Alfa 147 Ducati Corse

Alfa 147 Ducati Corse

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GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
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Some of this might read a bit odd as it's copy and pasted, but you'll get the idea...



I recently bought one of these as my 'sensible' modern, so thought I'd document my exploits with it and give you a bit of review type nonsense...



As a bit of background, I've had a company car for years and have always had some chod alongside to mess about with. However, I made the decision to leave my job and go back to uni which meant all the chod had to go and I needed a sensible modern for the next couple of years. Initially, this took the form of an E39 530d Touring, which i liked very much. Unfortunately it was doing about 25mpg on my horrible new commute and had a few jobs needing doing, so employing my best man maths, the clear solution to this problem was to sell that for less than I paid for it after spending a few hundred on it for good measure and buy a dearer car that was more economical to *save money.... With me?



After the bimmer I decided I wanted something smaller and sportier but I still needed derv for economeee. I drew up a shortlist of a few motors and kept my eye on the usual sites. I was looking at Seat Leon FR+ (the ones that look like a Cupra R but have the 150PD engine), sort of looking at Golf 150PD but I had one years ago so didn't really want another. I did briefly consider a Renaultsport Megane DCI but that didn't last long (other than the obvious, I bought a Megane F1 R26 brand new and a DCI was never going to be as nice). So what did I end up with?








To give it its full title, it is an Alfa Romeo 147 JTDM 16v Q2 Ducati Corse. What that is, if you were not already aware is basically a special edition, run-out model 147 diesel that gained an extra 20bhp (taking it to 170bhp), a limited slip diff, 18" wheels, the black-with-red-stitching leather interior out of the GT coupe and fetchng go-faster stripes. They were available in black, red or white and about 250 were made, so they're quite thin on the ground.



Values for them, if you can find them, are a little all over the place. This one was advertised privately on autotrader for the least amount of money I had yet seen and looked nice enough in the pics, with a fairly average 98k miles on it, so I drove down to Hinckley in the bimmer to check it out.



And it was....ok. Clean enough, but had seen some paint, the guy seemed genuine just not really a car guy. It needed disks & pads, the tyres were all good in terms of tread but all stty no-names and the rear silencer was rotten. More pressing at the back of my mind was that I would be buying this at pretty much the worst possible moment - it's a 9 year old diesel, on its original clutch (which was heavy) & turbo that was due a cambelt change. So what did I do? Kindly decline and carry on the search? Did I fk! I knocked a good deal of money off and bought it anyway!



I've had it for a few months now and it hasn't been without issue. I shall type it up and give you my learned thoughts on it in a bit..

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
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First thing was to get the cambelt and waterpump sorted as there was no evidence they had ever been changed. This got farmed out to a local alfa specialist (although I suppose any garage could have done it, as it's just the 1.9 GM/Fiat/Saab engine fitted to absolutely loads of stuff). He confirmed it had been changed at some point but they hadn't used the newer metal impellor water pump and had smeared a load of sealant all over it when it just needs a gasket to seal, so it was good to get it done properly.



I decided to run it for a few weeks before spending more dollar on it and just see how it drove. I decided I did like it but the clutch was becoming worrisome. It was dead heavy and the pedal creaked. Some googling suggested they were known for a heavy clutch. Oh and creaky clutch: TADTS, which eased my mind a little. Until it developed a bit of a judder when taking up drive. This got worse over a couple of days, prompting me to think 'I really must get this checked on my day off'.



Unfortunately that never happened, as just as I was pulling into the carpark at uni, the day before my day off, it suffered total clutch failure. As I was pulling in, it got progressvely harder to engage gears, until I couldn't select a gear at all. I thought the slave had failed but no amount of pedal pumping made a difference, so I was stuck at the only entrance and exit to the carpark with about a 6" gap either side for people to get past. So about four weeks after purchase it assumed the natural alfa position and travelled home on the back of a truck (well, after being bullstted by the RAC on an hourly basis as to an arrival time for a total of 4 hours it did).



