F1 gearbox failure warning light and yellow slow down

Purchased 2007 F430 February 2014 with 12K miles. Had 15K service done prior to purchase.

Had an intermittent issue when hot and driving in lots of stop and go traffic for an hour or so.
The yellow slow down warning would come on for 45 seconds, during that time if your are in gear it would not shift. If you were out of gear it would not shift into any gear. Restarting the car would solve the issue. No other indications or warnings. Sometimes it would happen a few times in a row. Had the F1 pump rebuilt and the problem seemed to disappear for months. Inspecting all F1 components looked clean and no apparent leaks.

Last week doing some errands a similar issue happened, this time the gear number would start blinking and twenty seconds later, the F1 gearbox failure warning light flashed about five times and fifteen or so seconds later the yellow slow down warning came on for about ten seconds. During this any shift would cause the RPM to drop to 1000 RPM for ten seconds and jump back to the RPM prior to the attempted shift. When I inspected the F1 components the two rear hydraulic lines connectors on the actuator had oil residue. It seemed that the oil came from behind the actuator, the top was clean an dry.
After some disassembly it turns out the rear bleeder screw was loose. Tightened the bleeder screw, reassembled and have done several extensive driving tests without any issue. I wish the actuator was a bit more accessible, but I am glad the issue is gone. Thanks for all the help from the forums.

I have read on the forums similar issues, possible causes are
1) loose bleeder screws
2) bad pump
3) leaking valves
4) bad actuator
5) ediff issue
6) clutch too hot

 

The actuator is a big dollar item.

 

As I understand there are some cost effective solutions with having your stock unit rebuilt. I have no personal experience but have read $3000 vs $13,000 at dealer.

 

I had a similar issue... E-diff solenoid. Pump was fine. E diff causes pressure to build, heat up pump and cause the shift issue/ light. $900 part plus labor.