Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Twin Spark - Unseen-ish
Discussion
RicksAlfas said:
Could be due all eight spark plugs at 60,000 miles too.
Yep, mines about three miles shy of 75,000 and I’m pretending not to notice it needs plugs to add on top of the belts and variator this month 
I’ll do them myself next month with the spare change from scrapping the donor shell.
stewjohnst said:
RicksAlfas said:
Could be due all eight spark plugs at 60,000 miles too.
Yep, mines about three miles shy of 75,000 and I’m pretending not to notice it needs plugs to add on top of the belts and variator this month I’ll do them myself next month with the spare change from scrapping the donor shell.
Seems like a silly reason to get rid of a car, its not the same order of magnitude as a new belt, pump and variator for instance.
Yes, I agree Vitorio.
It's just something else to be mindful of if you are paying top whack for an old Spider with 60,000 miles on it. It's alright paying top whack if everything is spot on, but not if you find it's never had plugs, belts, it's running on a set of ditchfinders and the suspension sounds like a socket set having a gangbang in a toolbox.
It's just something else to be mindful of if you are paying top whack for an old Spider with 60,000 miles on it. It's alright paying top whack if everything is spot on, but not if you find it's never had plugs, belts, it's running on a set of ditchfinders and the suspension sounds like a socket set having a gangbang in a toolbox.
RicksAlfas said:
Yes, I agree Vitorio.
It's just something else to be mindful of if you are paying top whack for an old Spider with 60,000 miles on it. It's alright paying top whack if everything is spot on, but not if you find it's never had plugs, belts, it's running on a set of ditchfinders and the suspension sounds like a socket set having a gangbang in a toolbox.
Agreed, its good to keep an eye out for service items like plugs, belts etc.. Can always be used to negotiate the price down.It's just something else to be mindful of if you are paying top whack for an old Spider with 60,000 miles on it. It's alright paying top whack if everything is spot on, but not if you find it's never had plugs, belts, it's running on a set of ditchfinders and the suspension sounds like a socket set having a gangbang in a toolbox.
jfire said:
Cheers, I'll watch out for suspension all the things that were wrong with my 147, and try to find one with plugs done.
The GTV uses different suspension then the 147, so stuff like the front upper wishbones of the 147 dont apply to the GTV. From what i remember from my GTV-lusting days (never got to buy one though), the front is mostly 155 based, the back is bespoke (making for more expensive bits). Rust is obviously a factor.Otherwise the main 916 specific item is the TS engine, belt interval is 3 years/36K, whichever comes first. The 2.0 units will have a balance shaft making the swap job a bit more expensive then on the smaller ones. A diesel-y sound on startup often means the variator is on its way out, not catastrophic, but another pricey addition to the belt-swap bill. Plugs as mentioned are a ~90 quid item due every 60K but are easily DIYed.
The main thing about buying any TS engined car though, is oil. They all use oil to some degree (although the CF3 engines in the 147 etc.. were rather bad), especially on 10w40, and running a TS below the minimum oil will quickly damaged the big end bearings, which will cost you an engine. Apparently the 2.0 is the most vulnerable here as its stroke is the longest, hence the big end bearing get stressed quite a lot. My recommendation would be to walk away from any TS engined car where the oil is below the min mark, and when running one, check the oil regularly (in the beginning VERY regularly, to get a feel for how thirsty it is), and top up when needed.
Running 10w60 rather then the specced 10w40 apparently helps with oil usage, but is more suited to a sporty driving style (and more expensive)
Going off topic now...
The other thing that let Alfa down on the Twin Spark was the small capacity tin sump, which in turn was enclosed in all the engine bay heat by an undertray. The previous generation (Nord) twincam had a huge alloy winged and finned number on display for holding 7 litres of finest multigrade, and the engines went on forever...
The other thing that let Alfa down on the Twin Spark was the small capacity tin sump, which in turn was enclosed in all the engine bay heat by an undertray. The previous generation (Nord) twincam had a huge alloy winged and finned number on display for holding 7 litres of finest multigrade, and the engines went on forever...
RicksAlfas said:
Going off topic now...
The other thing that let Alfa down on the Twin Spark was the small capacity tin sump, which in turn was enclosed in all the engine bay heat by an undertray. The previous generation (Nord) twincam had a huge alloy winged and finned number on display for holding 7 litres of finest multigrade, and the engines went on forever...
The bumper on mine has been off at some point and the majority of the undertray is ‘missing in action’ it’s something else I’ll stealing from the donor, it’s practically a bare shell now The other thing that let Alfa down on the Twin Spark was the small capacity tin sump, which in turn was enclosed in all the engine bay heat by an undertray. The previous generation (Nord) twincam had a huge alloy winged and finned number on display for holding 7 litres of finest multigrade, and the engines went on forever...
stewjohnst said:
The bumper on mine has been off at some point and the majority of the undertray is ‘missing in action’ it’s something else I’ll stealing from the donor, it’s practically a bare shell now
Is there any point in having an undertray though? It was gone on my 147, but the new GT still has it (annoyingly making acces to the oil filter and stuff like the air filter more difficult)
RicksAlfas said:
I loved our 147 right up until the water pump seized just as I'd shaken hands with it's new owner...
You can tell me off but I’m not getting the water pump changed with the belts...the difference between £460 and £520 on essentially a shed (albeit one in very fond of) couldn’t be justified and taking advice from the specialist it’s going into they rarely see issues so said don’t fuss and do it next time.He had a yellow Barchetta like I used to so I automatically trust any advice given
In other news, I cleaned up the gooey window switch with nothing more than baby wipes and elbow grease, the accepted wisdom for doing this is to use isopropyl alcohol so god knows what goes in baby wipes...
Before
After
I have Sunday to myself so updates to include changing all the door cards, oil and whatever else I get done before the family descend on me again.
Our water pump had done 50,000 miles, but it was on a JTD. The water pump seized but thankfully the belt kept going. How, I don’t know. When the mechanic got in there it was just a mass of rubber dust! To change or not to change, it’s a Dirty Harry question.
Good job on the switch panel.
Good job on the switch panel.
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