This was not good. It has a DMF to further add to the misery. I knew this was not going to be cheap. I'd asked my Alfa guy for a quote when I had the cambelt done and he quoted £1000 for clutch & DMF. Whilst I was sat waiting, I rang my usual garage for a quote who came back with £900 so I had it taken to them. Actually, I didn't have it taken to them...because the RAC took 4 fking hours to arrive, everywhere was shut so I had to have it taken home and tow it there myself the next day with my old man (rant over).



My joy was further bolstered on arrival when matey from the garage comes over looking a bit sheepish..."Errr, that price I gave you yesterday....well I didn't realise it was the 170bhp version. They use a different clutch to the 150bhp and there isn't an aftermarket part, so I'm gonna have to order it from Alfa Romeo and it's dearer. And they don't have it in and it'll take 2 days to get here" WINNING!!



So my £100 saving ended up costing £80 more.



However, when I got it back, the car was so much better to drive. Clutch is light as a feather and no juddering and general awfulness. Still stung though.



That was about 3 weeks ago. I've just taken it on a 1000 mile round trip to the Isle of Skye for new year so I'll write up how that went next.

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
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So as I said, we booked a last minute trip to the Isle of Skye. If nothing else I'd hoped I'd get to bond with the car a bit more as it was at least an 850 mile round trip! This prompted me to tackle a couple of jobs before setting off.



A common problem with these is a 'sticky' gearshift where the gearstick won't return itself to neutral which this one was suffering from and made 3rd a bit hard to select until you got used to driving around the problem. I looked it up on the forums and it didn't seem like too difficult a job - battery out, battery tray out to give access to the top of the gearbox. That gives you access to this linkage setup







You remove the nut, remove the linkage from the back of the bolt, then knock the long exposed bolt out, replace the bushes and lubricate it all







I'd already bought the bushes off ebay (turned out one wasn't actually fitted) and used loads of red rubber grease, which got my gearstick action all lovely smooth and springy again.



The next job was that the windscreen washer motor was only working in reverse, so you pull the stalk towards you and nothing happens (meant to spray the windscreen), push it away and and it sprays the windscreen (meant to spray the rear windscreen). You can get access to the motor by unbolting the expansion tank and moving it out the way. This revealed that the one fitted isn't an original part, but my replacement part was also incorrect as it only has one outlet. Re-ordered the correct part and will try again.



Next, front brakes. I knew they were bad, but on closer inspection there was no way I was putting another 800+ miles on them, they were hanging! I'd already bought some Brembo disks & pads when ECP had a 50% off code so I set about stripping them down. The discs were that worn that I was able to remove them without removing the caliper carrier!






The pad material was breaking down as well. How do I always end up buying cars with brakes like this? Anyway, the bd fought me every step of the way. The disc retaining screws were seized (managed to get one off, snapped the other) and the caliper carrier bolts were mega mega seized. They broke my 1/2" 19mm socket. I thought it was game over but rememebered I had some impact sockets and the combination of those, a hammer, lots of plusgas and the biggest breaker bar I had shifted them. I really need a rattle gun for things like this as I'm always scared of shearing bolts. In terms of working on, it reminds me of the Fiat Stilo we had a few years ago (unsurprising as it's probably the same car), in that for its age, everything that *might be seized, *will be seized, more so than others of the same age. Just feels a bit built down to a price.






I'll tidy those calipers up one day, they must be losing me 10bhp.



So with all that done, Skye happened! Have some pics of CAR in SKYE












I'm happy to say 1000 miles completed without incident. So what's it like then?...



Well it's a bit of mixed bag. You may note from the pics that it's an 09 plate which is pretty much the very latest 147 you will find (I think there's a handful of 10 plates around). I mention this as it's worth remembering that the car was launched in 2000, so by rights it really should have been pensioned off at this point and it was a generation behind pretty much everything else. As a result. it doesn't feel like a 2009 car - there is no stop start, no touchscreen, no auto light/wipers, no elec handbrake etc etc. To most on here that's probably a bonus but it does feel odd when you see the plate.



It does feel nippy but if I'm honest, I expected a bit more shove saying it has 170bhp. I seem to rememebr my 150bhp golf feeling a bit quicker, although it does seem to have a better poweband than most diesels and relatively willing to rev so it may just be that it delivers it differently. They apparently remap to around 210-220bhp which should wake it up a bit. This model also has a 'sport' button which alters the throttle response, although like most of these features I've tried on other cars, I can barely tell the difference.



