Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Twin Spark - Unseen-ish
Discussion
Sadly little in the way of tinkering has been done of late, mainly due to various parts of the crumbling pile of bricks I call a home requiring attention (see my other thread in home/diy section if so inclined).
However, I did take it out for a run up to Sunderland and back today with work and although nothing of major consequence happened or fell off it did give me an opportunity to do one of things that makes me smile when driving...
I left the office and headed south this afternoon and somewhere past Durham the fact all the oncoming cars had their lights on (and the pitch black cloud ahead) told me I was entering the mother of all downpours
Sure enough, the heavens opened so I dutifully and manually activated my wipers and headlights.
The little Alfa hammered along, carving two lines through the standing water as I marvelled at all the DRL monkeys with no rear lights but the best bit was I could see the end of the low sitting storm cloud and there's something I find weirdly satisfying about outrunning the storm and emerging into the sunshine.
Despite being a middle aged fart now, it makes me feel like some kind of bootlegger running for the border...at least in my mind.
There are no photos to accompany this relatively uninspiring travelogue, given I was driving at the time and grinning away but here's a similar photo (taken down my street on a different day) of the type of cloud bank I was coming out of.
TLDR, I like driving in the rain and driving out of the rain...
However, I did take it out for a run up to Sunderland and back today with work and although nothing of major consequence happened or fell off it did give me an opportunity to do one of things that makes me smile when driving...
I left the office and headed south this afternoon and somewhere past Durham the fact all the oncoming cars had their lights on (and the pitch black cloud ahead) told me I was entering the mother of all downpours
Sure enough, the heavens opened so I dutifully and manually activated my wipers and headlights.
The little Alfa hammered along, carving two lines through the standing water as I marvelled at all the DRL monkeys with no rear lights but the best bit was I could see the end of the low sitting storm cloud and there's something I find weirdly satisfying about outrunning the storm and emerging into the sunshine.
Despite being a middle aged fart now, it makes me feel like some kind of bootlegger running for the border...at least in my mind.
There are no photos to accompany this relatively uninspiring travelogue, given I was driving at the time and grinning away but here's a similar photo (taken down my street on a different day) of the type of cloud bank I was coming out of.
TLDR, I like driving in the rain and driving out of the rain...
It would seem the answer to all these shattered rims and ‘pothole killed my car’ threads is quite simple...16” alloys and massive sidewalls
My back country commute is looking decidedly war torn of late with some pretty hefty craters, for the last few days the council have been out pouring a tiny slug of tarmac in each hole which has about the same resilience as a teaspoon of sugar in a hot coffee.
None of the craters seem to bother the Alfa, it is either able to dart around them or just bounce through with a thud and crash and rubbery squeak from the top control arms...
The garden wall I’m repairing has already cost me about three times the Alfa so I’m not touching anything expensive on the car for a bit but I did treat it to a five minute makeover on the headlight washers.
Wot no washer jets?
Pulled off the rubber seals to make sure I didn’t lose pressure on the new car.
Twist and pull
All fitted
Needed to top up the screen wash, typically absurd Alfa location
And finally, did it work?
No
I now need to find the time to trace the pipes and find a leak...
My back country commute is looking decidedly war torn of late with some pretty hefty craters, for the last few days the council have been out pouring a tiny slug of tarmac in each hole which has about the same resilience as a teaspoon of sugar in a hot coffee.
None of the craters seem to bother the Alfa, it is either able to dart around them or just bounce through with a thud and crash and rubbery squeak from the top control arms...
The garden wall I’m repairing has already cost me about three times the Alfa so I’m not touching anything expensive on the car for a bit but I did treat it to a five minute makeover on the headlight washers.
Wot no washer jets?
Pulled off the rubber seals to make sure I didn’t lose pressure on the new car.
Twist and pull
All fitted
Needed to top up the screen wash, typically absurd Alfa location
And finally, did it work?
No
I now need to find the time to trace the pipes and find a leak...
I’ve been avoiding working on the car for two main reasons, the first being a s
t load of work on the house/garden that has needed doing and therefore swallowed my evenings and the second being I don’t really want to spend money on the car prior to discovering how well or badly it fares come MOT time in July.
