Another eBay Alfa - 156sw 2.4 20v JTDm
Discussion
I do like my current daily drive which is also a Diesel 156sw in black;
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Especially as it's been reliable after my Dad and I have worked through it and all of the issues, the suspension being the last big thing on the list.
But I've always wanted a 20v JTDm as they're supposed to be properly quick and halfway decent on fuel.
So when this popped up on eBay last week;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351959793420
I bought it unseen.
My Dad and I made the 230mile trip (each way) to get it from Norfolk yesterday.... With a boot full of tools and spares...
Given the (deliberately?) vague advert I was expecting some issues. It would have been nice to know about the passenger side rear door being bent for instance and the Sellers idea of 4 decent tyres is somewhat different to mine and the Police's.
Paintwork is scruffy, there's another scrape on the front bumper.
Rear lights barely worked. - Side lights did but brake lights and indicators were playing havoc with each other.
Loads of black smoke on acceleration
Auxbelt tensioner was squealing the whole way home. Having looked at it today, I don't think it would have lasted much longer - it's now making terminal knocking noises.
Turbo may be noisy. Difficult to tell with the racked the aux belt tensors are making.
Gearchange is abysmal. You have to lift the reverse lock out to find 1st / 2nd plane, the lever is very stiff across the gate making 3rd / 4th difficult to find and 5th / 6th are found way too far over towards the driver. Traffic lights and roundabouts became more dreaded as I drove it home.
Hand brake doesn't work either.
I'm suspicious of the the clutch. Seller says it's had a new one and a DMF but it feels snatchy. This might be because I was concentrating on finding gears and may not have been paying enough attention to my left foot though.
There's a vibration coming from the front. Seller claimed that it's down to the worn upper wishbones. Which I doubt. I reckon either the wheels are bent (not uncommon) or there's an issue with the driveshafts - 20v's are known for chewing them.
Seller said it's had new lower arms but the thread has been damaged in one of the captive nuts that they're bolted to the car with so it needs at least one new arm.
Air con is broken
Climate control is broken - Blows either red hot hot or full on cold, nothing in between. Think the temp sensor inside may be broken.
Suspect some of the wheels are bent.
Looks like the windscreen is leaking
Gear knob is broken and works itself loose.
There might be an issue with the power steering, (I hope not, the pump is buried down back of engine) maybe due to fluid level being below min.
Instrument back lights are broken.
Needs an oil change.
Electric window switch is broken.
It's filthy, inside and out.
I'm sure there's more to come...
Good points;
That engine, goes like stink and is more responsive than the 1.9
Leather "recaro" seats
Floor pans have surface rust but seem solid, which was a major worry.
Has cruise control (but not Bose
- need to sort that out!
Handles and rides well
Interior seems solid despite most of the boot being loose.
My Dad has a rear hub & carrier which he puts in a workmate and uses this to repaint wheels. It also means they can be checked to make sure they're true. So We've swapped the front wheels for some GTA tele dials whilst he checks them. Still think the vibration will be drive shafts though.
We did find the problem with the rear lights today though, bad earths in the connection blocks to the lights clusters.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Especially as it's been reliable after my Dad and I have worked through it and all of the issues, the suspension being the last big thing on the list.
But I've always wanted a 20v JTDm as they're supposed to be properly quick and halfway decent on fuel.
So when this popped up on eBay last week;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351959793420
I bought it unseen.
My Dad and I made the 230mile trip (each way) to get it from Norfolk yesterday.... With a boot full of tools and spares...
Given the (deliberately?) vague advert I was expecting some issues. It would have been nice to know about the passenger side rear door being bent for instance and the Sellers idea of 4 decent tyres is somewhat different to mine and the Police's.
Paintwork is scruffy, there's another scrape on the front bumper.
Rear lights barely worked. - Side lights did but brake lights and indicators were playing havoc with each other.
Loads of black smoke on acceleration
Auxbelt tensioner was squealing the whole way home. Having looked at it today, I don't think it would have lasted much longer - it's now making terminal knocking noises.
Turbo may be noisy. Difficult to tell with the racked the aux belt tensors are making.
Gearchange is abysmal. You have to lift the reverse lock out to find 1st / 2nd plane, the lever is very stiff across the gate making 3rd / 4th difficult to find and 5th / 6th are found way too far over towards the driver. Traffic lights and roundabouts became more dreaded as I drove it home.
Hand brake doesn't work either.
I'm suspicious of the the clutch. Seller says it's had a new one and a DMF but it feels snatchy. This might be because I was concentrating on finding gears and may not have been paying enough attention to my left foot though.
There's a vibration coming from the front. Seller claimed that it's down to the worn upper wishbones. Which I doubt. I reckon either the wheels are bent (not uncommon) or there's an issue with the driveshafts - 20v's are known for chewing them.
Seller said it's had new lower arms but the thread has been damaged in one of the captive nuts that they're bolted to the car with so it needs at least one new arm.
Air con is broken
Climate control is broken - Blows either red hot hot or full on cold, nothing in between. Think the temp sensor inside may be broken.
Suspect some of the wheels are bent.
Looks like the windscreen is leaking
Gear knob is broken and works itself loose.
There might be an issue with the power steering, (I hope not, the pump is buried down back of engine) maybe due to fluid level being below min.
