Good luck sptcoupe.

 

Since I'm now the ambassador for my brother's car (LE), I'll post the update. Replacing the hydraulic pump did not remedy the problem so they are replacing the voltage regulator now. It is referred to as the "smart drive module," apparently. Codes reported according to the tech are p1cc0-00 and b1067-67.

As I'm planning to drive the car 500+ miles on Saturday, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the present state of affairs.

 

Oh my, 30 pages of reading for those new to this thread. November 2015 was a long time ago and a lot of miles ago as well.

P1CC0 was the only code I could see with my OBDII reader. If there were others, my dealer was tight lipped about it.

The good news for me was I could drive in automatic mode without faulting. I had to get towed in several times before I realized that auto still worked.

After replacing the transmission oil pump and then the transmission voltage regulator, I was eventually issued a software patch specifically for the TCM (Transmission Control Module). In my case, this seems to have resolved this problem. I have three or four thousand miles since without issue.

Quite a few 4C owners have PMed me asking for help. I have always responded with my dealer contact information, explaining that their service manager needs to talk to my service manager. It would be nice to know the results.

Anybody who experiences transmission issues similar to what's described in this thread, and your dealer gets ... stumped ... PM me and I'll respond.

 

What is frustrating is how long it is taking FCA to realize it has a serious issue here which is not going away until it is universally corrected in all our Alfa 4Cs. For being "Alfa ambassadors" we deserve much better service. Who has time to be going back and forth to dealer service departments who are in the dark about this? Too many owners have gotten this transmission problem to consider this a fluke which affects our cars on rare instances.
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My observation / experience is, well, hmm...

Us owners with our OBDII readers can't see much of the fault codes. We can see what the LAW says must be public, but the rest is a big secret. Code P1CC0 and such is part of that secret.

The dealer mechanic has better equipment and can see more. But, only to a limit. He reads the data, sends it up the food chain and waits. Weeks or months later is told to replace a part. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't.

The field representative has high-tech equipment and access to the secrets. In my case, it wasn't until the rep was driving my car with his equipment hooked up, AND the transmission faulted. Now there was a deeper data set to evaluate.

This was on a Thursday. Monday morning my dealer received a email with a patch to try. The rest, as they say, is history.

My dealer installed the patch and went on a test drive. The rep drove my car on Tuesday with his fancy equipment and said the symptoms were gone.

Granted, I was the first, but why on earth does everyone else need to go through this when they can cut to the chase?

 

So, my car (2015 LE produced september of '14, no water shield) has started having the dreaded transmission issues as well.

Started a week or two ago, on a hot day after driving for about an hour. I've driven a few times since, and its pretty repeatable. Drove a little over an hour on the highway last Saturday (dynamic manual in 6th the whole time) it was fine until I hit the first traffic light after the exit ramp when I got the CEL, and a message saying dynamic and all weather not available at which time it dropped to out of gear.

After it happens I can drive all day long in Auto mode without any problem.

Just so happens I have a professional level scan tool (advantage of having a well equipped shop) I don't have the codes or definitions in front of me right now, I'll post them tomorrow. But the pertinent code is the P1CC000 (or something like that) with something to the effect of: "pump voltage too low, pump always off". Seems to me that this points to the voltage regulator for the transmission pump aka the smart drive module.

Anybody have the part number for this module ... I'm just curious.

Haven't had time to get to a dealer yet, as there is not one close to me :frown2:

 

For what it's worth, my 2016 had problems just a week after I bought it like it would not start and all kinds of error messages including transmission error messages.

Took It to the dealer and they told me one of the cells of the batteries was bad and that was what was causing all of the problems.

Car started and worked just fine but then just a month later I had a bunch of CEL lights and the "Christmas tree of death" error message light show.

I looked at the battery terminals and the positive terminal was extremely dirty with corrosion. Seems dealer replaced battery without even cleaning the terminals.

So I cleaned the battery terminals really well and sprayed on the battery terminal protection spray.

Had zero problems since. This car has really touchy battery and electric voltage issues.

I read in the forum how rain can get on terminals. I don't think my spider has those issues but if I had a coupe I'd certainly look at that problem.

 

In my case, battery terminals were clean, but I cleaned them anyway.

Pulled the connectors from the TCM, and voltage regulator (AKA the smart drive module) they were clean with no evidence of water intrusion. Treated both with Stabilant 22A just to be safe.

None of the above helped :crying:

 

Makes me want to get FCA to sign me on as a consultant, will work for $1 a year and an SDK. Happy to do ride alongs to diagnose transient or non-deterministic problems, and FCA can keep my work output.

FCA: Call me!

People with Inconsistent Problems: Sympathy!

