Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Twin Spark - Unseen-ish
Discussion
FWIW I have had 2 twinsparks of the gorgeous 156 flavour and neither used all. One 2.0 Lusso Saloon and one 1.8 Lusso Sportwagon.
I seem to remember the one of them had a sticker on the insider of the screen muttering about alfa performance engines and oil...
I now have a MK5 Golf GTi of the turbo'd and chipped variety, its under a 100k and boy has it got a thirst for oil.
Alfa's are much maligned for oil consumption and my experience says its not warranted.
Just my tuppence!
I seem to remember the one of them had a sticker on the insider of the screen muttering about alfa performance engines and oil...
I now have a MK5 Golf GTi of the turbo'd and chipped variety, its under a 100k and boy has it got a thirst for oil.
Alfa's are much maligned for oil consumption and my experience says its not warranted.
Just my tuppence!
psychoR1 said:
FWIW I have had 2 twinsparks of the gorgeous 156 flavour and neither used all. One 2.0 Lusso Saloon and one 1.8 Lusso Sportwagon.
I seem to remember the one of them had a sticker on the insider of the screen muttering about alfa performance engines and oil...
I now have a MK5 Golf GTi of the turbo'd and chipped variety, its under a 100k and boy has it got a thirst for oil.
Alfa's are much maligned for oil consumption and my experience says its not warranted.
Just my tuppence!
(early) 156s had the CF2 version of the TS (to comply with Euro 2 regs), the 147s had CF3s (Euro 3), which had different piston rings, resulting in oil use. From what ive read all 147s use oil, straight from the factory.I seem to remember the one of them had a sticker on the insider of the screen muttering about alfa performance engines and oil...
I now have a MK5 Golf GTi of the turbo'd and chipped variety, its under a 100k and boy has it got a thirst for oil.
Alfa's are much maligned for oil consumption and my experience says its not warranted.
Just my tuppence!
Just bought a GT 2.0 JTS which had a major engine rebuild + piston mod done to stop it from using oil, the 2.0 JTS engine are also known for it.
Now obviously not every alfa out there will use the same amount, and some engines dont use any at all, but its good practice to keep an eye on it
Didn’t have quite as productive days as planned on sunday...was one of those days where you end up running about for bits and pieces and hitting annoying problems.
Order of the day was supposed to be, oil and filters, swap door cards, and sort b pillars...
First off it seems my axles stands have gone AWOL
so as it was only the oil it was going to be jacked up for, I had a spare trolley jack on the other side to take slack if the other failed...and just to be sure, I raided the log shed for a few bits that meant the sill and not my face would take the hit if the worst case occurred...
Before the safety police come knocking, the Alfa is so short you do the oil laid on your back in front of the car with just your arm under there so it wasn’t as dangerous/redneck as it looks
However, it turned out to be problematic for a different reason. A few posts back we were debating the value of the undertray - I suggest one bonus is to prevent the sump plug (8mm Allen bolt) from rusting so much the thing is too rounded for a hex key to work
I thought about hammering it out and raiding the sump plug off the other Alfa but I didn’t have enough storage for two sumpfuls of oil without a lot of potentially driveway staining messing about and as I only had a brief few hours to myself (wife had taken the kids out for the day) I debated abandoning the job.
However, I couldn’t in all conscience leave an oil filter like this on there.
So I slowly undid the oil filter and drained what oil I could via there as a halfway house. Nowhere near as good as using the sump plug but better than nothing. A quick top up of oil and all is well.
Order of the day was supposed to be, oil and filters, swap door cards, and sort b pillars...
First off it seems my axles stands have gone AWOL
so as it was only the oil it was going to be jacked up for, I had a spare trolley jack on the other side to take slack if the other failed...and just to be sure, I raided the log shed for a few bits that meant the sill and not my face would take the hit if the worst case occurred...Before the safety police come knocking, the Alfa is so short you do the oil laid on your back in front of the car with just your arm under there so it wasn’t as dangerous/redneck as it looks
However, it turned out to be problematic for a different reason. A few posts back we were debating the value of the undertray - I suggest one bonus is to prevent the sump plug (8mm Allen bolt) from rusting so much the thing is too rounded for a hex key to work
I thought about hammering it out and raiding the sump plug off the other Alfa but I didn’t have enough storage for two sumpfuls of oil without a lot of potentially driveway staining messing about and as I only had a brief few hours to myself (wife had taken the kids out for the day) I debated abandoning the job.
