2000 Alfa Romeo 156 selespeed from UK and Ireland - Comments

Air bag light contsantly comes one.

Selespeed actuator failure @ 50,000 miles.

Apparently the Air bag fail lights comes on due to some trapped wiring under the drivers seat. the dealer told me not to move the seat???

The real disappointment is the failure of the auto box... I really do think that reading the comments on here there are inherent problems with the selespead gearbox. The dealer only wants £1200 to sort the problems out and we have to wait for 2 weeks.

Hello, I also have an Alfa Romeo and my Airbag light is lit too. I just wanted to know whether the dealer fixed the problem and if so how much did it cost.

Thanks.

That's bizarre! my Alfa 156 Selespeed has done 49,368 & the clutch actuator has failed. quoted £1500 & just authorised dealer to do the work. Apparently to do the work, the cambelt needs to be removed & can't be put on again, so the price includes new cambelt as well. Know there was a problem when a "hissing" noise could be heard on gear changes & unstable when coming to a stop (felt like car was going to stall). This is quite obviously a fault with the clutch. I love the car, but I'm gutted about the £1500.00. My next Alfa will have a normal gearbox!!! Beware the selespeed gearbox!

That's totally incorrect. The cam belt does not need to be removed to replace the clutch actuator, which is part of the whole Selespeed actuator unit.

Check the selespeed fluid level in the reservoir on the right hand of the engine. If this is empty or low it is likely to be a low pressure problem caused by an oil leak. I had similar symptoms to you, but tracked it to a leak.

Luckily my problem was a damaged hose which was replaced for £156 including labour. Better than £1200 for the whole actuator unit.

I've got a 156 Selespeed, 5 years old and 38000 miles. Up till now it's been fault free, but suddenly the other day it keeps slipping out of 5th gear into neutral any time I apply even the slightest amount of torque. I'm going to take it to the dealer, but just wondered if anyone else knows of this problem...

Fab car, apart from that!!

I have a 2000 Alfa 156 2.0 Selespeed. Unfortunately have similar problems to those previously mentioned, along with the oil leak from the Sele oil reservoir. It needs constant topping up, as all gear change function is lost with low pressure. Up to now I haven't dared to check it closely due to potential high repair costs.

I drive in "city" to avoid actuator wear. It sort of defeats the object of having the Selespeed gearbox, if I'm afraid the use it too much!

Seems to me that this common problem would have been avoided with more development, and long term testing by Alfa.

Other wise a great car. I have a missing left leg, so thought this gearbox would be ideal. Maybe not!