New-style 156 opinions sought
 

I've had an old style 156 for the last 3 1/2 years which has just given
up on me (a week after the 72,000 mile service, new brake discs & pads
and a new battery - typical!!). The bearings went and the garage want
=A33300 for a reconditioned engine. Seeing as the car is 5 years old
with 72,000 on the clock, so only worth around =A34500, it hardly seems
worth it. My head tells me to get something else (the cam belt also
went at 55,000 miles, but Alfa paid for the repair), but my heart says
otherwise - for the price there isn't anything else that appeals to me
in the same way the 156 does.

I've seen a decently priced 1 year old new-style 156 and I just wanted
to get any opinions on them. Are they any more reliable? Do they
still drink oil? By the way, I'm open to offers on the busted one - W
Reg, leather seats, telephone dial alloys. It's currently sitting in a
garage in Amersham; best offer so far is =A31000.

Thanks
Stuart

> wrote in message
oups.com...
I've had an old style 156 for the last 3 1/2 years which has just given
up on me (a week after the 72,000 mile service, new brake discs & pads
and a new battery - typical!!). The bearings went and the garage want
£3300 for a reconditioned engine.


Wheel Bearings???

Whats that go to do with a new engine?

> wrote:

> I've had an old style 156 for the last 3 1/2 years which has just given
> up on me (a week after the 72,000 mile service, new brake discs & pads
> and a new battery - typical!!). The bearings went and the garage want
> £3300 for a reconditioned engine. Seeing as the car is 5 years old
> with 72,000 on the clock, so only worth around £4500, it hardly seems
> worth it. My head tells me to get something else (the cam belt also
> went at 55,000 miles, but Alfa paid for the repair), but my heart says
> otherwise - for the price there isn't anything else that appeals to me
> in the same way the 156 does.
>
> I've seen a decently priced 1 year old new-style 156 and I just wanted
> to get any opinions on them. Are they any more reliable? Do they
> still drink oil? By the way, I'm open to offers on the busted one - W
> Reg, leather seats, telephone dial alloys. It's currently sitting in a
> garage in Amersham; best offer so far is £1000.

I don't think you're cut out for Alfa ownership to be honest. You
obviously don't know anything about looking after a 156 - the cambelt
should have been changed at 36,000 miles and if the 'bearings' have gone
in the engine - I'm assuming big end bearings here - then it's because
you haven't been checking the oil.

Perhaps a boringly reliable, zero maintenance German car is more your
thing.

--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

I always had the car serviced at an Alfa main dealer and the service
schedule is a cam belt change at 72,000. It was never suggested to me
that it should be done earlier. It wasn't until it went and I started
reading up on it that I found that in other European countries they
were recommending 36,000. As for the oil, I checked it every 1000
miles; if it needs doing more frequently than that then perhaps you're
right.

What 156 do you talk about.
Oil burners is only applicable to the first generation 2.0JTS engines.
All others engines have "normal" oil consumption easily maintained by
checking (topping up when needed) the oil level every 4-5 tankstops.
How reguraly did you check your oil level befor the service and how much oil
did you have to top up?
Was the oil consumption increasing or did it stay constant over time?
Bearings only fail when you run with low oil levels (the level is important,
but more importantly low level results in much higher oil temperatures and
high temp oils lubricate badly.
If all was "normal", in combination with the week earlier 72000 mile service
only one thing comes to mind: They messed up your car!!
What kind of oil was in the engine befor the service and what did they put
in? (different oil may result in a exploding oil consumption!!)
How much oil did they put in?
How much oil is in there now?
So how much did you use in 1 week?
Does the engine leak oil somewhere?
Did the put the filler cap and drain plug back in correctly?


> schreef in bericht
oups.com...
I've had an old style 156 for the last 3 1/2 years which has just given
up on me (a week after the 72,000 mile service, new brake discs & pads
and a new battery - typical!!). The bearings went and the garage want
£3300 for a reconditioned engine. Seeing as the car is 5 years old
with 72,000 on the clock, so only worth around £4500, it hardly seems
worth it. My head tells me to get something else (the cam belt also
went at 55,000 miles, but Alfa paid for the repair), but my heart says
otherwise - for the price there isn't anything else that appeals to me
in the same way the 156 does.

I've seen a decently priced 1 year old new-style 156 and I just wanted
to get any opinions on them. Are they any more reliable? Do they
still drink oil? By the way, I'm open to offers on the busted one - W
Reg, leather seats, telephone dial alloys. It's currently sitting in a
garage in Amersham; best offer so far is £1000.

Thanks
Stuart

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 12:22:53 +0200, "alfistagj"
> selected combat throttle and
flew into a dogfight with:

>Oil burners is only applicable to the first generation 2.0JTS engines.

Oil burners are diesel engines; the 2.0JTS is a petrol engine ;o).

The oil consumption of my 2.0 JTS has always been within specification
and has improved over 2 1/2 years since new.

>All others engines have "normal" oil consumption easily maintained by
>checking (topping up when needed) the oil level every 4-5 tankstops.

Oil check is every 300 miles. I use the tripmeter as a guide and the
trip computer for measuring trip (Alfa speak: mission) distances.

<Snip pertinent questions>

Perhaps the OP should contact his motoring organization (and/or
Trading Standards) for advice and perhaps an engineering inspection to
ensure that the service was properly conducted and not the cause of
the failure.

--
Max Reheat (:o) - deselect Part Throttle Reheat to reply.

Alfa 156 2.0 JTS Selespeed Veloce
Lancia Dedra 1.8i.e.SE

"alfistagj" > wrote in message
. ..
> If all was "normal", in combination with the week earlier 72000 mile
service
> only one thing comes to mind: They messed up your car!!

Good point. Could they have accidentally left engine flushing oil in there?

Mark

there is a possibility that your bearing going were related to your cambelt
... the impact on the piston squeezes the oil in the bearing and it rubs. I
should know it happened to me. Cambelt went at 73K, big-end bearing at 81K.

What did I do? Had the engine rebuilt. The bottom end work including a crank
regrind, bearings, new oil pump and new piston rings was around £1500 ...
and now the car is better than new!! I took mine to an Alfa/Fiat specialist.
Took a few weeks (it went week before Christmas) but is was worth it. The
"new" engine uses less oil than new mainly done to the new piston rings.

OK you spend £1500 but you could make £3000 selling her straight away or
£1000 to someone that will spend the £1500 and have a good car for £2500.
You figure ......

Me: I'm keeping mine .... even though it's cost me around £3000 to get her
back on the road.

Gazza

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> I always had the car serviced at an Alfa main dealer and the service
> schedule is a cam belt change at 72,000. It was never suggested to me
> that it should be done earlier. It wasn't until it went and I started
> reading up on it that I found that in other European countries they
> were recommending 36,000. As for the oil, I checked it every 1000
> miles; if it needs doing more frequently than that then perhaps you're
> right.
>

"Tony Rickard" > wrote in message
. uk...
> wrote:
>> Are they any more reliable? Do they
>> still drink oil?
>
> What is your issue with them using oil? Both mine and my wife Alfas have
> stickers in the window reminding owners of the racing heritage of the
> engine and the fact they will use oil. My V6 156 would not have made it to
> the first service for sure (major top up after 1000 miles) though it has
> settled since then.

Mine has done 82 000 miles and has drank oil since new. Went to Paris and
back at the weekend -1000 mile round trip and I had to put a litre of oil in
it en route. Ran like a dream though.

--
Simon Mason
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net