This is indeed the best and most efficient way to solve this problem, as long as this is done under warranty.... If you now change the hydraulic oil and filter every 30,000 Km (and possibly a new calibration) this problem will never arise more happening I suppose they did a SW update for the TCT unit too?

 

I suppose they did a SW update for the TCT unit too?

The SW update was performed under previous ownership a few years ago.
I have my fingers crossed that the "glitch" is completely resolved, as my extended warranty is completely expired now.

 

Just thought that I would post my transmission problem and hopefully the permanent fix by the dealer.
My 2015 4C LE with 6600 miles on it would occasionally have a transmission glitch. It would shift into neutral while driving, then 1st gear would not be selectable, throw a check engine light, back to natural mode, no other drive mode selectable. P1CCO-00 fault. Shutting off, and restarting would allow me to be back on my way, and eventually the CE would clear, modes selectable, all else normal. Then problem would repeat again some miles later.
I took it into the dealer last week before my extended warranty expires, and they replaced the hydraulic shift controller (68232132AA) and module controller (68033578AA). This is my first time going to K&S Alfa Romeo and I am happy with the work they performed. They completed the repair in 1 week, and were sure to use the window shade as asked them to do.

 

Just thought that I would post my transmission problem and hopefully the permanent fix by the dealer.
My 2015 4C LE with 6600 miles on it would occasionally have a transmission glitch. It would shift into neutral while driving, then 1st gear would not be selectable, throw a check engine light, back to natural mode, no other drive mode selectable. P1CCO-00 fault. Shutting off, and restarting would allow me to be back on my way, and eventually the CE would clear, modes selectable, all else normal. Then problem would repeat again some miles later.
I took it into the dealer last week before my extended warranty expires, and they replaced the hydraulic shift controller (68232132AA) and module controller (6803357AA). This is my first time going to K&S Alfa Romeo and I am happy with the work they performed. They completed the repair in 1 week, and were sure to use the window shade as asked them to do.

hopefully that solves the issue....that seems to be the part that can cause issues mostly on the oldest 4Cs. I had the same issue under warranty with my 2015 LE. At the time ALFA corporate decided to not fiddle with finding the cause under warranty so opted to replace the entire trans of any cars that had an issue under warranty....so I got a new trans which has been trouble free since than. The neat part is that the new trans would have the new stronger 3rd gear too. Some early trans had failures of the 3rd gear.

 

So I voted "occasional, tcu shield installed, successful fix" because no other options made sense...

I had 1 (one) transmission failure which then I limped it to dealer, which then tried something pointless apparently since i got to the light and the error reoccurred, and then after waiting for the shield to come in, get installed for the first time, it has since (well over 10k miles since) never repeated even though my track time went up significantly for a period. I have an October 2015 build date, thus no shield came from factory, which such nearly final row of changes were implemented after the holiday season was over for 2015/2016.

Maybe add another data point like: ONE fault, no shield from factory, successful repair with shield.

 

In this poll there is a lot of talk about the influence of the TCU shield and the wiring. The wiring must of course be completely in order. During my search for the possible causes, I have already swam through all these waters. Hence my post about root causes. See attached document.

Searching and finding the root causes of the TCT gearbox errors.

 

thanks for your effort.
i am not able to view or download the attached documents.
can you share again?
Thanks

Parker

 

Ok, thanks for your reply!

 

Maybe interesting for owners with the same problem: a picture of what the exchange part looks like...i had no idea what to expect, but definitely not something this 'complicated' and large... The whole thing is about 50 cm long and 30cm wide!
It sits beneath the battery next to the gearbox and engine. Not so easy to get to.
The mechanic believes water entering through the air vents is most likely causing the problem. I use the car daily and it is always parked outside.
We had an unusually dry year in 2018 though. Apparently not helpful.

 

The whole thing is about 50 cm long and 30cm wide!