It handles very well. Lovely direct steering but it's a bit too firmly sprung. The trip highlighted this, as poor surfaces on a B road upset it quite easily and it gets very crashy. The wheels really don't help in that respect. They look nice (or would do if they were a bit tidier) and are specific to this model, but they make the car drive like it has oversize aftermarket wheels fitted. It reminds me of when I fitted 17" wheels to my Corolla GT when I was 18 - a car that came with 14" as standard. The tyres are 40 profile and I think it would drive better with 17" wheels and 45 profile tyres.



The there's the diff. Now there's no getting around that it does dominate the driving experience. I knew what I was getting into there as I've has LSD equipped cars before, but I can see how people really can dislike how they drive. The diff makes such a positive contribution to traction and handling feel (plant the throttle in the middle of a bend and it's crazy to feel how it literally drags the car further in to the line) that it sort of makes you put up with the side effects. Those being strange steering feel sometimes in normal driving; sometimes the wheel just feels dead then very suddenly wakes up and follows any ruts in the road to the degree that it can almost make you change lanes if you're not concentrating. It's quite tiring if you're not used to it.



Then there's the build quality. It's not that it's particularly bad, it just doesn't feel like a quality product. The stalks all feel a bit horrible to use. It squeaks and rattles. The driver's seat rocks about a bit - need to look into this, it's pissing me off. It has climate control but it's one of those crap systems that really were meant to just be manual aircon and and upgrade has been shoe-horned in so is completely unintuitive to use. But what did I expect??



On the plus side, I find it comfy and can sit in it and get a good driving position. I drove it for 8 hours and wasn't aching at the end. The seats are supportive and it delivered 48mpg on the run and I wasn't hanging about.



Next on the list...the inlet manifold is fitted with swirl flaps that like to break off and get ingested. There's conflicting advice on whether to just bin them or replace the manifold then map out the EGR valve to stop them getting clogged up again. Removing the manifold is also a right war - it's buried and the fuel pump has to come off. Not sure if I'm confident enough to have a go. In any case, it's probably planning to hoover them up next time I turn it on whlst I sit here planning to do something about them...it has form for that!



Here it is after 1000 miles. Needs a wash!




I meant to mention - the turning circle on it is like a frigging oil tanker and yes, visibility out the back is ste



Reading that back, I sound like I'm proper slagging it, believe it or not, I do really like it. It's a lovely drive but as an overall package it's a bit flawed.



It'd be boring if it was perfect!

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
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Collected these from flippin Watford(!) yesterday, got them on this morning. They were fitted to 147/156GTAs so they're a straight swap. An inch smaller, so 17s but half an inch wider with a lower offset, so they end up pushed out right to the edge of the wheelarch. And crucially they actually have some sidewall. The tyres also happen to be Michelin Pilot Sports, so very happy to finally put some decent boots on it.








Rides better, drives better. I always underestimate just how much difference decent tyres make to the whole drive. Very happy with them. I'll keep hold of the originals, throw them back on when I sell the car and sell these seperately as they tend to fetch good money.



As you can see, you really couldn't go any wider and stay within the arch




GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
quotequote all
This thanked me for its new wheels today by snapping the hinge on the driver's door handle. Ungrateful st. Replacement means door card off and a swear fest. CANNOT WAIT



Suppose I'd best try and fix this then. The top hinge on them seizes (as they are very disgruntled to be here rather than in Italy) and the hinge snaps. The hinge from a Fiat 500 fits and saves you having to replace the whole handle. Obviously this means removing the door card which is one of my least favourite jobs on any car and always seems to result in broken clips and misery.





Well I got the door card off without breaking any clips (although not everything survived unscathed) but that revealed that this isn't its first rodeo and someone's been in here before. Anyway, replacing the hinge wasn't too bad. You don't have to completely remove the handle, if you leave it connected at the striker end you've just enough room to undo the hinge screw with a screwdriver bit held with some mole grips.





