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Damn.. Transmission

29K views 114 replies 31 participants last post by  bunta_garage 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, I've not been around here (visibly anyway) of late.. And the 4c has been neglected in favor of work and family. So I had a rare Friday morning away from work and took out the 4c for coffee and errands and blasts through the countryside.

I had not driven the car for about 2-3 weeks, and she's an LE and got about 6300 mile on her. On the way home while accelerating hard through 3rd (race mode), transmission goes to neutral. I pull over. No gear will engage, engine light, transmission light. Turn the car off and on about three times. Then CEL stays on and car will operate in natural mode, auto and manual. I drive home, disconnect battery cable, connect back. CEL is still on but I drive around neighborhood slowly. Park, turn car on and off a couple of times. The CEL clears, I drive normally for a bout 5-10 min, then hammer it in race mode. Then same issue. I eventually get the car to run in natural mode. Return home, call dealer, set appointment. I'm a bit stressed about it, but in the big picture of life it's a really really small problem.

Anyway, feedback is welcome; I realize there are multiple threads relating to various trans issues. I'll post my experience once dealer does a once over. On the phone he said all the TSB's relating to the transmission are up to date..
 
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#2 ·
Not sure if the latest patch is a TSB. It sounded like Alfa was only releasing it to people who experienced transmission problems (I'm sure you can find it on those threads, or the poster may add the information to yours).
But if you make your service manager (probably not the advisor, unless that's someone useful) know about its existence, he can likely get the info from his Alfa technical support.
It may or may not be your issue, but just because they tell you that your car is "up to date" on all its regular patches may not mean there isn't one available specifically for this.

Good luck!
 
#3 ·
Get a copy of the list of all codes that your dealer will pull via WiTech.
Then, lets compare.
 
#7 ·
Thanks, folks.. Yeah, fingers crossed. I certainly, hope that this does not turn out to be some kind of persistent issue with multiple trips to the dealer, but I did remind myself that this is something of an exotic car when I bought it, accessible though it may be.. I'm pretty averse to this kind of thing, but the thought of being 4c-less is pretty sad.

Drove it again last night. First run, got the CEL to come off, first run was great. Parked it, ate dinner with fam. When back out, and it happened again in a dangerous part of the curvy road, no place to pull over. So there I am in the middle of the road trying to get the trans to engage. Finally did after a few folks slowly drove past, gawking.
 
#8 ·
Sounds like what I went through. :crying:

If you leave it in auto, it won't fault.

After it does fault, you need to let it cool down about five minutes before restarting. Drive it in auto after that.

To clear the idiot light, you'll need to restart the engine four or five times, without it seeing the problem. That means you need to let it sit all night before you can clear the codes. It's a heat thing at the clutch or in the transmission oil.

They issued me a special software patch that seemed to fix my LE. It has recently been made public, but there's a catch. It's still a secret. The dealers don't know about it and are not allowed to install it. LMAO Typical Alfa Romeo. My dealer showed me the memo that was sent out to all dealers.

Alfa Romeo said:
1. The car owner has to complain about transmission problems.
2. The service mechanic has to drive the car and experience the problem.
3. They have to hook up their OBDII reader before it will show them that this update is available for your car. (which is why they think it's not available)
4. They are NOT allowed to patch you car simply because you ask.
Most 4C owners will never get this patch simply because they will never put on enough miles to experience the problem. I have no idea what is behind AR's thinking on this. But, I read the memo.

If, your dealer can't/won't be helpful on this, you can call FCA and make a formal compliant. They will eventually fix your car.
 
#9 ·
Sounds like what I went through. :crying:

If you leave it in auto, it won't fault.

After it does fault, you need to let it cool down about five minutes before restarting. Drive it in auto after that.

To clear the idiot light, you'll need to restart the engine four or five times, without it seeing the problem. That means you need to let it sit all night before you can clear the codes. It's a heat thing at the clutch or in the transmission oil.

They issued me a special software patch that seemed to fix my LE. It has recently been made public, but there's a catch. It's still a secret. The dealers don't know about it and are not allowed to install it. LMAO Typical Alfa Romeo. My dealer showed me the memo that was sent out to all dealers.