 

Do we have any sense for what percentage of cars are affected by this issue and wether 17 models will be built with the software patch already loaded?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

No. That's why we should pole the community on it. The role of the TCM shield in preventing the occurrence of transmission problems would be worth investigating. FCA started putting the shield in 2015 so cars built before don't have it. If there is a higher % of cars with a history of transmission problems when the shield isn't there, then owners that have early cars would have ammunition to get FCA to put the shield in their cars.

 

Perhaps we should all start filing complaints with NHTSA.

If enough of us do it, perhaps FCA will take notice and issue a recall or TSB?

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

 

Perhaps we should all start filing complaints with NHTSA.

If enough of us do it, perhaps FCA will take notice and issue a recall or TSB?

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

Before we contact a government agency which always takes a long time to respond, how about collecting data about transmission errors from owners as Malibu4C suggests as this would bolster our case for FCA to act on this problem before our warranty runs out. I feel like more than 20 4C owners have been affected so far.


BTW what dealer are you dealing with and what has been their response?

 

I think I posted one update in another thread but since our issue looks more like the @Racer Z issue, here seems good. After dealer replaced hydraulic pump and smart drive module (voltage regulator) car faulted again. Dealer cleared code (same two mentioned above). I just drove 575 miles in natural-automatic without issue, over two days. Although most was freeway cruising, there were plenty of shifts in there too. So now I will be driving in dynamic-manual until it faults again, and will start working with a different service center.

 

Deja Vu?

Stick with the same service center. They can't do very much without approval from FCA. If you switch, you'll just be starting over, again.

Talking them into being more assertive with FCA / STARS to get the software patch I got, would be a better path.

You calling FCA an registering a formal complaint will motivate the situation. You're dealer is not at fault. They can't hardly fart without approval from higher up.

After that, PM me. I'll give you my dealer contact and your service manager can talk to my service manager.

Waiting for the trans to fault again is such an uncomfortable position to be in. But better you doing the extended test drive than some kid eating a greasy cheeseburger.

 

I have now also experienced the transmission not wanting to select a gear

Yesterday, after driving 3 km (had driven the car several times earlier in the day) I was in Dynamic and manual (as I was all of the day) and when coasting to a left turn I put it in neutral, then (still at speed) I wanted to put it in gear and - nothing... I managed to make the turn and roll to the side of the road. I then tried changing driving program, but no change.

I turned off the engine and restarted it 10 seconds later, no change. I then waited a couple of minutes and it was back to normal, meaning I could also use dynamic and manual.

I am taking it to 40kkm service on Tuesday and will talk to the workshop and see, if any error codes have been stored. No lights lit up, so not sure what happened.

I don't have the shield in my car for the plug that has been discussed, but I can't see that being the reason, as I don't see why it would work again after a couple of minutes - which I think is the scenario others have experienced as well, when the gearbox won't go out of neutral.

I hope the workshop can help out, we will see!

 

I had my 4C at service yesterday and mentioned the gear selection issue. As expected, he found no error codes (since no lights lit up on the dash when it happened) and there was only a SW update to the instruments, not sure what that relates to, but at least not the gear box.

However, he found that it had logged that both gas and brake pedal has been used at the same time on several occasions and I replied that is not how I drive (unless I am in an actual gokart). This is not logged as an error code, though to me it sounds like a wrong calibration of the system or a sensor out of range.

They said they will report this to Alfa Romeo, so that is about it right now...

Anyway, this might cause it to see it as a problem when trying to engage gears and giving it a couple of minutes turned off, might get it back 'on track'.

I don't recall reading about this situation, but would be interesting to know if others have been told the same thing?

 

I do not drive with two feet, unless there's a clutch pedal to push. When I was having transmission issues, my dealer asked me several times if I was 'two footing it'.

Perhaps this is a path to investigate?

 

Anytime you do a launch you are hard on the brake pedal and gas pedal at the same time.

 

I don't use that, so not the case for me - and I don't think the mechanic has tried that either in my car...

 

We have had reports of faulty brake pedal switches (apparently shared with the 500 which has similar issues).
This could potentially be the reason that it recorded false brake pedal application. If that is connected to the transmission control (which it likely is, to release clutches during braking), then it could explain your issue.
However, the earlier reports seem to be that the switch would not show the brake applied when the pedal was actually being pressed, possibly causing the clutches to drag in stop/go driving. No idea if it might fail the other way as well.

If that is indeed the fault in your case, then the good news is that the part is easy to exchange, and readily available.

Keenly interested to see what comes out of this.

 

I had forgotten about the faulty brake pedal switches, I will let the workshop know about that.

However, in the total scheme, it might not be connected, as Dynamic mode and manual shifting seems to be the common pattern here when losing gears...