The company car is going back in July too and the wife is being given (via a hand in my pocket) an old Lexus RX of some form or other.
As that will be the main family car, I don’t want to get that as filthy inside as the company Outlander and this means I really need to chop the Alfa in for an estate car for barging about in, like a V70 or 9-5.
However, I owe it to the little thing to get it through an MOT if only to make it worth more than scrap for trade in/sale.
I’m still doing the odd job that is free by virtue of stripping parts from the donor car and finally got around to swapping the front seats over tonight.
I haven’t had time to move the wiring and get the heated seats to work but I am at least relieved to have lumbar support on my side:
I did also notice during changing that the seats I’ve fitted have side airbags in them whereas my black seats didn’t, it’s a shame the donor is so tatty as it was specced a lot better than mine
On spotting the side airbags I did wonder if I’d inherit an airbags light when I reconnected the battery and fired up but thankfully all was ok.
I timed out and only did the front seats as it started to rain and was getting dark so I have a two tone interior at present
Once I’ve removed the rear seats. The full black set will be going on the bay for camper van enthusiasts to snap up, I imagine.
I had a small amount of £3 black leather dye lying around so did a quick spot repair of a few places on the black chair where it was wearing to make them a little more acceptable. Not an expert job but the photos make it look a lot more Kack-handed than it actually was
It was dark and raining when I’d finished so I’ll try and remember to post something of them in situ tomorrow.
t load of work on the house/garden that has needed doing and therefore swallowed my evenings and the second being I don’t really want to spend money on the car prior to discovering how well or badly it fares come MOT time in July.The company car is going back in July too and the wife is being given (via a hand in my pocket) an old Lexus RX of some form or other.
As that will be the main family car, I don’t want to get that as filthy inside as the company Outlander and this means I really need to chop the Alfa in for an estate car for barging about in, like a V70 or 9-5.
However, I owe it to the little thing to get it through an MOT if only to make it worth more than scrap for trade in/sale.
I’m still doing the odd job that is free by virtue of stripping parts from the donor car and finally got around to swapping the front seats over tonight.
I haven’t had time to move the wiring and get the heated seats to work but I am at least relieved to have lumbar support on my side:
I did also notice during changing that the seats I’ve fitted have side airbags in them whereas my black seats didn’t, it’s a shame the donor is so tatty as it was specced a lot better than mine
On spotting the side airbags I did wonder if I’d inherit an airbags light when I reconnected the battery and fired up but thankfully all was ok.
I timed out and only did the front seats as it started to rain and was getting dark so I have a two tone interior at present
Once I’ve removed the rear seats. The full black set will be going on the bay for camper van enthusiasts to snap up, I imagine.
I had a small amount of £3 black leather dye lying around so did a quick spot repair of a few places on the black chair where it was wearing to make them a little more acceptable. Not an expert job but the photos make it look a lot more Kack-handed than it actually was
It was dark and raining when I’d finished so I’ll try and remember to post something of them in situ tomorrow.
I think it’s a dodgy seal to be fair.
Prior to fixing them water used to dribble out of them when I triggered the rear wash wipe so I’m not sure there’s a separate pump/trigger.
I need to park in front of a mirror window and mess about - I tried different combinations of lights on and rear/front wash while standing on the door sill with the door open and leaning over to try and see the headlights...
...it seemed a good idea until I pulled the screenwash and the main wipers soaked me
Prior to fixing them water used to dribble out of them when I triggered the rear wash wipe so I’m not sure there’s a separate pump/trigger.
I need to park in front of a mirror window and mess about - I tried different combinations of lights on and rear/front wash while standing on the door sill with the door open and leaning over to try and see the headlights...
...it seemed a good idea until I pulled the screenwash and the main wipers soaked me
I’m sure I’ll find something equally characterful to replace it with,
I also noticed the donor had a set or original Alfa mats (minus the drivers side) so I bobbed them in mine too.
Scrubs up well inside I must say...
I also got carried away last night and thought I’d take off the rear wiper motor too as mine is a bit on the noisy side - there’s a lesson about doing things late at night when your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders...