Most 4C owners will never get this patch simply because they will never put on enough miles to experience the problem. I have no idea what is behind AR's thinking on this. But, I read the memo.

If, your dealer can't/won't be helpful on this, you can call FCA and make a formal compliant. They will eventually fix your car.
I think that this is the same patch as jwmelvin referred to (and what I was trying to say).

In at least a couple cars FCA has approved a TCM firmware update to CFC8TDW.01-00-UF14M080.
Thanks for adding Alfa's criterion to apply this update.

I suspect that it compensates for something (clutch wear?) that causes excess heating.
Perhaps putting it down on a car which is asymptomatic will cause other problems.
 
#10 ·
If, your dealer can't/won't be helpful on this, you can call FCA and make a formal compliant. They will eventually fix your car.
Wow.. I think that would be the last straw for me -- when I'm corresponding with the manufacturer.

Thanks for the heads up about what I'm in for..seriously.
 
#14 ·
If, your dealer can't/won't be helpful on this, you can call FCA and make a formal compliant. They will eventually fix your car.
Wow.. I think that would be the last straw for me -- when I'm corresponding with the manufacturer.

Thanks for the heads up about what I'm in for..seriously.
I agree this is a last ditch effort.

I've had to call FCA quite a few times actually. Not because my was ... stalling, but because STARS (FCA dealer support) was stalling. I have always talked to my dealer first about this. After my call to FCA, FCA calls the dealer and then STARS. After a few days, my dealer says they finally got a response from STARS.

After waiting on STARS for two months, both me and my dealer are so $@&# frustrated we're ready to .... well, you know....
 
#11 ·
#12 ·
Have you noticed if the gear change is smoother? That is what I experienced in my car, and that resulted in replacing the clutches due to oil leaking to them.
Hmm.. could be. Certainly, I have been more impressed with the gear changes since I've switched over to race mode all of the time; maybe they have been smoother. Hard to say. Maybe I need to have a look at my garage floor, which I have not done yet (as I'm generally not in the garage with the 4c missing:wink2:).. thanks.
 
#13 ·
There was no visible leakage under the car, this was a gasket problem inside the transmission.

Since they could read error codes related to the clutch, I would suggest to get that done by the garage. Hopefully, it is a simpler thing :)
 
#19 ·
Need info about year of your 4C and if you are the first owner and if you know if the trans flashes have been done on your car. That trans flash issued back around late 2016 fixed this issue. Otherwise the thing to do is to disconnect your battery (both terminals) and clean them with the appropriate terminal brush from you local car parts store. Now get some battery terminal grease and coat the terminals. Reinstall and connect everything back up.

Run both windows down all the way and backup to reset the logic circuitry in them, reset your radio clock and the dash display clock.

Give it a try and see if that helps. Finally how old is your battery/car. If the car sat on a lot or in your garage for extended periods of time the battery may be dying. Even though you show higher voltage after a recharge, it may not have the ampacity needed. You can have the battery condition checked at places like O'Reilly Car Parts for free.

In the future....if you have periods where the car sits for longer periods and only goes on short trips....you should get a battery tender to keep the battery healthy. Since I put my car in Winter hibernation this is mandatory. ALFA has a battery tender with ALFA logo on it which some of us got included with the car....but if not you can get the same identical one for less money (not ALFA marking though). There are also many other sources of battery tenders. Note that you do not want a battery CHARGER but a tender.
All modern cars are very dependent on clean and healthy power to the various computers.
 
#20 ·
I ran a volt meter and the battery read 12.8 - not the strongest - also I checked the negative terminal and there was some corrosion, i cleaned both.

I hooked up the battery tender, which read 2 out of 6 as battery charge.

