Technical blinking gearbox warning led

[mckeithen]

hi all,

i'm from israel and i find this forum the best knowledge base for my marea 1.6 16v elx weekend. i'm happy to join this forum. i've already figured out some problems i've had, and i've learned a few tricks here.

i have a strange problem i did not encountered here in any thread.
my marea is 1999 with 99,800km (~62,400 miles), i am the 3rd hand owner. i bought this car only a month ago, i love it, but i already learned that although it looks neat, everything works and nothing is broken, the mechanical issue was alien to both previous owners – the car hardly visits the garage.
no timing belt change, poor quality oil, regular water for cooling and more things i will discover soon.
i had to go over a massive repairs: timing belt change, 8 valve change, camshaft replacement, cylinder head repair and more – all because of negligence.

now, after the car got back from the garage, it has a strange problem:
no more than 5 minute after start driving the gearbox warning led starts blinking. it's not stays on – it blinks. when the led blinks the gear behavior is sluggish, has difficulties running from a full stop and generally fills like it malfunction.
shutting down the car and start the engine again – and the blinking light is gone. drive 3 minutes and it will return.
i first thought the gear was overheating (it's very hot now in israel), but then i tried something else:
immediately after starting the engine i select the 'sport' mode of the gearbox.
in this mode the car can run all day and no warning light will appear. on the contrary – it runs realy well, accelerates, decelerates, kick-down and everything you ask for.
i sometimes love to have fun and drive in the 'sport' mode, but this is not the best form to take the children to school…

today i tried to reset the ecu, as it describes in this forum (1 hour battery disconnected and so), but the gear's warning light appears again after 5 minutes of driving.

did anyone encounter a problem like that?
i can't be sure if the gear is really malfunction, because it runs well in the 'sport' mode, the gear oil and the engine oil are full and no leaks.
i hope someone here will give me a faint idea before my mechanics will start breaking my car apart…

thanx,

deron.
​

 

[D.Mariadass]

Hi There,

I do have the similar problem, where I have change the gear box but the problem still exit. Latter inside the gear box some how water goes in and have to repair the. The blinking spot for a month and it started again.
My mechanic told me to change to manual or change the car but I have onces for all change my mechanic.

I have add a oil cooler and it works but at time the problem still exit.

So if any one have better idea than to discount the battary, please advise

Btw- I am from Malaysia.

hi all,​

i'm from israel and i find this forum the best knowledge base for my marea 1.6 16v elx weekend. i'm happy to join this forum. i've already figured out some problems i've had, and i've learned a few tricks here.​

i have a strange problem i did not encountered here in any thread.
my marea is 1999 with 99,800km (~62,400 miles), i am the 3rd hand owner. i bought this car only a month ago, i love it, but i already learned that although it looks neat, everything works and nothing is broken, the mechanical issue was alien to both previous owners – the car hardly visits the garage.
no timing belt change, poor quality oil, regular water for cooling and more things i will discover soon.
i had to go over a massive repairs: timing belt change, 8 valve change, camshaft replacement, cylinder head repair and more – all because of negligence.​

now, after the car got back from the garage, it has a strange problem:
no more than 5 minute after start driving the gearbox warning led starts blinking. it's not stays on – it blinks. when the led blinks the gear behavior is sluggish, has difficulties running from a full stop and generally fills like it malfunction.
shutting down the car and start the engine again – and the blinking light is gone. drive 3 minutes and it will return.
i first thought the gear was overheating (it's very hot now in israel), but then i tried something else:
immediately after starting the engine i select the 'sport' mode of the gearbox.
in this mode the car can run all day and no warning light will appear. on the contrary – it runs realy well, accelerates, decelerates, kick-down and everything you ask for.
i sometimes love to have fun and drive in the 'sport' mode, but this is not the best form to take the children to school…​

today i tried to reset the ecu, as it describes in this forum (1 hour battery disconnected and so), but the gear's warning light appears again after 5 minutes of driving.​

did anyone encounter a problem like that?
i can't be sure if the gear is really malfunction, because it runs well in the 'sport' mode, the gear oil and the engine oil are full and no leaks.
i hope someone here will give me a faint idea before my mechanics will start breaking my car apart…​

thanx,​

deron.​

 

[jug]

faulty gearbox temperature sensor, not uncommon on the 1.6 auto.

 

[mckeithen]

thanx, mariadas for your replay, although i didn't understood how the story ends.

thank, jug - your answer gives me hope (and will save me a lot of money...).
question: in the 'normal' mode, when the light blinks - how come the gear is physically reacts badly, while in 'sport' mode it runs like there's no tomorrow and no signs of any malfunction?

thanx again,

deron.

 

[jug]

question: in the 'normal' mode, when the light blinks - how come the gear is physically reacts badly, while in 'sport' mode it runs like there's no tomorrow and no signs of any malfunction?

when the control unit gets an overheating signal it tries to prevent damage, that is what you are experiencing.

 

[mckeithen]

thanx, jug, for the fast reply.
i assumed it is so, but i needed to here it from someone who knows better.
i'll fix it next week and keep posting.

10q,

deron.

 

[mckeithen]

hi again,​

the problem is SOVLED!
BUT it made me go nuts until i've found the problem…​

the story gets worst - after warning light blinking, the marea has started to go even more odd. the engine stopped in a middle of a ride without warning, the air bag warning led turned on and more crazy surprises.​

to make a long story short – the ALTERNATOR was bad.
replacing it made all the troubles go away. no warning light of any kind, at last.
all the problem was that the battery charge warning light DID NOT went on and did not give me any clue there is no charge.​

the conclusion and the lesson is:
make sure the car gets its adequate power needs before digging and try to follow the warning lights trail.​

thank u all,​

deron. ​