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Transmission Issues in 2021

10327 Views 66 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  gkardr6
Title: Transmission Issues in 2021

Hey all,

I've been experiencing transmission issues similar to those that others have had in the past, and am hoping for some help to understand how to diagnose and fix these problems. I've had the same issue three times in a month now:
  1. I drive the car for a while with no issues (the first time I had been driving the car for about 3 hours, the second time I had only driven it for about 30 minutes)
  2. Park the car and turn it off for a little bit (the first time this was only a few minutes as I filled up for gas. The second time the car was off for ~2 hours)
  3. When I go to restart the car I get the "Christmas Tree of death", reverse and manual mode are not available, and only 2nd, 4th, and 6th gears work. The first time this happened the car actually got stuck in reverse for a bit before it finally went into neutral, but then couldn't go back to reverse or into 1st/3rd/5th.
  4. No amount of key on/key off/reboots changes anything. If I pull the negative battery terminal AND let the car sit about 30 minutes, it will suddenly fire up just fine. All the warning lights go off except the CEL, all gears and modes are available, and the car shifts just fine. After driving for some amount of time, the CEL also clears itself.
  5. The third incident occurred while driving this morning. On the freeway with the cruise control engaged and car in auto mode, the transmission light briefly flashes, CEL illuminates, I get a bunch of warnings, but the car continues to shift fine in auto mode. Once I parked and turned it off, it now has all the same problems as in #3 when I try to restart it.
After the first occurrence, I took the car to the dealer and they could find nothing wrong. They double-checked the software was up-to-date (I even provided the number of the SW patch below) and confirmed there was nothing available. They then quoted me $9,000 to replace the transmission, so I took the car back and decided I would have to solve this myself.

To start, I've read all of these threads:

Transmission Failure
Transmission Failure Poll
Heads Up On a TRny Issue
Inconsistent Problems: “The Christmas Tree of Death”.

The problem is that the majority of the problems people had occurred early on, and dealers either solved the problem with a software patch which predates the build date of my car (I have a 2016) or they replaced the transmission. My car is out of warranty so a trans replacement "just in case" is not in the cards.

From what I can gather, these are the possible sources of the problem. Is this list complete and in which order should I troubleshoot this?
  • Clean/brush battery terminals and add dielectric grease - already tried this after the first incident, didn't solve the problem
  • New battery - I tested the battery at Autozone, they claim that it's totally fine, not even marginal on startup
  • Get the software patch that worked for others (CFC8TDW.01-00-UF14M080) - I gave this number to the dealer and they claimed everything is up to date
  • Check/refill "Robot mechanism" (shift actuator?) fluid level
  • Replace shift actuator pressure sensors with this part: Pressure sensor - Alfa Romeo TCT - SequParts
  • Replace voltage regulator for shift actuator
  • Replace hydraulic actuator p/n #68303710AA
  • Replace transmission
Also, is anyone aware of an Alfa tech or indie shop somewhere in the US who actually has experience troubleshooting and solving these issues? The tech at the local dealer had seen this problem many times on Fiat 500Ls, but said that they just R&R the transmission every time, so he didn't have any idea how to diagnose the root cause.

Any help would be appreciated, I don't feel like I can trust my new car enough to drive it anywhere until this gets sorted out.
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Title: Transmission Issues in 2021

Hey all,

I've been experiencing transmission issues similar to those that others have had in the past, and am hoping for some help to understand how to diagnose and fix these problems. I've had the same issue three times in a month now:
  1. I drive the car for a while with no issues (the first time I had been driving the car for about 3 hours, the second time I had only driven it for about 30 minutes)
  2. Park the car and turn it off for a little bit (the first time this was only a few minutes as I filled up for gas. The second time the car was off for ~2 hours)
  3. When I go to restart the car I get the "Christmas Tree of death", reverse and manual mode are not available, and only 2nd, 4th, and 6th gears work. The first time this happened the car actually got stuck in reverse for a bit before it finally went into neutral, but then couldn't go back to reverse or into 1st/3rd/5th.
  4. No amount of key on/key off/reboots changes anything. If I pull the negative battery terminal AND let the car sit about 30 minutes, it will suddenly fire up just fine. All the warning lights go off except the CEL, all gears and modes are available, and the car shifts just fine. After driving for some amount of time, the CEL also clears itself.
  5. The third incident occurred while driving this morning. On the freeway with the cruise control engaged and car in auto mode, the transmission light briefly flashes, CEL illuminates, I get a bunch of warnings, but the car continues to shift fine in auto mode. Once I parked and turned it off, it now has all the same problems as in #3 when I try to restart it.
After the first occurrence, I took the car to the dealer and they could find nothing wrong. They double-checked the software was up-to-date (I even provided the number of the SW patch below) and confirmed there was nothing available. They then quoted me $9,000 to replace the transmission, so I took the car back and decided I would have to solve this myself.

