30th May 2001, 10:25

Same here.

It sticks in cold weather in second. (Pressing city fixes it!)

I also can miss 4th gear. Dangerous when overtaking.

I had a new actuator - same problems. I'm getting very fed up with this.

They told me the new actuator had a better design. I'm taking it back again.

18th Jun 2001, 16:19

Well, this thread is interesting.

I imported a Selespeed from Denmark in Jan. 2000. As I was driving off the ferry and changed up, the gearbox 'stuck' for the first time...

I took it into the dealer who hooked it up to the computer and changed the positions of the changes. (Contrary to the experience of other people, I've not sensed a hostility due to it being an import - perhaps they're good at hiding it).

Then last summer, whilst braking hard, the gear display suddenly changed from 5 to a flashing N - is this the sort of behaviour seen - certainly the dealer had no explanation. Pressing the gear select button put the car in gear again and this particular behaviour never happened again.

A few months ago whilst ambling through town in traffic, the gearbox issued the gearbox warning sound. Probably rather stupidly I pulled over and switched off the engine... and found it wouldn't restart - turn the key and 'nothing'. Fifteen minutes later, it did restart and, after a dealer visit, a new actuator was fitted but again after a long wait for 'parts on back order' to arrive.

Dealers tried to be helpful but they don't seem to have any explanation for the symptoms I had......

Seems okay now but time will tell!

12th Aug 2001, 06:23

I have owned a selespeed for the past 8 months. So far I have had no reliability problems with my selespeed box.

My complain is that the gearbox only allows 1st gear to be selected when the car is totally stationary.

This can be a pain and awkward as well if you can imagine yourself slowing down to very slow speeds, say at the lights, and then wanting to accelerate again as the lights turn green, without stopping the car completely.

The engine torque at 2nd gear, which the car would be in, is definitely insufficient for this acceleration maneuver and you need 1st gear... just that you cannot engage it unless you step on the brake pedal.

The same applies when crawling up slopes. It is very irritating.

Any advice?

31st Aug 2001, 03:32

I find that my Selespeed has no problems in selecting 1st gear while moving. There must be something wrong with your set-up. The only time it will not let me do this is if there is a danger of exceeding the RPM limit.

The only annoying feature I found is that if you come to a stop at a junction in 2nd, it will auto select 1st after about 1 second. I find it best to always go to 1st before stopping, knowing exactly what gear you pull away from a junction is important! Now I have modified my driving style, I do not notice this feature.

Jon.

25th Sep 2001, 10:59

I've got a manual which has, to date, touch wood, been virtually faultless. I'd love to know what % of Selespeed owners have had problems 'cos even my local Alfa dealer advised me to stay clear...

12th Nov 2001, 08:53

I have posted here before about my Selespeed gears getting stuck.

Recently my dealer said that new information on this was available. Apparantly due to the design, swarf can get stuck in the fourth gear selector. My car is going to the dealer to get 'cleaned' this weekend. I guess if I had had a manual gearbox I could have used more force and not had this problem.

So apart from the actuator design, I think a few people may also be getting a problem due to swarf.

On the plus side my Selespeed has never 'crunched' the gears, stalled or over revved due to the design of the Selespeed system, and I still prefer it to a manual even after these problems.

Jon.

22nd Jan 2002, 14:07

See the 'Selespeed' group at groups.yahoo.com for lots more on this thread.

6th Oct 2007, 05:20

My Alfa 156 selespeed will not allow me to go from 2nd gear to 3rd gear. It will always go from 2nd to 4th. It operates OK when I first go in the morning, but after 10 minutes or so the problem occurs for the rest of the day. What am I doing wrong and where can I get operating instructions for the selespeed?

24th Nov 2008, 16:01

My Alfa 156 (Year 2000) only allow me to drive within the normal traffic hours. In slow traffic/traffic jams, the clutch will start overheating from all the start & stop nonsense in traffic... At the end, I have to turn off my car for a couples of hour to cool down the clutch because of the overheating, otherwise I won't be able to drive the car. How to fix this problem?

26th Nov 2009, 05:14

Have an 02 JTS, and yep I experienced all these problems. At the moment I've taken the car to Alfa to get a new actuator, hope the problem gets fixed. If not I will be out on the street begging for some change LOL. I need the car for work, and it's costing an arm and a leg to get it fixed and repaired..