Competent 147 Selespeed mechanic needed - Victoria

[monoman]

Hi,

I looking for a competent 147 selespeed mechanic in Melbourne.  My 2002 147 is having intermittent selespeed problems which thus far remain unsolved. 

Cheers

[dehne]

if you give me a call on 0418711643 i can help you diagnose the exact prob and then let you know a course of action

[John Hanslow]

have a look at our sponsors page and there are several Alfa specuialist there. 

In addition have a look at a few previous threads.

http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/content/view/20/33/

Check out the prices and perhaps if you have an idea of the issue e.g if it kangaroo hops/ bunny hops (that is a easy fix) you will get a better indication of price.

Depends where you live or work but try Maranello Pursang in Brunswick, Monza in Bayswater and another Benincas in Canterbury Road, Canterbury.

[monoman]

Here goes then,

Late Friday night she stalled at lights with gear ind flashing 4 and would not turn over.  Got it towed to Maranello's.
Saturday morning I drove over to Maranello's (which wasn't open), checked car and it started, so I tried to drive home.  Got close to home when lost drive (engine still running) with gear indicator flashing 2.  Could not select any gear, and engine would not turn over when I tried to restart it.  Got it towed back to Maranello's.
Monday Maranello's check over car, everything seems okay.  Drive car around, fine.
Tuesday morning.  Will not turn over.  Gear ind flashing 4.  Eventually starts after fiddling with battery cables.  Drive car to Maranello's, where they clean and tighten all battery terminals.  Everything seems fine except car looses drive with 2 flashing.  Selespeed failure shows up for thge first, but not last time today.  Then wont turnover after shutdown, then does restart.  Can only select 2 or 4 (manual or city mode), then looses drive again 100m from Maranello's.  Connect diag computer and only faults showing are from gear selector apparently from me trying to manually get a gear when I had no drive. 

Car then broke down 6 times on 7 km drive home.  Either lost drive with gear ind showing a gear, or not selecting a gear from N.  Very frustrating indeed.

Giancarlo at Maranello's was very patient and helpful.  He refused payment for his time today.  He suggested I take it to an Alfa dealer because they can reset the selespeed and re-prog it if needed.   

I had a chat with Hugh at Monza, so I'll take it over to him on Thursday.  By take it I mean on the back of a truck. 

When it is working, it's shifts really nicely - manual or city.  Doesn't bunny hop or make strange noises.  It  would be a nice car if it wasn't being a pain.

Cheers

[dehne]

you need to get another pump which will cost about $300 which you can install ur self in about 10mins when this is done take it to a dealer and get the to plug it in to their comp and reset the computer all should be good and it will not cost you $1000's

[monoman]

Dean, thanks for the chat and the advise.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to replace the pump myself because I have a spinal cord injury.  Would love to do it, God knows I could use the money right now rather than spending it on a fixing my car.

I am a bit surprised that some on this forum feel they are being taken for a ride by Alfa repairers.  It certainly isn't my experience.  Giancarlo at Maranello's was very helpful and was very reasonable price wise.  He suggested I take the car to an Alfa dealer because he didn't want to charge me while he tried to diagnose a problem he had not previously encountered.  I haven't dealt with Hugh at Monza Motors on close to 20 years, but I remember his workmanship to be first rate and his rates competitive, just like his driving.

Seriously, if you feel you are being ripped off, (deliberately or through incompetence) by some Alfa repairers, speak up and let us know who they are.  Just because these business sponsor the club is no reason to support them.

Cheers

[dehne]

another option is getting the pump ur self and have them fit it for you this alone will still save you $100's

[Evan Bottcher]

If Giancarlo wasn't able to diagnose the fault then it wasn't the pump.  The pump failure is very common and Maranello Pur Sang replace them regularly and diagnose/calibrate with the correct examiner computer. 

If you feel like a *lot* of reading then I recommend rifling through the 156 forum on http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum.  I think there is a 'sticky' thread that covers a multitude of selespeed problems.

good luck!

[John Hanslow]

The dealer network is always more expensive than other recommeded repairers.  Like most things, some people prefer and appreciate value for money and having a choice.  That's good.

Thankfully we have Alfa Specialists like Giancarlo at Maranello Pur Sang in this instance and he did not charge for his time.  They support alfa enthusiasts.  Also, with resetting the Selespeed computer, you need an engine analyser, and more importantly in this instance a factory Alfa Analyser that can reset the selespeed geerbox computer.

You can only ring around and make sufficient enquiries to get the required result.

Cheers.

[monoman]

The Selespeed lives!  Yippie!

All she needed was a computer reset, and now it's sweet - touch wood.

Big thanks to Hugh and Monza motors.

Cheers and thanks to all.

BTW.  The computer did not store or report any errors, and everything thing was in the correct operating range, pump included.

BTW2 - I read every selespeed problem post on this forum, and on alfaowner.com.  Of the small number of cars that had symptoms similar to mine, in each case the fix was different, ranging from new battery, new actuator, new solenoids, new accumulator, new pump, fix leak, clean out gearbox, new selector forks, wiring repair, and computer reset. 

So there you go, no pattern at all.  Actually, there was one pattern that really stood out, but it was related to the advice given, and not the actual fix. And that was to replace the pump.  I got that advice too, and I'm glad I chose to ignore it.