No F1 prime or startup

[leeq61]

Hi gents, I’m after some advice if possible please. I’ve been visiting the family over the Easter period, come out to my car (GS) and the car won’t start. No F1 prime and I have the gearbox red light flashing on the dash. I’ve done a battery reset but still the same. The battery is showing good charge levels etc. Just no start etc, no gears etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Lee

 

[conaero]

Hum, doesn’t sound good.

The car will not have permission to start if it’s in gear. If the pumps gone then it won’t be able to throw neutral and gain permission to start.

The only thing you can try is rock the car (handbrake off) and see if it’s in gear and corresponds with the gear indicator.

Failing that there is a fuse next to the F1 relay you can check. (there are two from memory, check both).

The usual procedure is the relay fries in the open position then runs the pump till it fries too.

You could check the battery cables:

The earth connector breaks where it goes to the cable on the Neg and on the positive, there are 3 piggyback wires that bolt on. I’ve seen those come loose and cause your symptoms.

The dash doesn’t flash when you attempt start does it? Sign of a low battery.

But it would appear your pump and relay have gone.

It’s not that expensive, the Alfa Selespeed pump is the same part and it’s under £200. Relay about £30 then you have to descide if your going to do it yourself or spend the £500 in labour.

You need to get the dead pump confirmed. SD ideally but you can pull the relay with the ignition on and bridge the relay terminal, high side and see if it spins into life.

 

[leeq61]

Thanks Matt, that’s really helpful. It was in N, so no gear to select as for the battery, I’ve ha a few issues lately with it even after being on the Ctek where when I try to start it just cackles and doesn’t start until I do a quick battery reset and the battery seems to then have enough power to start.
I have took the F1 relay etc out and took the fuses out, have them a wipe and reseated them. Left if for 10 minutes and I have prime again on the pump and started straight up. Very odd and at least it’s working however, it does leave the question as to what has happened previously?. I’ll replace the F1 fuse and surrounding fuses just encase it was one of those as they’re cheap enough to do.

 

[2b1ask1]

Italian....

 

[conaero]

Replace the battery, relay and fuses and have you thoroughly inspected the battery terminals? I suspect your issue is a power/terminal one hence why it fails intermittently.

Then you should be good.

 

[2b1ask1]

I'd say it is more likely a weak cell in the battery, they don't need much of an excuse to throw errors!

 

[leeq61]

Thanks gents. What brand of battery would you recommend?. I’ve got a Yuasa on it at the minute, any other recommendations or just stick with a Yuasa battery.

 

[conaero]

I’ve heard Yusa’s quite regularly dropping cells so go Bosch or Exide. I’ve not heard bad thing about them, Google Tanya Batteries

 

[D Walker]

My Bosch dropped 2 cells. Have a Yuasa now

 

[rockits]

Always used Bosch but have used Yuasa with no problems before. Sounds like it could be battery to kick off with then further troubleshooting if not.

You can get loads of weird random issues with a duff battery.

 

[Mike X]

I can vouch for that , my seats and mirrors wouldn’t work until I swapped out the battery , along with a whole host of other weird gremlins , I went Yuasa , so far so good .

 

[leeq61]

After trying a new battery, I've found that the f1 pump was pretty much on it's last legs. It would sometimes work and sometimes wouldn't, so i thought i would change it out for a new one as the car looks like its on the original. This has took me a week or so on and off of an evening whilst the car has been in my garage on jack stands - very rewarding doing it myself, but knuckle scratching. Now i've changed the F1 pump with a new pump and the car is 99% back together, do i just need to refill the resevoir and cycle the gears, or is there anything else i should do?. I'm planning on refilling the resevoir with new Tutela CS fluid and then getting it booked in with Marios @ Autoshield for the F1 bleed to ensure that everything is ok.

The guide on here for the F1 pump replacement was very helpful too.

 

[Gp79]

Filler the reservoir up then open the bypass screw on the valve block before running the pump, this will dump any air back to the tank. I bled mine 3 years ago this way after a pump change and no issues since.
Make sure you only touch the one marked below and close fully after.

 

[leeq61]

Filler the reservoir up then open the bypass screw on the valve block before running the pump, this will dump any air back to the tank. I bled mine 3 years ago this way after a pump change and no issues since.
Make sure you only touch the one marked below and close fully after.

View attachment 56746

Thanks, that’s really helpful. I’ve read that many articles over needing it to be bled by the dealer computer. I’ll give it a go tomorrow evening once I have the Tutela CS fluid and see how it goes then if all is well, i’ll make sure I add it onto the annual service next year to get it bled properly.

 

[Gp79]

No probs just open and close the door to run the pump then once your happy it’s run enough to purge any air close the screw and it should be fine.

 

[conaero]

You need SDX to bleed the pump which is £30k or you can use a piece of wire and jump the relay for 30p.

The choice as they say....is yours.

 

[leeq61]

Hi guys. I followed the instructions Re the bleed screw and checked fluid levels etc and the reservoir is more or less full. I can start the car, it will go into 1st Neutral and Reverse no problems when I change the gears, no gear box light. Then when I put my foot on the accelerator to move the car in 1st or Reverse the car shuts off. Any ideas? I’ve also noticed that via the odb2 that I’m getting the error “P0806 Clutch position sensor circuit range/performances” Many Thanks

 

[Gp79]

Must be air in the clutch hydraulic line.

There is a bleed nipple at the bell housing. Crack this open and bleed here while shifting 1st to neutral to activate clutch (assistant needed in the car with you under it)

Make sure reservoir doesn’t drop too low to introduce any air, shift a few times and hopefully you’ll see some air expelled similar to bleeding brakes