I’d taken the three bolts off from the inside and after some waggling to free it without success, realised I hadn’t unbolted the wiper arm
I unbolted this and then managed to drop the wiper motor having got it off, watching with horror as it bounced on the concrete floor and now it’s a bit wibbly.
Debating whether it’s now worth bothering trying to swap them as I’ve probably borked it
Still - it will have scrap value if nowt else. The poor donor is looking sorrier and sorrier though...
I also noticed the donor had a set or original Alfa mats (minus the drivers side) so I bobbed them in mine too.
Scrubs up well inside I must say...
I also got carried away last night and thought I’d take off the rear wiper motor too as mine is a bit on the noisy side - there’s a lesson about doing things late at night when your brain isn’t firing on all cylinders...
I’d taken the three bolts off from the inside and after some waggling to free it without success, realised I hadn’t unbolted the wiper arm
I unbolted this and then managed to drop the wiper motor having got it off, watching with horror as it bounced on the concrete floor and now it’s a bit wibbly.
Debating whether it’s now worth bothering trying to swap them as I’ve probably borked it
Still - it will have scrap value if nowt else. The poor donor is looking sorrier and sorrier though...
For a brief moment of madness that was no doubt brought on by the heat and a few beers, I thought I’d finally swap the coolant tanks over.
What struck me most was the sheer array of different types of hose clip Alfa seem to have used all over the car, or more specifically, how impossible they are to remove without pliers/brute force and much swearing.
Removing the header tank was just three bolts and two hoses but I had to resort to chopping the hoses with a sharp blade as I couldn’t fathom/release one of the clips and the other looked like the fire brigade had put the jaws of life on it after I’d done smashing it with the pliers.
Once this was done it was actually easy to remove without spillage. Leaving the large hose attached means you can hold the tank above the small feed pipe and with a cup under the small hose next to the engine, you can drain enough out of the system with gravity to avoid having red antifreeze all over the drive.
My brief spot of tinkering was curtailed by the screams of my kids no doubt trying to kill each other in the paddling pool, the wife was on hand of course throughout to avoid drowning and the any social services related discussions but I considered it prudent to return to the garden.
It’s fair to say installation of the tank is not quite complete.
I was also becoming increasingly concerned at using the lockless boot of the donor as a mobile toolbox so forced myself to tidy the cellar shelves once the kids had gone to bed.
I was toying with digging out my polisher and treating the Alfa to a once over - God only knows what goes on in the cellar but this was the plug/pins on the sander?
Naturally I’ve cut it off and will perform the dying art (seriously, ask the youth of today how to wire a plug - they have no clue) of wiring a new plug to it.
What struck me most was the sheer array of different types of hose clip Alfa seem to have used all over the car, or more specifically, how impossible they are to remove without pliers/brute force and much swearing.
Removing the header tank was just three bolts and two hoses but I had to resort to chopping the hoses with a sharp blade as I couldn’t fathom/release one of the clips and the other looked like the fire brigade had put the jaws of life on it after I’d done smashing it with the pliers.
Once this was done it was actually easy to remove without spillage. Leaving the large hose attached means you can hold the tank above the small feed pipe and with a cup under the small hose next to the engine, you can drain enough out of the system with gravity to avoid having red antifreeze all over the drive.
My brief spot of tinkering was curtailed by the screams of my kids no doubt trying to kill each other in the paddling pool, the wife was on hand of course throughout to avoid drowning and the any social services related discussions but I considered it prudent to return to the garden.
It’s fair to say installation of the tank is not quite complete.
I was also becoming increasingly concerned at using the lockless boot of the donor as a mobile toolbox so forced myself to tidy the cellar shelves once the kids had gone to bed.
I was toying with digging out my polisher and treating the Alfa to a once over - God only knows what goes on in the cellar but this was the plug/pins on the sander?
Naturally I’ve cut it off and will perform the dying art (seriously, ask the youth of today how to wire a plug - they have no clue) of wiring a new plug to it.
