Selespeed reving in 1st

[jimay3677]

The alfa mechanic rekons its running fine (they can't reproduce) they said an engine speed sensor fault was thrown so are replacing that. Looks like a big waste of time taking it there because the ford mechanic could at least reproduce

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[jimay3677]

The mechanic said that they can't get it to do it and it must be because we are using the brakes while slowly down which confuses the selespeed system, apparently in city mode it doesn't work like a normal auto, but it's doing it in manual mode, if the guy at Ford got it to do it straight away why couldn't the guy at the Alfa dealer?

I'm not sure when I'll be picking it up but I'm not sure what to do now if it's still doing it, if the "specialist" says it's fine then Ford won't be very likely to keep paying money to have a driver error problem diagnosed.

[Neil Choi]

Would worth the 3 hours drive to Melbourne to one of the Alfa workshops who are members of the club and are passionate about Alfa's and actually know Alfa's.

Give one of them a call, you might be surprised and looked after.

Guess you believe you are going to an Alfa dealer and thinking they care!!!  At least you know RACV does!!!

But sorry to hear your woes.  I have no solution.

[colcol]

Do as Neil says, drive to Melbourne and have it fixed by a Profesional, all the trips back and forth soon add up to 3 hours, have it serviced twice a year, but properly, some people i know love Selespeeds, cause they get them serviced by folks that know what they are doing.
We are having a Technical night at Alfaman in March, one to put in your diary, and come along and ask some Questions, Colin.

[jimay3677]

Omg!! I no longer have forth

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[poohbah]

Alfa81, for what its worth, in my limited experience Alfa dealers are not necessarily always Alfa experts. As others on here have suggested, I'd find a true Alfa specialist workshop rather than a dealer whose primary interest is in shifting units. Their service guys are probably little different to those at the Ford yard - they are primarily there to do routine servicing on new car sales, not trouble shoot on ten year old vehicles.   

In comparison, the Alfa specialist workshop I go to (which has worked on my car from its prior 2 owners through to me and has been in business for several decades) has been terrific. the fact they have models from almost every generation in the shop at any one time is a good sign they know what they are doing. So that's what I'd look for.

[jimay3677]

As I mentioned before the warranty is a bit of a curse.  While under warranty I can't take it elsewhere. I'd happily pay a few hundred for a fix or even do it myself. But if a $1500 fix is needed and I've voided my warranty the car will be out of action for a few months

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[poohbah]

That is a pretty tricky issue. Had a similar one with the family 4wd myself a few years ago. Extended warranties are all really about keeping you locked into the dealer for maintenance. But even though it would be a pain, surely it would be fine to take it to an Alfa workshop just for diagnosis? The ford guys would obviously welcome some guidance, by the sound of it.

[Neil Choi]

Unfortunately, only the new car/factory warranty is ever worth anything.  Anything outside that such as extended warranty, used car warranty or any form of warranty from a third party insurance company or broker etc etc is worth less than the piece of paper it is written on.  Hence your predicament.  Sorry to hear.


Use up the "good will" of the warranty policy if you can or not (ie they won't fix your problem) and cut your losses and move on with the Alfa and then use one of the independent Alfa repairers who are actually interested.  Like everyone has said and know, dealers are there to push cars in and out, doing the standard oil change for the same labour $, so why bother chasing problems for the same labour $ and incur a headache and the unknown.  You know you can change oii and filter in a set time with no problems and still get that same labour $ guaranteed.



I bought a used car recently, got offered to purchase a warranty or be included in the sale price.  Took the lower price and told the sales guy with lots of cynicism what I thought of the warranty.  He said not much other than not get the commission on the warranty price.

[jimay3677]

I agree with what everyone has said. The warranty is a pita, I'm only taking it to them because of four letters W, I, F and E...

I still rekon the issue with it revving in first is the accumulator, c'mon, the pump kicks in just before it fails to engage first and the pressure drops to 44, it's not holding pressure long enough, maybe the engine speed sensor was dodgy but replacing it has not fixed the revving in first, from numerous searches the pump should not kick in every 3.5 minutes or every second gear change, if not for the warranty I'd be slapping in a new accumulator myself.

I've sent the mech at Ford (who I must say treats me like I know a thing or two and is open to suggestions) some info on swarf causing 4th to not engage, no special skills are required to perform the fix (fingers crossed that's all it is) what really bugs me is I would have had the gearbox cover off myself yesterday if it wasn't for the warranty! lol

So, I'll see what happens on Monday..

[poohbah]

Just had a thought - someone on here with better legal grounding may know more, but I have a recollection that there were updated consumer protection regulations put in place (maybe a state by state thing) in recent years that ensured that such warranties couldn't require that a car owner had to take their car to the originating dealer for the warranty to remain valid. In fact, I think that in WA at least, it is now basically illegal to make exclusive servicing/repairs by the dealer's workshop a condition of any warranty.

I believe that as long as the workshop is an accredited repairer and they use genuine parts, the warranty is ok.  The point of this was to prevent dealers from screwing people blind on costs, and ensuring competition among repairers.

Now while this would mainly apply to routine servicing and maintenance (any faults/defects would obviously be the responsibility of the original dealer), it would at least enable you to get a proper diagnosis from a qualified third party. So it might be worth double checking the fine print on your warranty. Will also help if you get into a stand off with Ford dealer over getting the actual problem fixed, if you have a third party diagnosis.

[Garibaldi]

Most new vehicle warranties allow you to use any accredited repairer and as long as they use genuine parts you will not void your new vehicle warranty. However from my experience in the industry I have found that you will always get more help from a dealer if you have purchased and serviced your vehicle with them.

Aside from the statutory 3 month/ 5,000 klms you get when you purchase a used vehicle most free dealer extended warranties are based on you servicing your vehicle with them. There are also limitations on the dollar value per claim so check your warranty thoroughly. 

[jimay3677]

I'm covered for up to 2k per claim provided all servicing and repairs are done through them.

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[Domenic]

Most new vehicle warranties allow you to use any accredited repairer and as long as they use genuine parts you will not void your new vehicle warranty. However from my experience in the industry I have found that you will always get more help from a dealer if you have purchased and serviced your vehicle with them.

Aside from the statutory 3 month/ 5,000 klms you get when you purchase a used vehicle most free dealer extended warranties are based on you servicing your vehicle with them. There are also limitations on the dollar value per claim so check your warranty thoroughly. 

I know it's a pretty long read, but if you go to the bottom of page 8, you'll see that your warranty isn't void if you don't service the car at the dealer or use genuine parts.

http://www.aaaa.com.au/files/issues/AAAA%20CCAAC%20Submission%20Final.pdf

[jimay3677]

A small chunk of a tooth was blocking 4th I'm wondering if it's from the couple of times I've gone to shift into second only to find it had done so automatically and instead went into first quite violently.



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