Alfa 159 1750 tbi (208000 miles)
Discussion
Richard-390a0 said:
It's only worth what someone is willing to pay blah blah blah... But I stand by my £750 valuation, so we'll have to agree to differ! 
(If the O/P is happy paying what he did then good for him)
The last car I bought was a cat C 156 sport wagon, that was £600 without an MOT and 150k so your £750 is valuation is way off the mark. (If the O/P is happy paying what he did then good for him)
You might get a base model 159 saloon with a 2.2, mega miles, rotten subframe and no MOT for less than 1k though.
Quick search through PH classifieds specifying;
2010 or newer,
£2-3k
Estates
Has elicited just 2 results
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?CarTypeFF=...
I feel better about the price now...
2010 or newer,
£2-3k
Estates
Has elicited just 2 results
https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?CarTypeFF=...
I feel better about the price now...
Richard-390a0 said:
Well that makes the £350 I recently paid for my Octy vRS estate even more of a bargain then (201k miles, current MOT & all invoices going back to the original order form!)... Just a shame the VED is almost as much as what I paid for the car lol, hence why I think the trader selling it had had plenty of calls but no actual offers until I rocked up.
What year is it?Mr Tidy said:
Fantastic looking car, and a real rarity with that engine - thanks for posting OP. 
I'll be looking in on the updates!
Slightly unusual estate cars do seem hard to find, cost more than saloons and sell pretty quickly.
I had a similar problem earlier this year when I was looking for an E91 3 Series with a petrol straight 6 N52 engine and manual gearbox.
Thanks I'll be looking in on the updates!
Slightly unusual estate cars do seem hard to find, cost more than saloons and sell pretty quickly.
I had a similar problem earlier this year when I was looking for an E91 3 Series with a petrol straight 6 N52 engine and manual gearbox.
GraleEvo said:
Lovely purchase op. My Mrs bought a 159 TBI Sportwagon last month, with 49k on the clock. Stromboli Grey. Such a nice car!!!
Sounds very nice. How do you both view the gearbox? I'm finding it clumsy - it's easy to stall, possibly down to the well documented hesitancy issue, the clutch heavy(ish) and the gear lever lacking in leverage. Having said that, it's easy to heal and toe and I think I'm being a bit critical as I've only done 170 miles in it.
Edited by Zombie on Monday 4th June 01:31
Think this is potentialy the most boring video ever uploaded to flickr, but it helps to describe my post.
As I may have mentioned in my first post, I though there was a knock from the offside front suspension. I've had it apart, checked for movement in the upper and lower arms, ARB, drop link and steering rack. There's nothing obvious, but there is this;
https://flic.kr/p/27Ka8UG
Which is a bit odd, as there's no free play in the track rod or the ball joint. I can only assume the lack of resistance of movement in the track rod ball joint is the cause of the knock and a new track rod is on the way.
As I may have mentioned in my first post, I though there was a knock from the offside front suspension. I've had it apart, checked for movement in the upper and lower arms, ARB, drop link and steering rack. There's nothing obvious, but there is this;
https://flic.kr/p/27Ka8UG
Which is a bit odd, as there's no free play in the track rod or the ball joint. I can only assume the lack of resistance of movement in the track rod ball joint is the cause of the knock and a new track rod is on the way.
Edited by Zombie on Monday 4th June 01:29
jumare said:
More annoying is the gear knob that isn't secure.
What's the well known hesitancy issue? I'm having EGR issues, tried a blanking plate which caused DPF issues, flushed DPF and cleaned EGR have made it better but it's not as good as before, think I need a new EGR valve.
But when you look at it everything is forgotten
Gear knob is easy to fix, prise up the plastic top with the H pattern on it and enderneath you’ll find a 10mm bolt head. Tighten that up and it’s fixed. What's the well known hesitancy issue? I'm having EGR issues, tried a blanking plate which caused DPF issues, flushed DPF and cleaned EGR have made it better but it's not as good as before, think I need a new EGR valve.
But when you look at it everything is forgotten
Hesitancy issue - will post a link on my lunch break.
jumare said:
What's the well known hesitancy issue? I'm having EGR issues, tried a blanking plate which caused DPF issues, flushed DPF and cleaned EGR have made it better but it's not as good as before, think I need a new EGR valve.
But when you look at it everything is forgotten
Have a look here;But when you look at it everything is forgotten
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-159-brera-anda...
It's more pronounced in the 2.2 but the design of the exhaust is presumable common across the brera and 159 range. Theres a pic of the brera rear box cut open on page 2.
GraleEvo said:
And my Mrs thought it was my dodgy driving, quite easy to stall. Will show her thread! Are you going to the National meet at the end of the month? We are heading down.