To start, I've read all of these threads:

Transmission Failure
Transmission Failure Poll
Heads Up On a TRny Issue
Inconsistent Problems: “The Christmas Tree of Death”.

The problem is that the majority of the problems people had occurred early on, and dealers either solved the problem with a software patch which predates the build date of my car (I have a 2016) or they replaced the transmission. My car is out of warranty so a trans replacement "just in case" is not in the cards.

From what I can gather, these are the possible sources of the problem. Is this list complete and in which order should I troubleshoot this?
  • Clean/brush battery terminals and add dielectric grease - already tried this after the first incident, didn't solve the problem
  • New battery - I tested the battery at Autozone, they claim that it's totally fine, not even marginal on startup
  • Get the software patch that worked for others (CFC8TDW.01-00-UF14M080) - I gave this number to the dealer and they claimed everything is up to date
  • Check/refill "Robot mechanism" (shift actuator?) fluid level
  • Replace shift actuator pressure sensors with this part: Pressure sensor - Alfa Romeo TCT - SequParts
  • Replace voltage regulator for shift actuator
  • Replace hydraulic actuator p/n #68303710AA
  • Replace transmission
Also, is anyone aware of an Alfa tech or indie shop somewhere in the US who actually has experience troubleshooting and solving these issues? The tech at the local dealer had seen this problem many times on Fiat 500Ls, but said that they just R&R the transmission every time, so he didn't have any idea how to diagnose the root cause.

Any help would be appreciated, I don't feel like I can trust my new car enough to drive it anywhere until this gets sorted out.
Hi, My 4C has 70.000 Km and I experience the same problems now. I am using the Multiscan 4.7R3 tool and did all Adjustements. In the Production/Service final calibration procedure, all elektrovalves, potentiometers and mechanical components of the whole actuation unit, are tested. So, in your case, it would also test the integrated sensor module. So my suggestion is to run this test and than do the clutch self-calibration enable. In my case I first got the error code related to the electropump of the power unit. I changed the electropump,the accumulator and the elektronic control unit of the elektropump, but without any succes. During a trip in the Italian mountains, I got the same problem. Now I am going to replace the clutch, because with 70K and at least 50% driving in the mountains, I think the best is gon and the clutch is worn.
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Sorry to hear you're having the same issues. I suspect we will see more cars have this problem as time goes on. Good idea on the testing - hopefully that helps someone in the future.

In my case, the electropump was fine. The hydraulic actuator was the issue. With a new actuator, the car shifted much more smoothly and no more errors. I have about 2,000 mi (~3200 km) on the new actuator and have had zero problems. Did you get the same trouble codes as I originally got (P1C9900)?

I would suggest looking into the actuator before clutch replacement. Or, at the very least, inspect the clutch and if it's not worn, I would look hard at the actuator. In my case, the dealership was able to pinpoint the problem by driving my car back-to-back with another 4C and the difference in shift quality was immediately noticeable. That plus their previous experience replacing the actuator to resolve the same codes, led them to replace the actuator on mine. I know back-to-back test drives is not always doable, but they got a little lucky.
see also my other new posted treath:
Testing and repair of clutch position sensor
4
The position sensors are together in a module that is part of the robot. This module is not available separately. The chance of these breaking is also very small, but it may be that they are soiled with small metal particles that come out of the gearbox. The robot is fairly easy to disassemble.
The sensors themselves can be tested, with the Multiecuscan it is possible to operate the robot and test all gears without the motor running. The position sensor of the clutch or the position sensor of the shifter can also be a cause here.
The entire system is also tested during a recalibration of the robot / gearbox. So I would do these tests first.
I would certainly change the oil of the gearbox and definitely the oil and filter of the robot (after cleaning the sensors)
The pictures show you the sensor module disassembled and the robot with the module mounted.
What you should also do is check the electrical wiring and treat the connectors on the robot and the TCU with a good contact spray.



