156 doesent feel that quick...

[jimmy156]

Hi all,

I've had my 156 for a couple of months now, and am overall pretty happy with it, apart from a few niggles that its had.

However, it doesent really feel very quick. Its the 2.0TS, and so has 150bhp and, according to parkers guide, will do 0-60 in 8.5 secs, but it never really feels that much quicker then my old 306 (1.8 112bhp). Is this just "how they feel" or should it feel more urgent? It seems to lack in the middle of the rev range, i.e pulls nicely from low down, and goes well when i keep the revs high, but never feels very ugrent when going up through the revs.

Cheers, James

[MarkwG]

Our V6 went a bit lethargic when the MAF was dieing - wouldn't pull much passed 3500rpm. May be similar.

[alfa pint]

Heard something about the ecu picking up on driver style and then adapting the engine to suit it. I drove a few twin spark spiders when I was finding mine - one of them was absolutely scarily useless under 3000 rpm. Apparently it was owned by a girl before and the car had got used to her driving.

My spider is pretty useless below 2000 rpm and then pulls strongly all the way right the way up until the red line. It definitely feels rapid. This is how the twin spark is supposed to be apparently.

If you look on alfaowner.com, there's a guide on how to reset the ecu to factory settings and then let it learn your driving style.

[Jamz3k]

Oddly my 1.6ts (120bhp) 147 feels quick, loads of drama and noise but doesn't seem to actually go anywhere that fast! lol

[.:ian:.]

My TS GTV seems fairly gutless upto 3K then it takes off! Sounds to me like something isnt working properly, MAF, variator or variator solenoid? You could uplug one of these and see if it makes things worse or no differemt.

[jimmy156]

Thanks for the replies guys. Hmm could be MAF related, the previous owner has put a K&N air filter (cone filter, not replacement panel filter) on there, would this effect the MAF sensor in any way?

Will try that ECU reset as well, looks like a lot of people have had very good results over at alfaowner.com!

Shouldnt think its the variator, had this replaced a few months ago.

Cheers guys, James

[caiss4]

jimmy156 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. Hmm could be MAF related, the previous owner has put a K&N air filter (cone filter, not replacement panel filter) on there, would this effect the MAF sensor in any way?

Will try that ECU reset as well, looks like a lot of people have had very good results over at alfaowner.com!

Shouldnt think its the variator, had this replaced a few months ago.

Cheers guys, James

I seem to recall a thread (probably on Alfaowner) that K&N filters can cause the sensor in the MAF to become contaminated and thus affecting performance. Others may be able to confirm.

[jimmy156]

caiss4 said:

jimmy156 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. Hmm could be MAF related, the previous owner has put a K&N air filter (cone filter, not replacement panel filter) on there, would this effect the MAF sensor in any way?

Will try that ECU reset as well, looks like a lot of people have had very good results over at alfaowner.com!

Shouldnt think its the variator, had this replaced a few months ago.

Cheers guys, James

I seem to recall a thread (probably on Alfaowner) that K&N filters can cause the sensor in the MAF to become contaminated and thus affecting performance. Others may be able to confirm.

Ah okay, that would fit. Could a dirty MAF sensor cause the fuel injection light to come on intermitently? (clutching at straws here, but if this could all be explained by the same problem that would be good!)

So, my next question, is a faulty MAF sensor a cheap/easy fix? or is it going to cost me an arm and a leg? Also how much would i be looking at for a new original airbox? I was planning on doing this anyway as i dont really like having the K&N filter on there.

[14-7]

jimmy156 said:

Thanks for the replies guys. Hmm could be MAF related, the previous owner has put a K&N air filter (cone filter, not replacement panel filter) on there, would this effect the MAF sensor in any way?

Will try that ECU reset as well, looks like a lot of people have had very good results over at alfaowner.com!

Shouldnt think its the variator, had this replaced a few months ago.