Hadn't thought about it TBH, but it looks like it's not too far away. Will give it some thought. Take it you're going?davebem said:
That is a bit odd, it shouldnt make a sound. If its not that its worth seeing if you can cleanly remove the upper wishbone balljoint without damaging it. Then move the wishbone up and down by hand, check its pivoting on the front and rear bushes smoothly. If the rear upper wishbone sliding (it allows some sideways movement) bush sleeve has seized it pviots tearing the rubber and kind of resonates through the cars body making a knocking sound.
Thanks for the advice, will look at in more detail when the track rod end turns up.rallycross said:
That's a nice looking car but you must be nuts or simple, never buy dodgy cars of people who 'say' they are called Jay. FAIL.
Yep, "Jay" as a name certainly doesn't inspire trust . Fortunately he clearly wasn't into marketing, that really would've been the final straw.
Andrewph75 said:
Well done Sir, fortune favours the brave and all that. What a lovely car, now if they only combined the looks of these with the chassis of the Guilia. Have fond memories of renting 159s in West of Ireland ten years ago as the used to have them at Shannon airport and so much better than the usual rental stuff.
The interior is great, leather looks amazing for 200k+ I have a current 330D estate and makes my interior and exterior look very dull by comparison.
Both of my brothers have BMW 330D/335D Estates. They're lovely bits of kit but way more expensive for the equivalent age/spec. I was looking at a 123D before the 159 popped up. Glad I did as it's proving to be a good tool.The interior is great, leather looks amazing for 200k+ I have a current 330D estate and makes my interior and exterior look very dull by comparison.
Jonny_ said:
"Jay" sounds like he deserves to own a few less teeth...!
Clearly a tosser of the highest order, and no doubt he'd cottoned on that you'd invested a fair amount of time and effort in travelling to view the car, and were unlikely to walk away. (As an aside, when I've travelled a long way to see a car, I've always told the seller that I'm working nearby. )
Fair play for sticking it out though. Car is looking excellent, you'd never think it had covered that sort of mileage! The paintwork looks notably better than that of our Giulietta at similar age and half the mileage. Chap next door to us has a diesel 159 Ti saloon in a very similar colour scheme as yours: black paintwork, tan leather and those same lovely wheels in that same near-impossible-to-accurately-colour-match finish.
I did consider the 'I'm nearby tactic, but when I rang him initially, I was hoping my location would illicit an honest appraisal of the car's condition. Doubt it would've made a difference in the end, he was just of a particular mindset.Clearly a tosser of the highest order, and no doubt he'd cottoned on that you'd invested a fair amount of time and effort in travelling to view the car, and were unlikely to walk away. (As an aside, when I've travelled a long way to see a car, I've always told the seller that I'm working nearby.
)Fair play for sticking it out though. Car is looking excellent, you'd never think it had covered that sort of mileage! The paintwork looks notably better than that of our Giulietta at similar age and half the mileage. Chap next door to us has a diesel 159 Ti saloon in a very similar colour scheme as yours: black paintwork, tan leather and those same lovely wheels in that same near-impossible-to-accurately-colour-match finish.
B'stard Child said:
What a lovely looking wagon - I'm not averse to high mileage cars but I coughed a little at 208,000.
Have you found the original owner and spoken to him - be interesting to know his experiences and what the chuff he did to rack up that sort of miles!!!
It honestly feels as well screwed together as my Mum's brera, which has done 50k and appears to be far better in terms corrosion - sub frames are known for going rusty.Have you found the original owner and spoken to him - be interesting to know his experiences and what the chuff he did to rack up that sort of miles!!!
Not spoken to the previous owner, seems a bit of an odd thing to be doing really; Hi - I have your old car and have undertaken a light bit of stalking to track you and your phone number down...
After spending all day yesterday (Saturday) in the woods chopping up a 4m length of Oak trunk and taking it home, I absolutely, definitely was NOT going to spend all day working on cars. Not a chance. The weather was far too nice.
I started with by re-attempting to find the knock in the offside front suspension. Which was proving difficult. I waggled everything using ever increasing sizes of prying tools. Nothing.
But following Davebem's advice (cheers Dave), I disconnected the upper arm ball joint;
IMG_8601 by Chris, on Flickr
And still couldn't find any movement in the upper arm or problems with the bushes. Until, that is I rotated the arm up to a position where it would be with the weight of the car on the suspension and hey presto, movement and knocking noises.
New arm on order...
That didn't take long to resolve but after getting showered in dirt whilst releasing the ball joint with a lump hammer, I decided to give the front wheel wells a clean and degrease the underside of the engine, which has benefitted from so rustproofing in the form of an oil leak.
IMG_8609 by Chris, on Flickr
The sh*t screens in the front are hard plastic, so we pulled them out, enabling a more thorough inspection of the front subframe and inner wings, both of which are exceptionally good if our (limited) previous experience of 159's and Brera is anything to go by;
IMG_8605 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_8607 by Chris, on Flickr
There's obviously some surface rust that needs attention but I've left that covered in waxoil spray as a temporary fix.