However, I couldn’t in all conscience leave an oil filter like this on there.
So I slowly undid the oil filter and drained what oil I could via there as a halfway house. Nowhere near as good as using the sump plug but better than nothing. A quick top up of oil and all is well.
Edited by stewjohnst on Monday 16th July 19:24
I also resolved to sort out the rusty edges on the door.
They’re totally cosmetic but they’re pressed onto the door somehow so swapping them isn’t an option so it was out with the wet and dry, 240/600/1209 and a couple of cans of primer and satin black.
In this heat, the coats were quick to apply and sand.
Before anyone passes comment, the tabloid tat that is taped to the car is the Daily Star because I don’t read papers and it was the cheapest rag I could find (£1) to cover the car at the garage (where at all the free ad papers when you need them?)
With a days commuter muck it now looks fine but obviously I’ve got to do the rest to match now
I also did the air filter, I don’t know what people fuss about, it was a bit fiddly but hardly the toughest job in the world. The air filter was pretty clean, I should probably have checked the old one before buying a fresh but I was always brought up on oil and filters together.
They’re totally cosmetic but they’re pressed onto the door somehow so swapping them isn’t an option so it was out with the wet and dry, 240/600/1209 and a couple of cans of primer and satin black.
In this heat, the coats were quick to apply and sand.
Before anyone passes comment, the tabloid tat that is taped to the car is the Daily Star because I don’t read papers and it was the cheapest rag I could find (£1) to cover the car at the garage (where at all the free ad papers when you need them?)
With a days commuter muck it now looks fine but obviously I’ve got to do the rest to match now
I also did the air filter, I don’t know what people fuss about, it was a bit fiddly but hardly the toughest job in the world. The air filter was pretty clean, I should probably have checked the old one before buying a fresh but I was always brought up on oil and filters together.
The donor car is fast nearing the end of a useful life...but there are a few more bits to nab.
I did a routine inspection of my front tyres on the Alfa as I know they’re getting towards 2mm-ish and all this warm weather and driving fun will be eating into that.
The treads are ok-ish but a sniff around the wheel yielded this gem...
So although I was too tired to resolve it tonight, a tyre with visible banding is probably due changing!
Come to think of it, how old are these tyres on the low mileage Alfa 147 anyway?
Front Bridgestone - with the band showing, (0206) so Jan 2006
Front Pirelli is late 2003 vintage (4803) so probably a factory orginal
I wonder what the donor has to offer up front?
At (3214) and (1313) these tyres are a fair bit younger and have much meatier tread. I can’t vouch for the dynamic qualities of a Rockstone and Arrowspeed mismatched front set but they can’t be much worse than the battered pair of sandals strapped to the front of mine right now.
They have the added bonus of being cleaner than my brake dust caked front wheels too and will put me on for a few months until I get a new set of matched tyres as required.
I did a routine inspection of my front tyres on the Alfa as I know they’re getting towards 2mm-ish and all this warm weather and driving fun will be eating into that.
The treads are ok-ish but a sniff around the wheel yielded this gem...
So although I was too tired to resolve it tonight, a tyre with visible banding is probably due changing!
Come to think of it, how old are these tyres on the low mileage Alfa 147 anyway?
Front Bridgestone - with the band showing, (0206) so Jan 2006
Front Pirelli is late 2003 vintage (4803) so probably a factory orginal
I wonder what the donor has to offer up front?
At (3214) and (1313) these tyres are a fair bit younger and have much meatier tread. I can’t vouch for the dynamic qualities of a Rockstone and Arrowspeed mismatched front set but they can’t be much worse than the battered pair of sandals strapped to the front of mine right now.
They have the added bonus of being cleaner than my brake dust caked front wheels too and will put me on for a few months until I get a new set of matched tyres as required.