Forgot to mention: only a tiny part of the defective part, "a sensor" was faulty. Thanks to some 'careful' engineering Alfa is able to sell something that really makes a difference. For their business that is.��

 

Forgot to say: actuator looks quite different. Guess they changed it over the years, hopefully for the better.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for your reply. Sadly my 4C is not under warranty anymore. Only two years. I understand no help from the Dutch importer as I bought mine in France a couple of years ago?

 

Hello @duppie2007. Sorry to hear. I've been through this path. Twice.
I was happy I did change it and moved on. Such a great car for daily driving.

But, the price you quote is rather high (incl. taxes?). I see you're from the Netherlands, so prices should be similar to Belgium.
I paid €1712,47 (excl. tax) for the part, and paid it in full as I dumped my dealer at the same moment.
But aren't you still under warranty? And if not, Alfa Romeo gives a 50% discount in many cases. They are very forgiving for the 4C...
With a big maintenance combined it was a 19 hour job.

 

Since a couple of weeks I'm having the transmission faulting as well. Started while driving a humble 0-100kmh on a highway, losing connection between engine and drive train. Dash indicating gearbox problem, had to park the car. Left ignition off for a minute or so, then it was willing to start again mentioning 'gears 2,4 and 6 available', only in auto and natural mode. Drive on for some 80km to the airport. When returning some 4 days later, everything functioning fine. No messages on display.
After some 100km highway cruising at 180kmh again message 'only natural mode' possible, no manual shifting. Dealer stated 'wild variety of error codes', reset performed. 1 week driving daily, no problems. Then in wet conditions, motor stopped running while just idling. No restart possible. Again a few minutes 'ignition off', restart successful in natural mode only, this time however manual shifting possible.
Dealer checked possible causes, determined actuator should be replaced because of malfunctioning sensor inside. Not possible to get to the sensor to replace only that part. Estimated damage: well over €3.000 repair time included. Actuator only already € 2.400.
Car has done 42.000km, lives outside, daily driver. Second substantial repair after replacement of airco pump last month.
Will vote on the issue in a couple of weeks, checking if the replacement of the actuator will solve the gearbox problem. Hope it doesn't end up in replacing the whole gearbox and the works?.
Can't help wondering if this is going to be the start of more disasters to follow. Maybe it would be wise to sell it and go for another brand for daily driving..... Letting go would be hard to decide though!

 

If your car is a Launch Edition car it will have a LE number plate showing its place in the number of cars that are LEs. Mine for example is #498 of the 500 sold in North America. It is noted on a special number plate on top of your center console. If you don't have a LE you won't have one. Another way to find out if you car is a LE is to look for the side ducts on the front bumper near the headlights. The cars that aren't LE won't have that. If you go to my garage here on the Forum you can see a picture of my car and compare to yours for that detail. The very last run of cars for 2018 may have that duct added only in carbon fiber....it was listed as an option (pricey).

 

Right. And the only other feature that sets the LE aside from the 'regular' cars is that the interior piping is color matched to the body color. This is a hard one to spot really.

As to the TCM shield, my LE does not have one, is four years old and has lived out-of-doors for most of her life. I drive in the rain and wash her with water. I don't seem to have any issues because I don't have the shield.

 

Hi guys
I’m new around here. How can one locate their “LE” number (not sure what that is) and production date?
I have a 2015 coupe that I just bought. Also, how can one identify if they have the shield or not?
Sorry for the noob questions. Still learning the basics.
Tom

 

Hi guys
I’m new around here. How can one locate their “LE” number (not sure what that is) and production date?
I have a 2015 coupe that I just bought. Also, how can one identify if they have the shield or not?
Sorry for the noob questions. Still learning the basics.
Tom

I thought if you have an LE there is a serialized plate in the interior.

I don't have an LE but a std April 2015 build and mine does not have the TCU shield..... The shield will look like the attached pic

Mine isn’t an LE. But my picture looks like the picture you posted, so I’m guessing that’s a shield in there. Would the car have come that way in 2015 or would that have been added later?

 

Well, it was the actuator. Again, as they allready changed it after a few thousand miles.
If I should guess, there is something hidden wrong with the transmission.
Or once again my Alfa dealer screwed it up. Had even a broken screw in the transmission.