Cleaned up;
IMG_8613 by Chris, on Flickr
I'd had enough by then and decided to go home - I was working on it at my parent's house...
... Rear Arches were FILTHY;
IMG_8615-2 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_8617 by Chris, on Flickr
I didn't take the rear arch liners out as with the fabric type ones I feel they're easier to clean them with a pressure washer in situ. In my experience, if you take them out and you just end up chasing it down the road with the water blast, whilst still getting a face full of muddy water.
Clean pic;
IMG_8619-2 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_8620 by Chris, on Flickr
I really did go home after this. And set about restocking all the oak rounds I cut yesterday, ready for chopping. And then I tidied the shed.
And now I'msat lying on the sofa, back hurts, all my major joints hurt (I've got AS) feeling sorry for myself.
I started with by re-attempting to find the knock in the offside front suspension. Which was proving difficult. I waggled everything using ever increasing sizes of prying tools. Nothing.
But following Davebem's advice (cheers Dave), I disconnected the upper arm ball joint;
IMG_8601 by Chris, on FlickrAnd still couldn't find any movement in the upper arm or problems with the bushes. Until, that is I rotated the arm up to a position where it would be with the weight of the car on the suspension and hey presto, movement and knocking noises.
New arm on order...
That didn't take long to resolve but after getting showered in dirt whilst releasing the ball joint with a lump hammer, I decided to give the front wheel wells a clean and degrease the underside of the engine, which has benefitted from so rustproofing in the form of an oil leak.
IMG_8609 by Chris, on FlickrThe sh*t screens in the front are hard plastic, so we pulled them out, enabling a more thorough inspection of the front subframe and inner wings, both of which are exceptionally good if our (limited) previous experience of 159's and Brera is anything to go by;
IMG_8605 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_8607 by Chris, on FlickrThere's obviously some surface rust that needs attention but I've left that covered in waxoil spray as a temporary fix.
Cleaned up;
IMG_8613 by Chris, on FlickrI'd had enough by then and decided to go home - I was working on it at my parent's house...
... Rear Arches were FILTHY;
IMG_8615-2 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_8617 by Chris, on FlickrI didn't take the rear arch liners out as with the fabric type ones I feel they're easier to clean them with a pressure washer in situ. In my experience, if you take them out and you just end up chasing it down the road with the water blast, whilst still getting a face full of muddy water.
Clean pic;
IMG_8619-2 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_8620 by Chris, on FlickrI really did go home after this. And set about restocking all the oak rounds I cut yesterday, ready for chopping. And then I tidied the shed.
And now I'm
Edited by Zombie on Monday 11th June 00:18
The replacement upper arm turned up this week so we replaced that yesterday.
Elearn (workshop manual) says that you should remove the arm after taking the suspension strut out, which seemed like a PITA, but that is based on our experiences with 156s etc.
But looking at it, we thought the (E18) bolts would come out using a spanner and wiggling the suspension strut...
IMG_7819-2 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7821-3 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7823-4 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7830-3 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7822-2 by Chris, on Flickr
Took about an hour, which was a pleasant surprise.
Elearn (workshop manual) says that you should remove the arm after taking the suspension strut out, which seemed like a PITA, but that is based on our experiences with 156s etc.
But looking at it, we thought the (E18) bolts would come out using a spanner and wiggling the suspension strut...
IMG_7819-2 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7821-3 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7823-4 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7830-3 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7822-2 by Chris, on FlickrTook about an hour, which was a pleasant surprise.
Pommy said:
Crikey, looks lovely but nearly £3k for a 8 year old 4 cylinder Alfa with over 200,000 miles and a bit of refurb needed - you are a braver chap than I!
I loved my 156 and understand how they get under your skin though.
Which sums up this bizarre obsession we brits have with mileage. Age and maintenance regime are a bigger factor in future reliability than use. They (cars in general) really do NOT like not being used. I loved my 156 and understand how they get under your skin though.
We also have the befit of a comparison in the form of my Mum's 2006 Brera, which is the typical one lady owner, 50k from new car. That has needed 1k spending on it this month on the form of timing chains, and now needs new rear springs - as does my 159 - the smart alecs on AO have bee counting the number of coils in the pics I posted...
The fact that it's an Alfa shouldn't be a factor, would you be saying the same thing if it were a BMW or VAG product? They all use the same or similar component underneath! the only real difference IMO is the amount of money the respective manufacturer has spent on realigning their customer's perception.
LetsTryAgain said:
Can recommend Bluepoint.
You don't seem to mind the odd frivolous purchase, you own Alfas...!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blue-point-BOERM-ratche...
Thank me later
I've actually got more than one set of them but the bolt in the wishbone is an E18 torx... :PYou don't seem to mind the odd frivolous purchase, you own Alfas...!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blue-point-BOERM-ratche...
