F1 Control panel Red Light Warning

Availablesi

New Member
Messages
28
Good morning all, every now and then my red light for the F1 Cambiocrosa warning comes on the dash. When this happens, I am unable to go beyond neutral. I.e if in forward gears I can still change but wont be able to go into reverse or out of neutral. This warning only stays on for a few minutes and then it goes off. In the last 100kms it has only happened twice. Any ideas? Someone told me it could be the F1 control panel but this part is apparently discontinued and I am struggling to find this part? Any ideas or feedback would be welcome. This is for a 2006 GranSport Coupe. Thank you.
 

2b1ask1

Special case
Messages
20,220
First port of call should be to top up the F1 fluid pot, unfortunately it is extremely hard to access. There are how tos on here.
 

safrane

Member
Messages
16,748
Simple things first; is your fluid topped up? Is the F1 pump priming as it should?
 
Last edited:

atreyu1

Member
Messages
183
I had exactly the same problem with my 4200 MY 2003. The red gearbox light would come on but as long as the car was moving I found that I could change gear ok. If neutral was selected that was it , game over as it then became impossible to select a gear. The only way to make it work again was to do a battery reset, after which everything would work again. Quite by chance I found the fault which was a bad connection in the control panel that houses the reverse gear lever. I removed the control panel and found that the multi pin plug that connects the control panel to the main loom had become loose. I plugged it back in fully and it's worked ever since. I found the fault simply by pressing on the control panel. This caused the g/box light to come on and go off again just by wiggling things about. Hope this helps.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
What fluid would you recommend to use? Thanks
The good book says CHF for the cambiocorsa system and a bottle of around 750ml to 1 litre should fill it.

Also this may come in handy
93c14274d511e535672357c3eb6da3d6.jpg
DSC_0008_5.jpeg
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
Oh and the best way to get to it is through the spare wheel compartment under the boot, if you can't lift it up sufficiently.
 

BennyD

Sea Urchin Pate
Messages
14,994
Good luck with that if it hasn’t been taken out since the car was new!
 

atreyu1

Member
Messages
183
I had exactly the same problem with my 4200 MY 2003. The red gearbox light would come on but as long as the car was moving I found that I could change gear ok. If neutral was selected that was it , game over as it then became impossible to select a gear. The only way to make it work again was to do a battery reset, after which everything would work again. Quite by chance I found the fault which was a bad connection in the control panel that houses the reverse gear lever. I removed the control panel and found that the multi pin plug that connects the control panel to the main loom had become loose. I plugged it back in fully and it's worked ever since. I found the fault simply by pressing on the control panel. This caused the g/box light to come on and go off again just by wiggling things about. Hope this helps.
Further to my last message I forgot to say that prior to finding the fault I changed the F1 pump, the g/box oil and the g/box filter. Even took it to Autoshield to be diagnosed but all to no avail. As I said before mine was an intermittent electrical fault.
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
The F1 pump and gear change mechanism is separate from the gearbox oil. The Gearbox oil lubricates the gears, and the F1 aka Cambiocorsa system is a pressurised hydraulic system that changes the gears. Hence the two different fluids.
 

atreyu1

Member
Messages
183
The F1 pump and gear change mechanism is separate from the gearbox oil. The Gearbox oil lubricates the gears, and the F1 aka Cambiocorsa system is a pressurised hydraulic system that changes the gears. Hence the two different fluids.
Yes I'm fully aware of that but thank you for pointing it out. I changed the g/box oil and filter as part of an on going maintenance plan but just thought that I'd mention it. In retrospect it isn't relevant to the problem but the F1 pump certainly was. Anyway it turned out to be something else.