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SW version: you can check this with the Multiecuscan, or with the factory tool from your dealer.
Fact that the car is ok for 45 Km is proof that nothing is wrong with the gearbox.
Problem is with the robot and your dealer will propose to change the complete robot because this is recomended by the factory.
To check:
SW update for TCU
Actuator test for all gears
Check hydraulic pressure during these tests. It should not drop under 42 bar. Hydraulic pump should run when opening door, pressure should go up to 52 bar. With engine off, contact on en brake pedal on, switch gears from N to 1 to R and back to N. Monitor hydraulic pressure. When prussure is under 42 bar, the pump should run again. If not, problem with hydraulic elektric motor, pressure sensor or accumulator. (hydraulic power unit)
If all this is OK, run the complete calibration procedure but I would suggest to change the oil and filter of the hydraulic system befor doing that.
Al these tests can be done only with OBD tool, e.g. Multiecuscan.
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See also my PDF document in
Searching and finding the root causes of the TCT gearbox errors.
What is the Hydraulic pressure doing? Monitor it during test and see if it is between 44 and 54 bar
OK, Whil monitoring the pressure, shift gears with pannel bottons, from N to 1 to N to R to 1, a couple of times. The pressure should stay between 44 and 54 bar. If that is OK that means that the power unit is ok.
you probably will have to change the robot unit but first I would try to change the oil of the hydraulic unit.
So, depressure the accumulator power unit with the procedure from the Multiecuscan.
Than remove the filter from the robot and flush the oil. Change the filter and put new oil.
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Follow the complete prosedure as descibed above
in the folowing order: delete statistical data, than clutch drain 3 times, clutch replacement, electropump replacement, actuator base adjustment, production service final calibration and finaly clutch self calibration enable. If that is not solving the issue, you have to change the complete robot unit. (since there are no single spare parts available....)
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Be sure that you have the latest SW update befor doing this prosedure!!
To find faults you have to be able to exclude certain things such as the robot, the clutch or the gearbox.
To exclude the clutch, the engine must be taken out. Before making this drastic choice, it is better to do a number of tests first. The strategy and sequence of these tests is very important. The multiecuscan can also be used to test whether the even and odd gears can be taken properly in the TAB actuators. during this test, gear changes are much slower because the engine is not running. This is normal. If this test passes, you are at least sure that the gearbox and the robot are functioning properly. If errors still occur, the cause is usually due to the calibration and it must be recalibrated. It is important that you follow the procedure strictly and that the engine and clutch are at operating temperature. An Alfa romeo certified technician knows very well how to do this procedure. These tests can also be done with the Alfa service OBD tool.
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De latest SW version for the European version is EF16L188 version 0000
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The self-learning procedure is now activated, my suggestion is NOT to follow the procedure in the service manual but to drive in automatic mode for about 100 - 200 Km. If no errors come up then everything should be fine. It can also help to print out the parameters of the clutch and then compare them after calibration, but then you really need a lot of experience to interpret them correctly.... Best is to drive a mix of city and highway in automatic Natural mode. Good luck!
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the chance that it has to do with the temperature is very small. In racing conditions that may play a role, but even then I estimate the chance to be very small. Contaminated oil in the robot causes difficult movement and even blocking of the actuators and shifter. Am sure this was the cause.
Don't mention it.
As far as I am concerned, your and other cases are proof that a good maintenance of the TCT, so changing the hydraulic oil, filter and a calibration with the correct SW, will prevent a lot of problems.
The article that I wrote regarding (Searching and finding the root causes of the TCT gearbox errors), will be published in the coming weeks in the magazine (het Klaverbladje) of Alfa Romeo in the Netherlands. (This is a translation of the English text of the PDF I wrote for this forum).
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