). The gears change faster now, but still no neutral or reverse. Has the the clutch had it? Sounds like the release bearing?

[Smaky 73]

Possibly, but first thing to do is pop the end case off the gearbox (jack up the N/S front/ support on axle stand, remove the wheel, remove the access cover, place a drip tray under the gearbox and remove the 5 13mm bolts and the one 10mm bolt, tap the case to break the sealant, clean out any swarf or debris, apply sealant to the covers mating face and refit everything, top up the gearbox oil through the 12mm allen plug on the front of the box, fill to spill 75/90.

[millervet 1]

The gearbox oil was changed only 6 months ago, but I'll give it a go.

[Smaky 73]

The gearbox oil was changed only 6 months ago, but I'll give it a go.

 

Changing the gearbox oil doesn't solve the problem that I think you may have as this area has a step in it which catches debris.

[millervet 1]

Ok, so what's the plan now that I've accidentally sheared the top of the 10mm bolt off?

Edited August 4, 2013 by millervet

[Smaky 73]

How did you manage that?

[millervet 1]

ok, I exaggerated; that was what I thought was happening when I couldn't budge the 10mm bolt more than 1/2 a turn. I think that it had been cross threaded as after an hour of pulling and pushing etc I could only get it to come out about 6-7mm before the head stripped. I don't have much mechanical experience, so what is the best way to remove a bolt? What if I just cut off the bolt head? Or does it need to be drilled out?

Edited August 7, 2013 by millervet

[Smaky 73]

Cutting the head off it isnt a problem, just make sure you use sealant when reassembling, the rest of the bolts will hold the plate on tight enough so it doesn't leak.

[millervet 1]

Ok, the end case is off, and there is no debris or swarf present. Anything else I should look at before putting it back together?

[Smaky 73]

In that end case is a smalloil feed hole, it that is oval at all then there is damage to the front bearing, otherwise, refit it using sealant and then remove the 3 17mm lock rollers from just under the gearbox mount. Check that the are able to be podged in and that they spring back out again.

[millervet 1]

The feed hole on the inside of the end plate appears round. Just need to refill with oil and then will tackle the 3 bolts.

[millervet 1]

I wasn't able to remove the 17mm bolts due to my somewhat feeble constitution, so i dropped the car down and started it. Although the indicator reads that the box is in neutral, the car began to inch forward until it stalled. This happened repeatedly. Any suggestions? I will hook it back up to Alfadiag in the meantime and check for errors and recalibrate.

[millervet 1]

see below.

Edited August 12, 2013 by millervet

[millervet 1]

AlfaDiag has the following error code:

 

P0725 Failed Component Code: Engine Speed

Fault Symptom: No Signal

 

The clutch position is 27.78mm

 

Also, The gearbox warning light on the dash is flashing.

The car starts fine, then seems to put itself into gear (although the indicator reads N), leading it to then stall. I can't manually select any gear with the engine off.

Pleas help Smaky! The car is just sitting in my drive, a monument to my mechanical ignorance.

Edited August 14, 2013 by millervet