Alfa 147 Selespeed issues

[Randy]

Hi all,  I am new to this forum and hoping you guys can help me out

I have a Alfa 147 selespeed 2007,  originally and intermittently it kept coming up with gearbox failure or gear unavailable.  I replaced the 50A relay and it worked for about a month.  Prior to that I had RACV come out and replace the battery.

Now intermittently the same issue came up, gearbox failure and then gear unavailable.  I checked the gear oil reservoir and found it bone dry I had to put oil in it which I used a temporary substitute Penrite LDAS.  I found this worked for a day (as I had to move car out of shopping centre car park)  and then when engine got warm on start up, same issue and then gear oil reservoir was low again.

I did the normal checks, when I open the door the pump primes, on cold start up, gears change fine.

I don't know where to start and would really appreciate if someone can assist me.  I am located in Ascot Vale, Melbourne.

PS. I have bought an Odb2 so I can run some scans, need advise on software for IOS to use. 

Thanks,
Daniel

[bazzbazz]

You have a fluid leak somewhere, may I suggest you take it to an Alfa Specialist to have the fluid loss investigated.

In the morning are there any pools of fluid on the floor around/under the car?

[Randy]

Just checked this morning and pools of oil
https://ibb.co/2g4srh4
https://ibb.co/wShF4f4

Good news, gear box is functional, changes gears and pump primes when opening the door... I suspect the gearbox failure was when hot no oil.

Unfortunately only mechanic I use is my BMW mechanic which services my bmw... he did replace the radiator on the Alfa 147 but not sure if he will be familiar with the selespeed system?

[SeleMatt]

If you can, I'd go and see Vince at Northern Alfa regarding the sellespeed.

[Randy]

Thanks called Vince and left him a message

I am picking up a scanner so will go through any of the error codes and will put them here...

[Citroënbender]

Flat accumulator, classic symptoms. You'll need more than a $15 interface to depressurise the system and a modified spanner to change the sphere over.

If your BMW bloke didn't pick this he shouldn't be touching SMGs either.

[Randy]

What parts are these?  Just a new accumulator? What are the steps to depress it?

Is this the part
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F232594555865

At the time no symptoms when bmw mech replaced radiator.  Issue I have is when I disconnect the battery I have no stereo code...  I do need to remove battery to get to accumulator right?

[SeleMatt]

An excellent place for parts is Italian Automotive Spares. Club sponsor. 😉

[bazzbazz]

Flat accumulator, classic symptoms. You'll need more than a $15 interface to depressurise the system and a modified spanner to change the sphere over.

If your BMW bloke didn't pick this he shouldn't be touching SMGs either.

Ahhh, pretty sure that's not the issue, did you see how much oil is on the floor?

When a faulty Accumulator causes oil overflow it is normally a small pool the size of your hand by the front left wheel. He has an entire floor covered in fluid, that indicates a pretty substantial loss of fluid.

I could be wrong, but I'd say he has done a hose or blown one of the Actuator Blanking Plate Seals. Get it checked out for leaks first before buying a new Accumulator, and as mentioned they are available from Italian Automotive Spares (Domanic) and also Arese Spares. (Vlade)

https://www.italianautomotivespares.com.au/

https://www.aresespares.com.au/

[Randy]

So had spoken to Vince at northern alfa, explained the situation - hopefully I can get it across to him in the next couple of weeks.  Looking at the amount of gear oil it is a lot.

I am hoping it won't cost me $$$ given the car is probably only worth $4k

[Citroënbender]

It shouldn't.

There is a knock-on effect - the nitrogen bladder accumulators are under stressed and people not familiar with other applications of these, overestimate service life. I believe three years is a good reckoner. It's possible to make an adapter (14mm spark plug female x M36x1.5 male) and have them tested on an hydraulic sphere tester for Citroën spheres. A drop in pressure below 80 bar is (to me) a sign to replace - they're 92 bar new.

Running too flat "wears" the pump relay with excessive switching events and wears the pump motor brushes with excessive running. It's a furphy of the BMW community that the pump relay is at fault because diagnostics show it stuck on. It's on because it's trying to supply instantaneous pressure when the accumulator is so flat it can't store adequate pressure.

[SeleMatt]

Totally agree with Citoenbender here. Accumulators should be treated the same  way as timing belts. Every 3 years. Prevention is better than cure ete etc.

[Mick A]

A drop in pressure below 80 bar is (to me) a sign to replace - they're 92 bar new.

The Selespeed system runs at 50/55 bar cutoff and relay switches pump back on at around 40 bar. They'll usually drop around 14psi (1bar) a second when cactus.

The Fiat Duologic system uses the same accumulators but runs higher pressures, and they very rarely seem to fail in this system.

Strange!

[Citroënbender]

Less flexure of the diaphragm (so less chance of material fatigue), would be my take on that.

[Domenic]

Sorry Mick, but the fiat system runs a lower pressure, there is a software update to run them lower, but even still the accumulators on the fiats very rarely give issues.