But all is fine. Trackday tomorrow ))

 

Does anybody have a picture of the TCU shield?
Or even better, a part number?

 

I think @Docron posted a few a few years back.

 

I forgot an important piece of info. The code that they chased down was P1CCO-OO - "Hydraulic Pump Stuck Off". That was the extent of the information Alfa provides in their manuals.


RacerZ - my tech actually talked to yours way back when we began the hunt, and it turned out my car already had that flash update. I can't remember - did they replace your tranny, too?


Sorry for all the typos in my previous post. Did it on the fly at an airport.

 

I forgot an important piece of info. The code that they chased down was P1CCO-OO - "Hydraulic Pump Stuck Off". That was the extent of the information Alfa provides in their manuals.


RacerZ - my tech actually talked to yours way back when we began the hunt, and it turned out my car already had that flash update. I can't remember - did they replace your tranny, too?


Sorry for all the typos in my previous post. Did it on the fly at an airport.

No tranny replacement. Replaced the transmission high pressure pump and later the pump voltage regulator. Checked tons of stuff and eventually patched the TCM software. Seems to be working fine. Have many thousands of miles on it since.

edit: I need to add that I had a different PC error code.

 

sptcoupe, That sounds exactly like the symptoms I had. I went through a similar experience with the fix process too. The field rep drove my car with his slew of gauges as well. My fix was a software patch though. Perhaps they've learned more since my time? Perhaps we had different problems with similar symptoms?

I'm glad you're 4C seems to be fixed now. Thanks for the follow-up.

 

This is a way overdue update on the progress made addressingmy tranny issues.
First, after nearly 1500 miles of driving since repaired, thecar has run flawlessly.
Just a quick review. The issue I had was that the car woulddefault into neutral anytime I went into the manual shift, in both the N and Dmodes. Of course, it also defaulted in R mode as well. The car ran fine in bothN and D modes, as long as I stayed with auto shift. When it first started, itwould happen every thousand or so miles, and at first I was able to tap theupshift lever and it would immediately go back into the N mode, automatic, in thegear appropriate for the speed I was traveling at that moment, so I could justcontinue to drive on. By about 14,000 miles, it was at the point that it woulddefault into neutral about 200 yards after putting it into manual shift. Also,by this time, when it did default into neutral, I was no longer able to tap theupshift lever and continue to drive. Instead, I had to stop the car andre-cycle the key three times to get it to go into N mode, auto shift.
Over a period of two months, the dealership worked withDetroit, and had replaced basically everything related to the tranny, exceptthe tranny itself, and I still had the problem. At this point, the dealerpushed hard at Alfa US, and they sent a tech with a set of test equipment thatdealerships don’t have. Sort of a flight recorder that collects a lot of info.They drove it with the recorder on board for a couple of hundred miles and manydefault episodes. Then the info was sent to Italy for analysis.
A few weeks later, a new tranny was shipped, along with thewhole kit of related parts – the same parts that had recently been replaced.The tech noted that the new tranny has a different part number from the originaltranny. Everything was installed, and I have had no issues since then.
The tentative diagnosis is that the tranny housing was bentat the point where the valve bolts up to the tranny housing, causinginconsistent or inadequate pressure readings. This diagnosis is not officialyet, so please don’t assume that is your issue. In fact, defaulting intoneutral is the way the car protects itself from a variety of conditions, manyof which have nothing to do with the tranny and part of the approach to isolatethe issue on my car was to eliminate these other possibilities.
Just a shout out for the excellent dealer support, from thetechnical side right up to top management. It was their direct interest and involvementthat got the machine in Detroit fully engaged, and which also led to Italy’sinvolvement as well. Throughout the entire episode, the tech personally calledme almost daily to give me updates on what was happening, who he was talkingwith, and where we were, etc.
I strongly suspect that the tech is more knowledgeable aboutthis issue than anyone out there, and has agreed to talk to other techs dealingwith this problem. So, if you would like your tech to talk to him, email me andI will I will send you his contact data.
I’ll keep you posted if anything comes up, but right now I’mgoing to take advantage of this great year-round Texas weather and drive it!Merry Christmas to all!