After i did this the date went back to january 1 and the trip odometer went to zero, also the check engine light went away. The battery will be charging the whole night - hopefully this was the issue and not a more serious transmission problem. I am the third owner of the car, with the second owner literally just keeping it for a short period of time but took care of it a lot, bolt tightening, new wheels and ceramic coating. Car is still under warranty until june 2020
101669
 
#22 ·
Low charge, bad terminal connections, and failing batteries have caused a lot of the issues described. It sounds like you are on the right track. A replacement battery is cheap and quick compared to an unknown transmission issue. Both should be covered by warranty, but fingers crossed that this is just an under-volt condition.
 
#26 ·
Hello WeekendFun,
We are certainly sorry to hear about your ongoing concern. Please keep us updated on your dealer findings. If we can be of any assistance, feel free to send us a private message. We'd be glad to help.
Laura
AlfaRomeoCares
 
#27 ·
That sounds more serious.
There have been similar issues in a few cars - I think it was the gear selector mechanism inside the transmission that was to blame IIRC.
Unfortunately, I don't know how to find those threads / posts. It's been a while.

@The Real Cvh , is this similar to what you had with your first car?
 
#29 ·
Found the other one that I was searching for.

Bummer! I am awaiting the result of the disassembly of the transmission in mine, so they can have a look at the clutches. It made the same thing, so I could only shift between 2, 4 & 6.

I should have it back next week and hope to get some info on what has been done to it...

@alfan, can you add anything to the discussion for our friend?

Thanks.
 
#30 ·
I had the same thing multiple times. Ended up having to change the actuator, which solved the problem.
My mechanic never got to the point finding out whether a broken actuator made the gearbox throw error codes, or the gearbox itself was broken. There is no way to tell.
Would be interested in hearing from @alfan his experiences!

Now, 20.000 kms later, I have a completely ruined transmission, with broken gear, broken actuator and broken TCU... So maybe it was the gearbox after all?
Car is at an official dealership as Alfa Romeo wants to consider intervening in the cost. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, becoming crazy without my precious. Waiting for 2 months already...
 
#31 ·
"Liked" for the information, not the trouble you've had.

I knew there was another one, but couldn't remember who it was. Really sorry to hear it is still ongoing.

Hope you get your car back soon, and that Alfa helps out with the cost. If it is any consolation, my car has been in (my) garage for almost 3 months now due to winter. So I feel your pain.
At least you'll have the better part of a new drive train out of the ordeal.
 
#32 ·
Found the transmission thread, 'Inconsistent problems'.

My first post is #346 and then I have a few posts after that with the resolution.

I recommended contacting your dealer and get them to look at it right away!

I can see that AlfaRomeoCares have responded in this thread, hopefully they can assist here, as the garage might not know exactly what to do...
 
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#36 ·
Hello Laura,
i got a phone call from Alfa Romeo Boston. They confirmed that the TCM needed to be rebooted and the connections needed to be checked. They put some miles on the car to test it. I am kind of worried about the whole thing since no parts have been replaced and my warranty will end soon. I tried to contact Alfa Romeo Cares about the possibility of having a better deal for a warranty but the person on the phone Diaonara (sp?) just provided me some sort of cookie cutter answer, so i cut it short.
The service person Jim has been really professional, as mentioned the only issue is that no parts have been replaced. So the car has been there for more than 10 days for that. I love Alfa Romeo, and I consider my self an enthusiast - I truly hope we can work something out.
Thank you Laura,
have a great day
 
#37 ·
Hello Laura,
i got a phone call from Alfa Romeo Boston. They confirmed that the TCM needed to be rebooted and the connections needed to be checked. They put some miles on the car to test it. I am kind of worried about the whole thing since no parts have been replaced and my warranty will end soon. I tried to contact Alfa Romeo Cares about the possibility of having a better deal for a warranty but the person on the phone Diaonara (sp?) just provided me some sort of cookie cutter answer, so i cut it short.
The service person Jim has been really professional, as mentioned the only issue is that no parts have been replaced. So the car has been there for more than 10 days for that. I love Alfa Romeo, and I consider my self an enthusiast - I truly hope we can work something out.
Thank you Laura,
have a great day
Many have had their transmission issues solved satisfactorily with a reflash....but I understand your reason for being nervous. I hope it’s all that’s needed.
 
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