RicksAlfas said:
Vitorio said:
Is running a mismatched set on the driven axle legal in the UK? (It isnt over here)
I believe the tyres have to be the same size and construction (i.e. radial or crossply), but they do not have to be identical types/treads.For a commuter hack, I'm not too bothered but when these get to end of life, I'll swap them as a pair and enjoy the improvement in handling that will bring
My 156 JTDM had a similar sump plug issue... I tried all sorts of persuasion, including a small blowtorch...(!), and the common method of jamming an Allen socket in there....!
All to no avail, and I did not want to risk cracking the alloy sump.
So I borrowed a pal's electric oil pump extractor kit, which fitted OK down the dipstick tube.
This was the first time I had ever used one of these, and TBH it worked very well.
After all the oil ( as far as I could guess !) was out I could then replace the filter ( that took some force as well !) and then refilled with the correct grade.
All I can assume is that the garage that did my last oil change over tightened the plug, and indeed the filter, and the corrosion etc ( steel/alloy etc) ensured that it would not come off.
I then had the car in to a well known Alfa specialist, and explained the issue. He sorted it by welding a suitable bolt onto the remains of the battered sump plug ( due to my efforts !) and managed to remove the offending item.
All is well now.
And by the way, my car has always had the undertray fitted: I managed to by a S/H aluminium Zakspeed (?) one years ago and have transferred it from my previous 156 to this one. It gives a bit more ground clearance and offers more robust protection for the engine ( IMO of course.) And looks cool....
I also think that it pays to run these cars with all the side covers as well as the undertray etc: My first 156 1.8TS was run by the previous owner with out any of these covers: it resulted in a failed aux tensioner due to rust etc, that stripped the aux belt which then got jammed in the cambelt...and resulted in all 16 valves getting bent....
Still, as I had just bought the car from a pal the month before, it meant that I got the cambelt changed early ( along with the water pump, all the valves, skimmed cylinder head etc etc ....!! )
So that car was not quite the bargain that I first thought..!!
But it was a brilliant car all the same, probably the only car that I really regret selling in fact !
I may be a bit biased, but I think that the 156/147 chassis/1.9JTDM diesel engine combination provides the best of all worlds, with great handling ( when the alignment is set correctly), great performance ( especially with a remap) and fairly decent economy ( about 42 mpg I find )
To the OP : Please keep your 147 !!
All to no avail, and I did not want to risk cracking the alloy sump.
So I borrowed a pal's electric oil pump extractor kit, which fitted OK down the dipstick tube.
This was the first time I had ever used one of these, and TBH it worked very well.
After all the oil ( as far as I could guess !) was out I could then replace the filter ( that took some force as well !) and then refilled with the correct grade.
All I can assume is that the garage that did my last oil change over tightened the plug, and indeed the filter, and the corrosion etc ( steel/alloy etc) ensured that it would not come off.
I then had the car in to a well known Alfa specialist, and explained the issue. He sorted it by welding a suitable bolt onto the remains of the battered sump plug ( due to my efforts !) and managed to remove the offending item.
All is well now.
And by the way, my car has always had the undertray fitted: I managed to by a S/H aluminium Zakspeed (?) one years ago and have transferred it from my previous 156 to this one. It gives a bit more ground clearance and offers more robust protection for the engine ( IMO of course.) And looks cool....
I also think that it pays to run these cars with all the side covers as well as the undertray etc: My first 156 1.8TS was run by the previous owner with out any of these covers: it resulted in a failed aux tensioner due to rust etc, that stripped the aux belt which then got jammed in the cambelt...and resulted in all 16 valves getting bent....
Still, as I had just bought the car from a pal the month before, it meant that I got the cambelt changed early ( along with the water pump, all the valves, skimmed cylinder head etc etc ....!! )
So that car was not quite the bargain that I first thought..!!
But it was a brilliant car all the same, probably the only car that I really regret selling in fact !
I may be a bit biased, but I think that the 156/147 chassis/1.9JTDM diesel engine combination provides the best of all worlds, with great handling ( when the alignment is set correctly), great performance ( especially with a remap) and fairly decent economy ( about 42 mpg I find )
To the OP : Please keep your 147 !!
Anyone want to join the club and stop me buying three?
