MOT Time!

Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!

Any road, it went in today, and failed!
Previous MOT had an Advisory that there was a leak in the
flexible exhaust hose.

This time it failed on the same thing! :^(

On the plus side, it is now much quieter, and also seems
quicker!

Which makes the £159 bill a bit more palatable (including
fixing a nail in one of the tyres)

On the minus side, the new Advisory is:
"Antiroll Bar bush knocking on road test"

So, FOAK, is this likely to be expensive, or is it doable
by a lump-ammer-anan-adjustable monkey?

--
Rob Pearson
156 1.9jtd sportwagon (now)
164 V6 Lusso (gone)

"R C Nesbit" > wrote in message
...
> Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
> mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!
>
> Any road, it went in today, and failed!
> Previous MOT had an Advisory that there was a leak in the
> flexible exhaust hose.
>
> This time it failed on the same thing! :^(
>
> On the plus side, it is now much quieter, and also seems
> quicker!
>
> Which makes the £159 bill a bit more palatable (including
> fixing a nail in one of the tyres)
>
> On the minus side, the new Advisory is:
> "Antiroll Bar bush knocking on road test"
>
> So, FOAK, is this likely to be expensive, or is it doable
> by a lump-ammer-anan-adjustable monkey?
>
> --
> Rob Pearson
> 156 1.9jtd sportwagon (now)
> 164 V6 Lusso (gone)
>
Generally, Urethane replacement bushes are used, e.g. from Powerflex. As per
previous discussion on this ng, reputedly better than the genuine AR parts.

They aren't too expensive and I had mine installed by a local garage.

According to their website, Powerflex had a factory fire - hope there are
stocks around.

Malcolm Osborne
South Africa
156 TS 1999 276 000 Km

R C Nesbit wrote:
> Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
> mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!
>

Mine is due 3rd Jan. But it's also up for it's 108k service, so in it
goes on Friday.

So that'll be £182 for the service
£40? for the MOT
£eek for the cracked exhaust manifold
£200(?) for a new MAF
£eeeeeek for whatever has totally screwed the suspension and handling
IRO £400 for (probably) new tyres all round.

This will be the last big bill on this one I suspect.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 08:47:11 +0200, "Malcolm Osborne"
> wrote:

>Generally, Urethane replacement bushes are used, e.g. from Powerflex. As per
>previous discussion on this ng, reputedly better than the genuine AR parts.

I've heard that while they may last a bit longer, they're a lot less
comfortable. That might be something to be seriously considered with
the state of our roads here in the UK! :-(

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

On Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:59:42 GMT, R C Nesbit > wrote:

>On the minus side, the new Advisory is:
>"Antiroll Bar bush knocking on road test"

Virtually comes out of the factory like that though!! I had that for
5-6 YEARS and it never failed an MOT for it. Best advice I got from an
old mechanic was..him "is it affecting handling?", me "no", him
"bugger off then!". Then you live with a cheap car that sounds like a
wreck though! :-(

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

"Malcolm Osborne" > wrote in message
...
>
> "R C Nesbit" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
>> mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!
>>
>> Any road, it went in today, and failed!
>> Previous MOT had an Advisory that there was a leak in the
>> flexible exhaust hose.
>>
>> This time it failed on the same thing! :^(
>>
>> On the plus side, it is now much quieter, and also seems
>> quicker!
>>
>> Which makes the £159 bill a bit more palatable (including
>> fixing a nail in one of the tyres)
>>
>> On the minus side, the new Advisory is:
>> "Antiroll Bar bush knocking on road test"
>>
>> So, FOAK, is this likely to be expensive, or is it doable
>> by a lump-ammer-anan-adjustable monkey?
>>
>> --
>> Rob Pearson
>> 156 1.9jtd sportwagon (now)
>> 164 V6 Lusso (gone)
>>
> Generally, Urethane replacement bushes are used, e.g. from Powerflex. As
> per previous discussion on this ng, reputedly better than the genuine AR
> parts.
>
> They aren't too expensive and I had mine installed by a local garage.
>
<snip>

My experience of Powerflex bushes....