Edited by stewjohnst on Monday 7th May 02:07
BlameItOnGT2 said:
I read every single post with great interest and the saga of tracing and solving the Alfa problems had more cliffhangers than a bad 70s cop show 
Only problem that this now had made me definitely want to get an Alfa twinny
Go for it mate!Only problem that this now had made me definitely want to get an Alfa twinny
On the topic of solving alfa niggles. In the past month ive replaced a rear wheel bearing/hub and a front upper wishbone. As it turns out the wheel bearing did NOT solve the squeek/hum from the rear wheels, and neither did the wishbone solve the suspension creaking. The rear squeek is undiagnosed as of now (but suspect to be a binding caliper, the only part i havent replaced), the hum from the rear wheels turned out to be wear on the winter tires (which have been replaced with summer tires).
So 2 new parts, ~130 bucks, 3 hours of spannering, all for zero effect
On the plus side, i now know i can replace the legendary front upper wishbone in roughly an hour, and indeed tools needed are just an allen key, some spanners, a hammer and a jack and two axle stands.I'd thought my 159 was just another boring car...
Then water-pump seized taking the cam belt with it
Rear tyres wore though at the rear inside edge
No power below 2000rpm - clean EGR
better but not cured
Fit EGR blanking plate (with some holes to supposedly keep the EML off)
Ran great for a while then DPF errors
currently DPF errors and going into limp mode (blanking pate removed)
it's at the garage and I'm using my MX5, but can't use it for business and the wife's Discover has got an intermittent air-bag leak. Think I'm going to need a new DPF & EGR and I still haven't replaced the front discs/pads that need doing before its next MOT.
Yep life with an Alfa isn't boring and everything is excused when you look at or sit in it.
Then water-pump seized taking the cam belt with it
Rear tyres wore though at the rear inside edge
No power below 2000rpm - clean EGR
better but not cured
Fit EGR blanking plate (with some holes to supposedly keep the EML off)
Ran great for a while then DPF errors
currently DPF errors and going into limp mode (blanking pate removed)
it's at the garage and I'm using my MX5, but can't use it for business and the wife's Discover has got an intermittent air-bag leak. Think I'm going to need a new DPF & EGR and I still haven't replaced the front discs/pads that need doing before its next MOT.
Yep life with an Alfa isn't boring and everything is excused when you look at or sit in it.
My exhaustive list of pre-MOT checks that went as far as sticking a needle in a blocked washer jet and putting a kettles worth of water in the washer fluid have paid dividends.
It has passed!
After it failed first on a headlight aiming too low.
All in it has cost me £40 for the mot and an extra £15 for being a lazy arse and not checking the headlight myself.
They have also cable tied up the loose handbrake cable which had been bugging me for some time (but clearly not bugging me enough to actually spend the two minutes it took to fix it).
As the missus was out and I’d had the car washed, I drove the one minute home and then gave it a quick polish and a wax.
I am by no means a detailer and as per above posts my DA polisher is duffed so a few terry cloths were used plus some autoglym I had lying around from an old birthday.
The finish is more Desperate Dan’s beard than a baby’s bum as I have no idea where my clay bars are (and given the front bumper is shot to st - there’s no point being anal about it).
Still, she looks good enough for a 14 year old car.
(See barge thread for relevance)
and spare a thought for the one that made it possible...
Now I suppose I ought to stop riding my luck and get the timing belt done...
It has passed!
After it failed first on a headlight aiming too low.
All in it has cost me £40 for the mot and an extra £15 for being a lazy arse and not checking the headlight myself.
They have also cable tied up the loose handbrake cable which had been bugging me for some time (but clearly not bugging me enough to actually spend the two minutes it took to fix it).
As the missus was out and I’d had the car washed, I drove the one minute home and then gave it a quick polish and a wax.
I am by no means a detailer and as per above posts my DA polisher is duffed so a few terry cloths were used plus some autoglym I had lying around from an old birthday.
The finish is more Desperate Dan’s beard than a baby’s bum as I have no idea where my clay bars are (and given the front bumper is shot to s
t - there’s no point being anal about it).Still, she looks good enough for a 14 year old car.
(See barge thread for relevance
)and spare a thought for the one that made it possible...
Now I suppose I ought to stop riding my luck and get the timing belt done...
Edited by stewjohnst on Friday 11th May 16:06
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