12 Months MOT or until the timing belt goes pop but £500 who cares?
I may be biased but they're cracking little cars
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
12 Months MOT or until the timing belt goes pop but £500 who cares?
I may be biased but they're cracking little cars
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
stewjohnst said:
Anyone want to join the club and stop me buying three?
12 Months MOT or until the timing belt goes pop but £500 who cares?
I may be biased but they're cracking little cars
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
I spy a leather interior, and with relatively low miles on it as well, does yours have leather stew? And with the parts car running out of parts to give (you said so yourself 12 Months MOT or until the timing belt goes pop but £500 who cares?
I may be biased but they're cracking little cars
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
), it only makes sense to get some more spare parts no?That said, a 2.0 with <90K on it for 500 bucks sounds like a bargain, have the belt done and check the bottom for rust and youve got probably some of the best fun you can have for under a grand. Id advise any readers on here to go and check it out!
I do have leather already but my wiring loom doesn't have heated wiring in there even though I have heated seats from the donor.
I feel like one of those blokes that gets married and can't resist keeping an account on Tinder, I can't help but find myself looking around for other 147s...and they always look in better nick than my own
I feel like one of those blokes that gets married and can't resist keeping an account on Tinder, I can't help but find myself looking around for other 147s...and they always look in better nick than my own
Joey Deacon said:
And it passed the MOT last week with zero advisories.
A whole car for less than the +3 month deposit of a lease car.
Mine passed with no advisories but I did get a fail for a wonky headlight first A whole car for less than the +3 month deposit of a lease car.
Mine's done just over 5,100 miles in 10 months and including the cost of purchase, tax and the cost of keeping it running (plus a few things like the aux cable that weren't exactly life or death) it has cost £2031, excluding insurance.
A respectable 39.8p a mile or £200 a month
A few longer runs have improved my fuel per mile costs to 19p a mile on top of that.
The above also assumes the residual value of the two Alfas on my drive (granted one is almost a shell now) is zero.
stewjohnst said:
Mine passed with no advisories but I did get a fail for a wonky headlight first
Mine's done just over 5,100 miles in 10 months and including the cost of purchase, tax and the cost of keeping it running (plus a few things like the aux cable that weren't exactly life or death) it has cost £2031, excluding insurance.
A respectable 39.8p a mile or £200 a month
A few longer runs have improved my fuel per mile costs to 19p a mile on top of that.
The above also assumes the residual value of the two Alfas on my drive (granted one is almost a shell now) is zero.
Oh go on, buy it already, weigh the old shell in for scrap and add this one to the driveway, shame it isnt black though, couldve done a nice switcheroo without the missus noticing Mine's done just over 5,100 miles in 10 months and including the cost of purchase, tax and the cost of keeping it running (plus a few things like the aux cable that weren't exactly life or death) it has cost £2031, excluding insurance.
A respectable 39.8p a mile or £200 a month
A few longer runs have improved my fuel per mile costs to 19p a mile on top of that.
The above also assumes the residual value of the two Alfas on my drive (granted one is almost a shell now) is zero.
Enjoyed reading this thread !
Here’s my old one, 1.9JTDM Lusso with tan heated leather, Radicofani Red & a Celtic Tuning remap which turned it into a bit of a sleeper with circa 190bhp!!!!
Did around 30k in it in the just over 2 years I had it, loved it.
Keep up with the good work!!
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/egZijPZJ[/url
Here’s my old one, 1.9JTDM Lusso with tan heated leather, Radicofani Red & a Celtic Tuning remap which turned it into a bit of a sleeper with circa 190bhp!!!!
Did around 30k in it in the just over 2 years I had it, loved it.
Keep up with the good work!!
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/egZijPZJ[/urlEdited by Uncle John on Tuesday 17th July 21:52
Vitorio said:
Oh go on, buy it already, weigh the old shell in for scrap and add this one to the driveway, shame it isnt black though, couldve done a nice switcheroo without the missus noticing
You are a bad man! If I didn't have a kitchen replacement to do it would already be sat there stewjohnst said:
You are a bad man! If I didn't have a kitchen replacement to do it would already be sat there
Well surely if you do a big job like that for the missus she cant begrudge you a small purchase like that? Better snap it up before its gone though, it can wait for the kitchen replacement to be done on the driveway 
(ill try to keep it down now though
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