S Q U E A K..... S Q U E A K.....!!!!

Ok if you drive everywhere with radio turned up!

On Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:42:41 +0000, Catman
> wrote:

>R C Nesbit wrote:
>> Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
>> mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!
>>
>
>Mine is due 3rd Jan. But it's also up for it's 108k service, so in it
>goes on Friday.
>
>So that'll be £182 for the service
>£40? for the MOT

Nope..£54 (or £35 from Quik-Fit if you're skint, which you soon will
be..)

>£eek for the cracked exhaust manifold

Never had that one!

>£200(?) for a new MAF

Alfa may well fit a "reconditioned" (i.e. cleaned and sense wire
replaced - good as new IME) one for less than £150.

>£eeeeeek for whatever has totally screwed the suspension and handling

Might be just £eek when they can't locate all the noisy bushes IME!

>IRO £400 for (probably) new tyres all round.

Continental Sport Contact 2 (perfectly good, if not excellent on a
156) from eTyres at £83.60 each all up. Assuming 205-55-16-W.

>This will be the last big bill on this one I suspect.

LOL! With the last year I had, that was only true *after* I sold the
bugger..

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

Zathras wrote:
> On Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:42:41 +0000, Catman
> > wrote:
>
>> R C Nesbit wrote:
>>> Having bought the 156 with 10 months MOT on it, I
>>> mis-remembered that the MOT ran out on 5th Nov!
>>>
>> Mine is due 3rd Jan. But it's also up for it's 108k service, so in it
>> goes on Friday.
>>
>> So that'll be £182 for the service
>> £40? for the MOT
>
> Nope..£54 (or £35 from Quik-Fit if you're skint, which you soon will
> be..)
>

*Thanks*

>> £eek for the cracked exhaust manifold
>
> Never had that one!

Quite common on the V6 apparently. When it gets hot, the crack closes
up. Which is why I couldn't work out where it was blowing from....

>
>> £200(?) for a new MAF
>
> Alfa may well fit a "reconditioned" (i.e. cleaned and sense wire
> replaced - good as new IME) one for less than £150.

Well, it's going independent so fingers crossed. Jamie was always of the
opinion that recons never lasted. YMMV.

>
>> £eeeeeek for whatever has totally screwed the suspension and handling
>
> Might be just £eek when they can't locate all the noisy bushes IME!

The noise I can live with. What I can't is the sudden, random changes of
direction and weighting of the steering

>
>> IRO £400 for (probably) new tyres all round.
>
> Continental Sport Contact 2 (perfectly good, if not excellent on a
> 156) from eTyres at £83.60 each all up. Assuming 205-55-16-W.
>
>> This will be the last big bill on this one I suspect.
>
> LOL! With the last year I had, that was only true *after* I sold the
> bugger..

I fully intend to either keep it for Mrs. Catman 'light duties' cos we
don't think we can cope with two, two door cars, or out it before the
summer.



--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 GTV TS 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 09:48:32 -0000, " cupra" >
wrote:

>My experience of Powerflex bushes....
>
>S Q U E A K..... S Q U E A K.....!!!!
>
>Ok if you drive everywhere with radio turned up!

LOL. Squeak squeak or knock knock..the agonies of choice..

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

Catman spoke:
> So that'll be £182 for the service
> £40? for the MOT

Mine was £49.50 for the MOT,
£35 for some flexible exhaust hose
£17 for fixing the puncture
85p for a number plate light bulb
£40 labour

> £eek for the cracked exhaust manifold
> £200(?) for a new MAF
> £eeeeeek for whatever has totally screwed the suspension and handling
> IRO £400 for (probably) new tyres all round.
>

--
Rob Pearson
156 1.9jtd sportwagon (now)
164 V6 Lusso (gone)