Instrument back lights are broken.
Needs an oil change.
Electric window switch is broken.
It's filthy, inside and out.
I'm sure there's more to come...
Good points;
That engine, goes like stink and is more responsive than the 1.9
Leather "recaro" seats
Floor pans have surface rust but seem solid, which was a major worry.
Has cruise control (but not Bose
- need to sort that out!Handles and rides well
Interior seems solid despite most of the boot being loose.
My Dad has a rear hub & carrier which he puts in a workmate and uses this to repaint wheels. It also means they can be checked to make sure they're true. So We've swapped the front wheels for some GTA tele dials whilst he checks them. Still think the vibration will be drive shafts though.
We did find the problem with the rear lights today though, bad earths in the connection blocks to the lights clusters.
Edited by Zombie on Saturday 7th April 22:52
blaineuk said:
Check the outside temp sponsor it working as it will affect the heater and air conditioning
Could you elaborate please...My 2005 156 JTDM 150 has an issue with the aircon...either runs cold or stifling hot, ie it works on the 16/low setting, and will demist the car, so therefore the condensor seems OK, but at any other setting it just runs hot and will not respond to any change in the temperature controls.
Any advice welcomed !
Lynch91 said:
Interesting thread, this is definitely gonna keep you busy for a while!
Thanks, need to get it done though, have another project for the summer.noway said:
Bookmarked...glad to see another one kept from the scrappy
If you fancy taking on a 05 156v6 q-system later this year let me know...
id prefer a enthusiast enjoy it.
sam
The v6's are becoming increasingly sought after. Had a look on eBay, the classifieds here and on the Trader and I could not find a single 156 2.5v6 for sale. But when they do come up they seem to be going up in value. With that in mind I think you should keep it.If you fancy taking on a 05 156v6 q-system later this year let me know...
id prefer a enthusiast enjoy it.
sam
As I've mentioned I also have other comitments this year - My Dad has an 06 156 v6sw q system, that's this summer's project - We're going to drop a 3.0 in it.
blaineuk said:
Check the outside temp sensor is working, can affect the aircon/heater
Outside temp seems to be working but thanks for the advice. I think it'll be in the internal sensor, they have an integrated fan that cam become clogged causing issues. Paul S4 said:
Could you elaborate please...
My 2005 156 JTDM 150 has an issue with the aircon...either runs cold or stifling hot, ie it works on the 16/low setting, and will demist the car, so therefore the condensor seems OK, but at any other setting it just runs hot and will not respond to any change in the temperature controls.
Any advice welcomed !
With mine, it still blows hot at the 16.5 setting, so yours maybe a different problem. I'd start with blaineuk's suggestion.My 2005 156 JTDM 150 has an issue with the aircon...either runs cold or stifling hot, ie it works on the 16/low setting, and will demist the car, so therefore the condensor seems OK, but at any other setting it just runs hot and will not respond to any change in the temperature controls.
Any advice welcomed !
Edited by Zombie on Sunday 29th January 21:22
"It's got decent tyres on it"
My big fat a
e it does!!!! 
Rather annoyed about this, with myself for not checking it properly before driving home and with the Seller for not being honest, knowing I had a 250mile drive home. It's starting to delaminate...
Anyway, moving on (whilst still muttering), my Dad has sourced a 2nd hand pair of callipers a few weeks ago which he's been referring with new pistons, seals, pins and bleed valves from Big Redd;
My big fat a
e it does!!!! Rather annoyed about this, with myself for not checking it properly before driving home and with the Seller for not being honest, knowing I had a 250mile drive home. It's starting to delaminate...
Anyway, moving on (whilst still muttering), my Dad has sourced a 2nd hand pair of callipers a few weeks ago which he's been referring with new pistons, seals, pins and bleed valves from Big Redd;
Edited by Zombie on Saturday 7th April 22:53
This car sounds quite a bit like Peugeot 106 GTI I bought, which odd enough was from Scotland! It was bought blind and it was cheap in my defence.
Fair play for taking the car on. I do like the 156s. I thought long and hard about buying a 2.4 JTD believe it or not. The 147 JTD I had was superb.
As for the gearbox they can feel notchy. The clutch could be down to him using a cheap part ; IME cheaper items have horrendously heavy covers.
Fair play for taking the car on. I do like the 156s. I thought long and hard about buying a 2.4 JTD believe it or not. The 147 JTD I had was superb.
As for the gearbox they can feel notchy. The clutch could be down to him using a cheap part ; IME cheaper items have horrendously heavy covers.
Subscribed to this with interest, that is a lot of faults, but at least it sounds like the floorpan is solid. Echo comments about the V6s, theres hardly any good ones left and they deserve to go up in value. I had one of the best ones and unfortunately ruined it (wrote off), couldnt find another so currently going to the effort of converting one.
Zombie said:
"It's got decent tyres on it"
My big fat ae it does!!!!
Rather annoyed about this, with myself for not checking it properly before driving home and with the Seller for not being honest, knowing I had a 250mile drive home. It's starting to delaminate...
Typical Alfa knackered wishbones?My big fat a
e it does!!!! Rather annoyed about this, with myself for not checking it properly before driving home and with the Seller for not being honest, knowing I had a 250mile drive home. It's starting to delaminate...
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