Alfa156Melb

Sooooooo its not just a 22mm spanner, Its a special bloody 22mm spanner................

Ok so, how the phuck are u meant to get to the post lambda sensors without removing the manifold? Grrrr

Bloody poms..

wow, mine are reading about 2.5 pre and 0.6 post... OK, so lambda 2 is the bad guy - thanks mate.. i'll remove it and screw it back on as per your suggestions and see how she goes.

as in cam belt side?

Which side is lambda 2 by the way?

I thought you'd say that.. I got an lambda error a few weeks ago.. and rechecked MES today - no fault codes. Smaky are you able to tell me what approximate numbers i should expect on the pre and post lambdas in MES please?

Hey Smaky, Just noticed this today - engine is young, only about 70,000kms - never low on oil and always use top notch stuff... any ideas? EDIT: Actually it looks like its more black, although its hard to tell.... with a strong smell of petrol.

Ill check and see.. Cheers

ahhhh. the old cracked exhaust manifold on number 4 trick. But would it then tap away on every cold start or is my symptoms typical of this? Wait... manifold... i have a feeling that's an expensive fix. edit: Come to think of it, i can still hear a tinkling sound under acceleration. Particularly when along side concrete barriers as the sound reflects back... its sounds like little tiny screws being shaken in a glass jar. I've checked all the heat shields and they are good and I recently had new flexi pipe fitted... I've been wondering if this is what pinking sounds like (never heard it before so i dont know) - its sounds very metallic. Would this possibly be related?

Smaky, I've noticed that on the odd occasion, after the car's been sitting for the night, on the first start for the day, there's a very brief tapping sound - it only lasts half a second and goes away. It's only happened two or three times and never happens on any subsequent starts for that day. The engine has done about 70,000kms, the oil is 8,000 kms old (due for a change) and its a POA/Ester blend. I'm wondered if it might be the variator, but it was replaced when i bought the engine, about 30,000kms ago. Besides, its sounds more like tappets to me. Given the oil isn't that old, and the engine isn't that old.. what do you think the most likely cause of this?

Well I swapped out a worn lower right engine mount this weekend, easy job... I didnt realise how worn out the old one was as the engine was sagging about 1.5 inches.. The kangarooing from 2nd to 1st, and the odd rough gear change are gone.. I also readjusted the clutch rod - its now hovering around 28.01mm.... Did a bite point and calibration.. car is silky smooth again. So, the engine moving about must have had a large impact, also the car is generally much quieter with the new mount.. very happy.

I dont have a new box.. or clutch.. also the clutch rod was checked hot....

Happy endings! The way it should be :Big Grin: :Big Grin: :Big Grin: :Big Grin:

Well, now my car's set up nicely, time to look at the selespeed. On cold its never all that smooth, it used to pulsate but these days it more just drops the car into gear, especially 2nd... today, it missed third twice - on a cold box... After I dropped my Son at Day care, drove home, car was warmer, problems gone. My Sele has never failed. In 6 years the only work thats ever been done is regular calibrations and bite points. I'm not aware of any work done to it before I owned it, so I suspect it's completely untouched. The numbers are fine - clutch rod needs adjustment as its just on the edge at 28.45 It holds pressure reasonably well, needs a prime every 2 - 3 changes.. holds 55bar and drops about a bar a minute (from memory) down to 45 then primes back to 55. The battery is weak, it's four years old, and im noticing on cold mornings it struggles to turn the engine over.. but otherwise its fine - charging at 13.9v. So, I'm guessing it's either the battery or should i also look replacing those seals? Edit: Just checked with MES and the clutch rod adjustment is now at 28.644. Two weeks ago it was 28.45 - would this be an indication of a tired clutch? Seems to be a lot of movement in a short time - that's all. Anyway, I'll adjust it back this weekend.

yeah, but I'm waiting on that engine mount to arrive so, I'll do the lot at once. The faults haven't reappeared.. yet.

Sounds fair, thanks Smaky.

Guy's I'm looking for opinions, or better yet, facts :Big Grin: I was reading a thread over in AO where one of the more reputable members advised a 156 TS owner that some of his engine pinging problems may be attributable to using 98RON fuel. His premise was that as 98 burns hotter so it might be burning his valves over time, thereby causing a pinking noise. Here's the thread - http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-and-gt/369203-2-years-of-engine-pinking-noise.html It's said in this thread that the car cannot 'tell' the difference between 95 and 98 because the spark cant advance any more than which is required for 95.. so anything above that (for a healthy engine) is unnecessary. Which brings me to my conundrum.. I have almost always used 98RON, most people in forum land are evangelistic about it, also as the JTS has a higher compression so it made sense to use it. Another good reason is that they tend to coke up a little (lot) thanks to the direct injection so the extra soap in the fuel might help - on the other hand, given its direct injection - the fuel doesn't swish around behind the inlet valves so - moot point. Anyway - 98RON is expensive.. So, is there really any advantage to 98RON over 95RON in our JTS's?

Ill have to wait a while, as my tools are up at my parents.. Ill report back when done. What pre and post numbers should we expect on average? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Smaky, I decided to clean the MAF today, which turned out to be a good idea.. the car feels much more alive now.. which is good.. But before I did that, I plugged MES in to check for any faults and two came up.. MES says that the dash light was on, but I don't remember seeing that... anyway, I cleared the faults and took her for a drive with MES plugged in... The pre lamba's read about 2.5 and the post lambda's 0.6 on average on a steady throttle at about 50mph.... are you happy with those numbers? Here's the screen shots of both faults: Anything to worry about? And are those battery voltages a bit low?

Lovely jubbly - that doesnt sound too bad.. I'll do it when i swap the broken mount out cheers.

I wondered whether my spring was dangerous, I was more concerned though that it would damage something being like that.... but luckily it didn't. When I next swing by their shop I'll have a chat to them.. It's a shame because, in a round about way my family has been using them for about 40 years. When our mechanic merged with another specialist (who were originally my mechanics apprentices many years ago), of course i just continued going to the new business... My dad used to have this guy look after his Maserati's in the late 60's.. and he even occasionally did some work on a vintage four and half litre Invicta amongst other things. Although we did most of the work ourselves on the old cars. We have a long, long history.

Smaky whats your preferred method of flushing and replacing the power steering fluid please? I realised the other day that I don't remember having it done.. in a lonnnngggg time.. and i noticed it was dirty so may as well sort it out next time i service her

They do, but this is 3 times in a row now. For years they've been great to me, but as with the way of the world they've needed to expand and I've noticed that on all the last 3 occasions their 'staff' or apprentices have done the botchy work. So i think ill do more work on the car myself and find another specialist for the complex stuff. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OK no worries...