just bought a 460 1.8 se auto

[flexagon]

ok, so last week i purchased a "n reg 460 1.8 se auto" & there're a few things i'm a little concerned about, though this is my first automatic (& 460) so they may not be problems at all !
first off the gearbox/clutch, starting the car from cold & putting it into drive, it kind of thumps in, i was told this is quite common for automatics, also it whines a little, sounds a bit like a slipping fanbelt but higher pitched, after 2 mins driving both problems seem to disappear.
the other thing is the immobiliser, my first trip to the petrol station was a disaster ! after leaving the car, filling up & getting back in, it failed to start & somehow triggered the alarm, i think i've sussed it now though, if i unlock the doors from the remote (even though they're unlocked anyway) before i turn on the ignition, this seems to do the trick (i have to do this everytime the engine's been switched off for roughly about a minute) also the alarm led constantly flashes whilst driving, is this normal, am i being paranoid/stupid, you decide !
any help would be greatly appreciated....

[Daniel M]

Hi...

Can't help out with the old automatic box i'm afraid. I do know how tempramental the old 400 series alarms are though....if you go back through all the pages of post's, you will find quite a few alarm related questions. The red LED shouldn't be flashing constantly-if you set the alarm off, disable the alarm, then start the car, it will flash in a certain sequence to let you know why the alarm went off (e.g. 3 flashes 3 times indicate car has been started without the imobiliser being disabled etc). My alarm used to be set up the same way as yours-it was very annoying The amount of time's i went to the car and set the alarm off was unreal! Then one day it changed-i dis-connected the battery to install my stereo, for about 3 hours. When i reconnected the battery, the alarm worked differently for some reason. It just arms/dis-arms itself when i lock/unlock the car. No minute delay, the door pins "set" themselves instantly. A very un-professional way to go about it, but im glad i did it because it is now much more user friendly. Maybe something worth trying if the alarm becomes a pain.

Hope that's a little help.

Dan M

[Peter Milnes]

I think you have the ZF4HP24 auto-box in your car. It may just be that the fluid hasn't been changed at the reccomended interval of every 30,000miles. If the fluid is discoloured and smelly (burnt smell) then I would try changing it and flushing out the box. I thionk there is a sump plate that can be removed to access the filter which could also do with a clean. Make sure that the level is correct as that will cause thumping on take-up. The whining suggests a lack of fluid which makes the torque converter work a bit harder. Whoever told you it was common for automatics should retrieve his
balls from behind his ears. Just tell him that it is common for poorly serviced auto-boxes.

All the best, Peter

[flexagon]

thanks guys, that's put me a bit more at ease, doesn't sound too bad then. one other thing i forgot to mention about the gearbox is that it only has P-R-N-D-L, instead of the P-R-N-D-1-2-3 shown in the owners handbook, would this just be a model variant ?

[Peter Milnes]

That would tend to tell me that your car is fitted with the latest version of the CVT transmission which has these steps in the gearchange lever. What the legend is saying is that it is a single speed transmission with a low ratio hold which is very similar to CVT. You probably have a pneumatically operated clutch if you have a CVT variant.

All the best, Peter