2004 Alfa Romeo 156 Sillyspeed - Selespeed pump

[Annabella]

Hi guys,

Soo I on my way home and the selespeed pump does it againnnnnn!!!

Car was stuck in neutral. The transmission has been fixed 3 times since I bought the car back in Sep 14. Road side assistance has been contacted 15 times since Sep as well.  Thank god for RACV.

Sooo...ive decided to dump my Alfa and never buy one again

What is your recommendation? Should I give the car to the wreckers and take my $300.00 away or should I find someone to rip the parts apart and sell them separately?  Any contacts or advice?

Thank you

[pasey25]

if you had a new pump fitted surely it has a warranty?

[Annabella]

Second hand. Couldnt afford a new one. Coils, tranmission, burning oil, leaking pump. I have it serviced every 10,000kms and too up the oil every 2 weeks. Selespeed is the worst car i have ever ever owned.

[poohbah]

Don't give up on Alfas just because of the stupid selespeed transmission.

My advice is either replace the pump with a new one and see how she goes, or advertise the car honestly as is. As long as the car is running and licensed you should get a couple of grand if the rest of it is in good order. It's still very low kms.

Then look around for a well maintained 156 V6 with a conventional 6sp manual gearbox. I promise you will love it, and it will have none of the selespeed foibles, has loads more power and makes the most glorious sound you will ever hear. Much simpler to maintain (usual 156 considerations - make sure it has good service history, timing belt changed religiously every 3 years or 60,000k, and water pump every 2nd belt change etc).

You should be able to pick up a half decent one for $4-6k.

[alanm]

...or look around for a 156 V6 Auto if you don't want to drive a manual car.
The V6 auto is an old school conventional auto that doesn't seem to go wrong.

Sorry to hear about your experience with the Selespeed – it has caused a lot of heart ache for a lot of people

Al.

[poohbah]

Annabella, you should check out something like this - it will cure you of your recent bout of Alfaphobia - in your own hometown too. There are cheaper ones advertised too. Personally I'd still go for a manual, but as Alan says, the conventional auto in the V6 is pretty bulletproof. 

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Alfa-Romeo-156-2005/SSE-AD-3512781/?Cr=9

[addem]

Hey there,

After many issues with my Selespeed I have learned a few things from the guys here and from other forums.

Are you sure it's the pump and not the accumulator? Also after I changed my accumulator the pump relay was on the go and swapped it with the fan 2 relay (red ones in front of the battery) and it's been running great.

Just some suggestions

Adam

[jimay3677]

This is why I can't sell my Selespeed. People have issues like yours and label them junk because they're not diagnosed properly, no offence intended.

[jimay3677]

Burning oil, are you using 10w-60? Misfires on mine were fuel and wrong oil weight/right oil weight crap oil Castrol Edge 10w-60 was the worst, Penrite HPR 15 doesn't use a drop in 5000k nor do I get weekly misfires.  MultiECUScan is a must have and costs less than the fee for a mechanic who likely has no idea what he's doing just to pop the bonnet, no offence to mechanics but a lot just don't put in the time to diagnose and research so just guess or say straight away you need a $4000 actuator when it's a $50 sensor and MultiECUScan will say so, these are the idiots potential buyers call about my car.  Selespeeds are not total junk if looked after and diagnosed properly if there are issues, I'll admit more goes wrong than a conventional manual but most are fixable very cheaply and it's usually accumulator, calibration, pump brushes or a sensor. There is only one issue with mine I could not resolve but I can avoid it through driving style and when it does happen I'm just delayed a few seconds flicking to N then back to 1. In two years and 33,000k I've never once been unable to drive it at highway speeds or around town but people assume I'm lying because Selespeeds are junk. Mine just sat for 4 months unregistered but was quite happy on the 150k drive yesterday.

[Mick A]

Misfires on mine were fuel and wrong oil weight/right oil weight crap oil Castrol Edge 10w-60 was the worst, Penrite HPR 15 doesn't use a drop in 5000k nor do I get weekly misfires.  MultiECUScan is a must have and costs less than the fee for a mechanic who likely has no idea what he's doing just to pop the bonnet, no offence to mechanics.