Cheers guys, James

An oiled K&N filter is a guaranteed way to kill a MAF. The best thing to do if you want to check is unplug the MAF and go for a drive. It will idle badly but if it pulls well once on the move the MAF is the culpirt. Ditch the K&N as well.

[jimmy156]

Okay thanks for the tip (i'm fairly sure K&N's should be orange, and this one is a lovely shade of brown )

I will go for a drive after dinner without the MAF (can anyone tell me what i need to unplug, is it the plug just behind the air filter?)

How much to replace the MAF do you think? easy to do myself?

[BussoV6]

Flickering injector light is a classic sign that its the MAF thats shot.
Have a look on EB Spares for a price on a replacement, I'd guess it will be around £150. Don't bother with the e-bay ones as apparently they are a waste of time and money.

[jimmy156]

Okay so I tried disconnecting the maf... No change. But I'm not sure I disconected the right bit, as the car still idled okay and the engine light didn't come on, only the fuel ink light which as I said is intermittant anyway.

So can anyone describe exactly which bit i should be disconnecting?

Cheers, James

[Mr2Mike]

jimmy156 said:

Okay so I tried disconnecting the maf... No change. But I'm not sure I disconected the right bit, as the car still idled okay and the engine light didn't come on, only the fuel ink light which as I said is intermittant anyway.

So can anyone describe exactly which bit i should be disconnecting?

Cheers, James

This bit

[jimmy156]

Yeah thats what i thought, i dissconected the electrical connector to from that bit. I have been told now that the Engine light is is the fuel inj light, so all seems to be normal there.

I am going to try the ECU reset and see if that sorts anything else.

[RichyRichRacing]

The K&N/MAF problem seems to be an urban myth - see http://www.knfilters.com/maf/massair.htm and http://www.knfilters.com/maf/massairfindings.htm

I've had a MAF fail on my 156 2.4 jtd, it makes a massive difference to performance (in fact you can just test this by unplugging it - if the engine runs noticeably better then you need a new MAF).

I have no affiliation with K&N other than I use them on my race car, the alfa has never had any filter other than stock ones fitted and the MAF still failed. The research done by K&N into this looks fairly reasonable and they stand by it with their 'Customer Protection Pledge', so I wouldn't throw them away just yet...

[Jamz3k]

Totally agree with the above, total Myth. My 147 has been running happily with a K&N panel filter for 2years now. Cleaned it recently using a K&N kit and magically it still works!

[pphillpot]

I've always been quite surprised by how 'quick' my humble 156 1.8TS actually feels (I know it's not actually going all that fast!). When you hit 3500 rpm there's definately a step up in the acceleration, the engine just loves to rev and I think the relatively short gearing helps. I recently test drove a 90's Maserati Ghibli and while that was without doubt a much faster car, getting back into the Alfa I was surprosed to find that it just felt that bit nippier off the line.

[Lostprophet]

jimmy156 said:

Hi all,

I've had my 156 for a couple of months now, and am overall pretty happy with it, apart from a few niggles that its had.

However, it doesent really feel very quick. Its the 2.0TS, and so has 150bhp and, according to parkers guide, will do 0-60 in 8.5 secs, but it never really feels that much quicker then my old 306 (1.8 112bhp). Is this just "how they feel" or should it feel more urgent? It seems to lack in the middle of the rev range, i.e pulls nicely from low down, and goes well when i keep the revs high, but never feels very ugrent when going up through the revs.

Cheers, James

if you want a good 0-60 sell the Alfa and go German!

[RichyRichRacing]

Lostprophet said:

if you want a good 0-60 sell the Alfa and go German!

Yeah, you could do that as well. You may get to 60 quicker, but you'd keep losing your car because it would look so mediocre you'd keep walking past it

[herbialfa]

Try alfa156.net for any queries too!

Good site & informative!

ECU reset is a simple job to do and get the car back to its parameters!

Also on a 2L TS do a swap for a GTA intake!

Costs about £15 all in from the dealers, gets rid of the big resonator box behind the passenger headlight!

Its a 10 minute job once you get to it but you will notice the difference!