Thank me later
(Thanks anyway)
Edited by Zombie on Tuesday 19th June 23:17
To recap, a smart alec over on the Alfa forums has pointed out that one of the rear springs is broken....
Offside;
IMG_8617 by Chris, on Flickr
Nearside;
IMG_8620 by Chris, on Flickr
The ride heights (side to side) measure the same at 350mm, wheel centre to arch apex. But if you count the coils, they're different.
Spring colour code on the offside was Y/Y/O/W tying in with the part number eper specifies for the car and cross-references correctly with other parts websites.
Prompting the decision to replace both of the rear coils, despite one being possibly broken and the other looking newish.
IMG_7854 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7855 by Chris, on Flickr
Which proved to be the right decision. We pulled the seaside unit out, stripped that down and found the spring was, in theory, the wrong one;
IMG_7843 by Chris, on Flickr
Y/O/W Rather than Y/Y/O/W. It was shorter, but not broken, the OD of the coils at either end being smaller than the rest of the spring.
The offiside, was broken;
IMG_7837 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7841 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7849 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7850 by Chris, on Flickr
Moving on... with the right springs fitted.... I hope.
The damper bodies were, as per the norm, showing sighs of corrosion, so my Dad spend an hour or two cleaning them up;
IMG_7845-2 by Chris, on Flickr
Wire brushed;
IMG_7861 by Chris, on Flickr
Chemically treated
IMG_7864 by Chris, on Flickr
Primed
IMG_7880-2 by Chris, on Flickr
Painted, waxoyled and rebuilt;
IMG_7881-2 by Chris, on Flickr
Meanwhile, I had a poke about under the car;
IMG_7876-2 by Chris, on Flickr
And found this;
IMG_7871 by Chris, on Flickr
The heatshield between the fuel tank and the exhaust had broken away from the tank and was resting on the exhaust. How it was not making a right racket is beyond me. But we fixed that and carried on.
You have to take the boot apart to get the struts out;
IMG_7852 by Chris, on Flickr
Rather than watch the paint on the dampers dry, I gave the boot and behind the seats a tickle with the hoover;
IMG_7865 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7868 by Chris, on Flickr
IMG_7867 by Chris, on Flickr
It took about 7 hours in total for the two of us to do the job, mostly because the bolts in the nearside were totally seized, most notably the 21mm bolt through the bottom of the strut. I broke not 1, but 2 decent quality 1/2 drive sockets undoing it.
Offside;
IMG_8617 by Chris, on FlickrNearside;
IMG_8620 by Chris, on FlickrThe ride heights (side to side) measure the same at 350mm, wheel centre to arch apex. But if you count the coils, they're different.
Spring colour code on the offside was Y/Y/O/W tying in with the part number eper specifies for the car and cross-references correctly with other parts websites.
Prompting the decision to replace both of the rear coils, despite one being possibly broken and the other looking newish.
IMG_7854 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7855 by Chris, on FlickrWhich proved to be the right decision. We pulled the seaside unit out, stripped that down and found the spring was, in theory, the wrong one;
IMG_7843 by Chris, on FlickrY/O/W Rather than Y/Y/O/W. It was shorter, but not broken, the OD of the coils at either end being smaller than the rest of the spring.
The offiside, was broken;
IMG_7837 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7841 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7849 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7850 by Chris, on FlickrMoving on... with the right springs fitted.... I hope.
The damper bodies were, as per the norm, showing sighs of corrosion, so my Dad spend an hour or two cleaning them up;
IMG_7845-2 by Chris, on FlickrWire brushed;
IMG_7861 by Chris, on FlickrChemically treated
IMG_7864 by Chris, on FlickrPrimed
IMG_7880-2 by Chris, on FlickrPainted, waxoyled and rebuilt;
IMG_7881-2 by Chris, on FlickrMeanwhile, I had a poke about under the car;
IMG_7876-2 by Chris, on FlickrAnd found this;
IMG_7871 by Chris, on FlickrThe heatshield between the fuel tank and the exhaust had broken away from the tank and was resting on the exhaust. How it was not making a right racket is beyond me. But we fixed that and carried on.
You have to take the boot apart to get the struts out;
IMG_7852 by Chris, on FlickrRather than watch the paint on the dampers dry, I gave the boot and behind the seats a tickle with the hoover;
IMG_7865 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7868 by Chris, on FlickrIMG_7867 by Chris, on FlickrIt took about 7 hours in total for the two of us to do the job, mostly because the bolts in the nearside were totally seized, most notably the 21mm bolt through the bottom of the strut. I broke not 1, but 2 decent quality 1/2 drive sockets undoing it.
Edited by Zombie on Sunday 24th June 02:10
Edited by Zombie on Sunday 24th June 02:11
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