Alpina B10 4.8S Gearbox/electrical niggles

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John Ness
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Alpina B10 4.8S Gearbox/electrical niggles

Post by John Ness » Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:55 am

My B10 Alpina has been behaving and great fun since breather replaced and cam cover leaks were sorted, even got 31.7 mpg at 75 mph on a run to Cornwall from Berks.

Last night after half an hour of running around I left the car for and hour and a half and when I started it the dash screen said something like " transmission protective mode".

The Switchtronic and gear lever back and forth changes would not work and the dash display simply read PRND etc.

It got home with very slow acceleration when pulling away but was livelier above 30mph. I could not find any advice on how long it is safe to drive in that mode. When reversing at home the parking distance control was not working and the reversing light also was not illuminating. ?

The automatic gearbox warning light had never illuminated prior to this.

This morning the car is back to normal with everything working at least on a 2 mile test ?

Anyone experienced this ? I have read somewhere about fault codes need to be cleared etc but odd that the pdc and reversing light also went out ?

Anyone know an autobox specialist in south Bucks/Berkshire ?

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jolls
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Post by jolls » Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:14 pm

Might be worth giving http://www.cpcpe.com a ring first.A few forum members use them for their knowledge of Alpinas. You may have to persevere with the calls. Their not far from South Bucks either.
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jolls
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Post by jolls » Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:16 pm

Might be worth giving http://www.cpcpe.com a ring first.A few forum members use them for their knowledge of Alpinas. You may have to persevere with the calls. Their not far from South Bucks either.
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PhillV8S
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Post by PhillV8S » Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:18 pm

First port of call if I was you would be checking the battery and alternators health as these cars are very voltage sensitive and any minor deficiencies in the system can throw up all sorts of strange problems including phantom gearbox issues.
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greenelekta
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Post by greenelekta » Mon Oct 23, 2017 6:56 pm

PhillV8S wrote:First port of call if I was you would be checking the battery and alternators health as these cars are very voltage sensitive and any minor deficiencies in the system can throw up all sorts of strange problems including phantom gearbox issues.
I was going to say the same, battery!
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Metrics
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Post by Metrics » Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:03 pm

Yep, I'd also check the battery and alternator are doing what they should.
A bad earth lead somewhere could also be worth looking into given links with PDC/lights.
Good luck. Do report back if you find the culprit.

Good to hear the car is running well, they are lovely cars when working as intended.

Did you manage to sort the cam cover studs? Which breather did you replace?
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John Ness
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Alpina gearbox

Post by John Ness » Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:23 am

Metrics wrote:Yep, I'd also check the battery and alternator are doing what they should.
A bad earth lead somewhere could also be worth looking into given links with PDC/lights.
Good luck. Do report back if you find the culprit.

Good to hear the car is running well, they are lovely cars when working as intended.

Did you manage to sort the cam cover studs? Which breather did you replace?
Very helpful and I will look at those items.
Re the oil issues the crank case breather I believe was changed, it's under the inlet manifold. The cam caps needed to be helicoiled as some clown had stripped the threads which should only be 8-10N torque. There is now no smoke, no oil loss and I got 31.7mpg on a run to Cornwall so behaving currently, fingers crossed .
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John Ness
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Location: South Bucks

Transmission issues

Post by John Ness » Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:26 am

PhillV8S wrote:First port of call if I was you would be checking the battery and alternators health as these cars are very voltage sensitive and any minor deficiencies in the system can throw up all sorts of strange problems including phantom gearbox issues.
Thanks for that, my local garage also said check the cable entry Electrical plugs into the gearbox itself for oil leaks, these are an apparent weak spot and they are regularly changing them. Bit of a task as the sumo has to come off and the wires run through the new plug grommet etc.
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B10 Transmissions issues

Post by John Ness » Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:29 am

jolls wrote:Might be worth giving http://www.cpcpe.com a ring first.A few forum members use them for their knowledge of Alpinas. You may have to persevere with the calls. Their not far from South Bucks either.

Thanks for that, yeah Amersham is close. I am toying with taking the car to Europe nex summer so will need a proper next service and health check, these look the guys to do that, I am wondering if as they are an independent they will be cheaper than Sytner High Wycombe who appeared to have serviced the car for the last few years.
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Metrics
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Re: Alpina gearbox

Post by Metrics » Sun Oct 29, 2017 11:11 am

John Ness wrote:
Metrics wrote:Yep, I'd also check the battery and alternator are doing what they should.
A bad earth lead somewhere could also be worth looking into given links with PDC/lights.
Good luck. Do report back if you find the culprit.

Good to hear the car is running well, they are lovely cars when working as intended.

Did you manage to sort the cam cover studs? Which breather did you replace?
Very helpful and I will look at those items.
Re the oil issues the crank case breather I believe was changed, it's under the inlet manifold. The cam caps needed to be helicoiled as some clown had stripped the threads which should only be 8-10N torque. There is now no smoke, no oil loss and I got 31.7mpg on a run to Cornwall so behaving currently, fingers crossed .
Thanks John, good to know and log into the memory banks for my own car.

The cam caps are a common issue - as you say if the technician is not aware, they can be damaged.

Hope the car continues to be great for you!
John Ness wrote:I am wondering if as they are an independent they will be cheaper than Sytner High Wycombe who appeared to have serviced the car for the last few years.
An independent will always be cheaper and more knowledgeable with these older cars, unless you can find a conscientious technician/master tech at Sytner.

You're not far from me, would be good to meet up and unite two V8S's. What build number is your car?
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