As a mechanic, and one that cares about the customers and giving the right advice, how do I not take offence to that statement? Also, I have to call you out here and say that you are full of shit, changing the oil won't cure a misfire mate, this proves you have no fucking clue what you are talking about.

Misfires are commonly due to ignition system problems, i.e. coil packs or injectors on the JTS cars.

I strongly advise everyone on here not to listen to this person, as they are giving the WRONG ADVICE.

Also - MultiECU scan is fantastic but sometimes you need to interpret what it is saying, not just follow blindly what is up on the screen, this is where we 'idiot' mechanics make people like you look like the idiots.

Mick

[Evan Bottcher]

No offence.

[jimay3677]

Misfires on mine were fuel and wrong oil weight/right oil weight crap oil Castrol Edge 10w-60 was the worst, Penrite HPR 15 doesn't use a drop in 5000k nor do I get weekly misfires.  MultiECUScan is a must have and costs less than the fee for a mechanic who likely has no idea what he's doing just to pop the bonnet, no offence to mechanics.

As a mechanic, and one that cares about the customers and giving the right advice, how do I not take offence to that statement? Also, I have to call you out here and say that you are full of shit, changing the oil won't cure a misfire mate, this proves you have no fucking clue what you are talking about.

Misfires are commonly due to ignition system problems, i.e. coil packs or injectors on the JTS cars.

I strongly advise everyone on here not to listen to this person, as they are giving the WRONG ADVICE.

Also - MultiECU scan is fantastic but sometimes you need to interpret what it is saying, not just follow blindly what is up on the screen, this is where we 'idiot' mechanics make people like you look like the idiots.

Mick

Perhaps you could read that again, I said a lot not all, you chose to place yourself in the category I was referring to not me, almost every mechanic I've come across knows nothing about them, I should have said no offence to mechanics who do know them to avoid assholes swearing at me like they're ten. so why did I have a misfire weekly until changing oil? The oil fixed my ignition system did it? Did I say it's well known oil causes misfires? No I didn't fucking say that, I said that fixed mine, not a single misfire in 10000k on Penrite HPR15 but a shitload on Castrol Edge, none on 5w60 before that, tons on the oil from the dealer, so ignition systems are self healing? Because cleaning the connectors and replacing coils and plugs didn't resolve it, you say I have no fucking idea then say commonly, commonly means not always so you have just said it could be caused by other things, I'll admit I could be wrong because it makes no sense but will changing oil blow up the engine?  And yes you do need to interpret what MultiECUScan is saying I never said you didn't.  I didn't realise I was just unlucky that I picked the mechanics who don't have it and just say oh it's this code I'll have to call Alfa and see what may be the cause, sorry I can't work it out go to the Alfa dealer.  Load up your keyboard why don't ya. Why is it that mechanics where I live tell you if something goes wrong you'll need to take it to Brisbane? Why do people call their mechanic then say to me oh I'm not buying because my "mechanic" just said if something goes wrong with the Selespeed you have to replace the whole Selespeed unit?  Not everything is directed at you. You made a hell of a lot of ASSumptions about me, I'm speaking from experience. FYI when I bought it my local mechanic said they are shit and to avoid as the actuators fail constantly and you have to replace the whole unit, so I spoke to someone who specializes in them and got the correct answer.  Why when I lost 4th was I telling the mechanic how to fix it? And right? Why was someone else selling a 147 that their mechanic said needs a new actuator back on the road after I checked the accumulator pressure and they had that replaced? Or was that a self healing actuator? Idiots luck maybe? I didn't say the actuator is stuffed a MECHANIC did. I never called you an idiot so what right do you have to call me an idiot without knowing the full story? You don't take offence at something by realising it's not and never was directed at every single mechanic instead of taking everything personal and launching childish attacks on people who never said this is the fix, is this a wiki page where every post should be taken as gospil? You get offended over a general statement never directed at you then call people idiot directly? Why don't you ring a few non Alfa mechanics and ask their opinion on Selespeeds.

[Mick A]

Please don't swear, it's offensive.

[jimay3677]

Please don't swear, it's offensive.

You're kidding right? it's offensive if I do it but not you?

[Neil Choi]

Please no offence taken.