 

First, after nearly 1500 miles of driving since repaired, thecar has run flawlessly.

Great news!

The tentative diagnosis is that the tranny housing was bentat the point where the valve bolts up to the tranny housing, causinginconsistent or inadequate pressure readings. This diagnosis is not officialyet, so please don’t assume that is your issue. In fact, defaulting intoneutral is the way the car protects itself from a variety of conditions, manyof which have nothing to do with the tranny and part of the approach to isolatethe issue on my car was to eliminate these other possibilities.

Good information, and wise caution to anyone else not to jump to this conclusion

Just a shout out for the excellent dealer support, from thetechnical side right up to top management. It was their direct interest and involvementthat got the machine in Detroit fully engaged, and which also led to Italy’sinvolvement as well. Throughout the entire episode, the tech personally calledme almost daily to give me updates on what was happening, who he was talkingwith, and where we were, etc.
I strongly suspect that the tech is more knowledgeable aboutthis issue than anyone out there, and has agreed to talk to other techs dealingwith this problem. So, if you would like your tech to talk to him, email me andI will I will send you his contact data.

I strongly suspect you are right, and thank you for this, from us all!

(Merry Christmas back, too - and happy new year of faultless driving, as well!)

 

I have two other tools (TPMS scanner and programmer, USB TPMS program and Maxxis Elite )


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

It would be nice if people list their LE number and production date..


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Just voted as well.

My LE (produced sept. 2014 as I recall) started having the transmission issues sometime in August. About 8,400 miles or so on the car.

Driving along in dynamic manual, and it would spontaneously drop to neutral and give the gear not available warning. Usually cycling the key a few times, it would let you drive off in automatic. Could drive it all day in auto mode without a problem.

Finally got it in for service. New (updated) shift actuator and a software update (thanks racer z) and so far it seems fine, shifts seem a bit crisper too, but have only driven it 120 miles or so since I got it back.

Due to impending inclement weather in the north east I may not get anymore miles on it until spring :crying:

 

I just voted. I apologize for voting so late. Some of you will remember that my transmission failed in Sept 2015.

2015 LE, build date January 2015, no TCM shield. The transmission faulted to neutral and Transmission Fault symbol came on after about 8,000 miles. No other fault symbols. Transmission would not shift into gear until either I waited 5 minutes or lifted the battery negative cable to reset it. It would not allow manual to be selected until the car had been started about 4 times. It would happen only in Race or Dynamic /Manual. It would not fail in Natural/Manual or All Weather/Manual. The fix was to replace the complete transmission and TCM. The car has 13,000 miles now, and this problem has not recurred.

 

Been very busy lately, but picked the car up on the 3rd. All seemed well until 80km out of Dubai. Was doing 140km/h when I lost all my gears. Revs shot into the red, and I got messages that all three driving modes were no longer available. Coasted to a stop, shut down and tried to restart. Car said she was in 6th, so no start. Tried to select neutral, but she kept giving me the finger, telling me that I could not make that selection. So, after about 20 mins I tried again. She selected neutral and i could start. Big surprise - only 1st, 3rd and 6th. Limped home, then limped back to the car (attempt at humor). Drove home and placed a less than polite call to the service centre.

They picked her up on a flatbed, and if I'm lucky I'll have her back next Saturday.

Apparently they have ordered a new transmission actuator.

 

@ The Real Cvh;: did you find out what triggered your transmission problem? Could hardly be much rain or water in Dubai, or am I wrong? ?

 

Wondering if once we vote and things change...if the poll can be changed. For instance....I haven't had any issues and voted that way. I still have no issues but wondering if I can change my vote if a problem pops up or vice versa?

 

I need to change mine too

 

I've put over 1600 miles on mine since the fix and zero issues. I'm no longer worried about it so everything my dealer did was recommended by Alfa so at least they know about the issue and it seems they fixed it

 

Glad it worked out. Any idea of what they did....flash the computer, parts, etc.

 

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...