 

I had he brake like switch issue when the car had about 1000 miles on it. Whenever I was in heavy creep-ahead traffic the car would default to neutral/N/auto mode, no matter how hard I pushed on the brake pedal. The tech recognized the issue immediately, put in a new brake switch, and I've never had that issue again. On the early cars, the switch was the same as that used in the 500 ABARTH, so the dealer had in on the shelf. Apparently (then) a very common issue on the 500L with its DCT as well.

 

I just chatted with my tech and told him about the code you had that showed your foot was on the brake pedal and gas pedal at the same time. He is well aware of this code and said my car had it when I brought her in for the first service!


Apparently, in the early cars, the software would detect this condition, even if it was only momentary - as in just accidentally tapping both simultaneously going from one pedal to the other. Folks with big feet or wearing boots or women in heels have a higher incidence of this. In March 2105 a software patch took care of this by extending the period of time both pedals are depressed before it throws a code. Before it was "momentarily", and now it is 3-5 seconds.


He never told me about it because there were only two incidents, and since he did the flash and he has monitored it and I haven't had the code since. He says if he sees it a lot on a car, he will advise the driver about it, especially if the car has had the flash update.


This is the same flash that took care of the weak brake signal that failed to put the car in neutral when the brake pedal was depressed.

 

Nice. That is good news.

 

Thanks, that is very useful info. I will discuss it with them. Mine went back in production again in March 2015 (got fixes applied after being in production in January 2015). There have been a couple of SW updates to my car, after I received it.

 

An update. Today Criswell loaded the same software on our transmission controller that was used on Racer Z's car. For reference, it is version CFC8TDW.01-00-UF14M080. FCA authorized this after replacing the hydraulic pump and smart-drive module (voltage regulator) didn't work. The car faulted the day after that work, though hasn't faulted in 1,000 miles since the last fault. So it's hard to say that the updated software made a difference but it seems like a wise thing to do anyway.

 

Thanks for getting the number for us.
Permalink added to the Technical Reference Index thread.

 

Hey Racer Z, you are 100% certain that they didn't do anything else with the successful fix?
No chance the service techs did anything they did not make you aware of, in addition to the patch?

 

That is a real possibility. I wasn't there watchingtheir every move. This is Alfa Romeo after all, with a reputation for having tight lips. This reputation starts at the top and trickles all the way down to the very bottom.

What they told me they did, in this order:
- Check the wiring and connections for ground issues.
- Replace the transmission oil pump.
- Replace the transmission pump voltage regulator.
- Install a secret software patch.

Each step happened on a separate day with me driving between each step. It's entirely possible they omitted information from me.

 

Reviving this thread, as I left my car at the workshop yesterday...

On my way to work, I was driving through the city (manual, dynamic) and all of a sudden it says ' Gear unavailable' and see instruction manual or something like that. A red light also came on in the lower left of the display.

I was able to drive to the side of the road, but it was only shifting between 2, 4 and 6! So I turned off the engine, waited 30 sec, then started it again and continued in auto, natural with no problems. I also tried putting it in manual and no problems.

I asked the workshop to get in contact with the factory, so now I will have to wait... And right now I am driving a 2 cylinder Fiat Punto - at least it also has a turbo....

 

Oh no. Good luck alfan. Keep us posted please.

 

So I talked to the workshop today. They got the car to the importer's place and a specialist was looking at it (no idea where that person came from). There was an error code related to the gearbox (no details), but they decided that they need to look at the clutches, meaning that the gearbox has to come out...

This will be done during next week, then we will see what happens, but at least they have decided that something needs to be done, which I think is positive!

This car has not been on a track or used the launch control - but I have still been enjoying driving it and plan to continue that, when I get it back

 

Track use or launch control shouldn't be an issue. Many owners have spent many miles on tracks. One member has done over 65 Launch control launches and no problems. Seems most trans problems endup being grounding or computer glitch.

 

So, looking at a really clean '15. It was a lemon-law buyback and is aggressively priced. From the Carfax, it seems like it had the tranny issue. If there is now a software fix for this, any reason to hesitate?

 

I am curious...how did you find out it was returned under the lemon law...only from Carfax and not explained by the seller/dealer? What is the law in these cases....is it legal to put a lemon law car back into circulation with "Let the buyer find out on their own." Sounds like a shady way to do business. I was under the impression that when a car was returned it would either be crushed or have to have certification that it was properly taken care of and repaired.

In any case this might be a way to get one heck of a big discount knowing that you would be on your own to pay for the repairs...hopefully just a part swap or a computer reflash.

 

I haven't been in touch with the dealer yet. The Carfax identified it as a buyback.

Fully onboard with Caveat Emptor!