Remember I said not everything survived unscathed? Well to remove the door card you have to unclip and remove the electric window & mirror controls from the door. This sounds lovely and simple and I'm sure to many it would be, however I managed to pull the whole unit out so hard that it fking exploded to its component parts.





That included spilling loads of tiny, stick like plastic pieces into the door. I fished out what I could and hoped I'd be able to cobble it back together when I'd fixed the hinge.





After messing about with it for a bit, I came to realise that these plastic bits were the plungers that operates the pad when a switch is pushed - the little grey circles are all these plungers. There were also some really tiny white ones that operate the electric window switches (you can see one on the table to the right). Well of course I managed to lose one of those. I certainly wasn't going to buy a new one for want of one of these piddly little fkers so had a look for some alternatives. I tried the inside of a biro cut down but it was too wide. A cocktail stick would have been about perfect but we had none. So I sat there like a complete bellend, whittling down a matchstick with a knife wondering what I was doing with my life. Anyway, it worked! Threw it all back together and had a fully operative door handle again along with a switch bank containing a bit of matchstick.





Treated it to a wash after because as you may be able to see, I live down the equivalent of a farm track which is a massive pain in the arse in winter.






Stay tuned to find out what falls off next!

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 25th March 2019
quotequote all
Another clutch issue now. The pedal feel has been a bit odd the past 10 days or so: it was toughening up when stuck in traffic for a while or at low speed then would noticeably lighten again after giving it some beans or a higher speed run.

I drove up to the Lakes yesterday to meet some friends and towards the end of the trip the pedal lost resistance for the top half of the travel and the bite point was on the floor. When I got in it to drive home this morning, it was worse and now difficult to select a gear, so I nursed it to the motorway where obviously it could be left in 6th.

By the time I’d got home the pedal had come back a bit but it’s still not right. I’m thinking slave cylinder or master cylinder and googling suggests the fking engine mounts need undoing to create enough clearance to change the master cylinder.

This is meant to be my *reliable modern

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Fixed this over the last couple of days, I did both the master & slave cylinder. Car assumed what has come to be its natural position





Did the slave first which wasn't too bad, removing the battery tray gives good access





The cylinder is held into that bracket with a big circlip. This took about half and hour of wrangling to remove as it was rusted on. Then came the fun of trying to get the cylinder out of the bracket. It was well seized in there. I decided to take the whole lot off the car which meant cutting down a 6mm allen key to access the top bolt of the bracket with the cylinder in place. To cut a long story short, even after smacking it with a lump hammer and ruining the cylinder, it would not move so I ended up having to order a new bracket from Alfaworkshop, I think the fact that they carry them in stock tells its own story. So that added a day to the proceedings.



Then came the master cylinder. T'internets was suggesting undoing engine mounts and tipping it forward but I wasn't pissing about with that so just undid the fuel filter assembly which created just about enough room to access the bulkhead. When I had a look inside the car, the inlet pipe connection to the cylinder is in the footwell but there was nowhere near enough room to undo the crimp connector and no wiggle room at all on the rubber pipe. Looking at the engine side, the rubber pipe fitted on to a hard line along the bulkhead so I decided to undo it here and pull the whole lot through the bulkhead. This was a right faff as it wouldn't come off and there was no room to get a proper grip so I had to just cut it off. This meant ordering some pipe so I could attach it to the cylinder off the car, then feed the pipe through the grommet in the bulkhead from the inside (no pics as you couldn't really see much!). Much swearing happened but I got there in the end. The master cylinder was clearly the offending article once it was off the car, offering no resistance along half of its travel.



Tried to bleed it up with a pressure bleed kit but every time I use this, it seems to not seal properly and just piss fluid everywhere so I gave up with that and did it the old fashioned way. The fluid was black as expected so seals have been breaking down.





Whilst in the area I also noticed that the breather pipe wiggling across the middle of the shot is split at both ends and making a mess so I guess that's on the list next.



Oh and the passenger sun visor now will not stay up as someone had the temerity to use it last weekend. Sigh.


GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Tuesday 26th March 2019
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Thanks for the comments, despite its foibles, I've no plans on selling it, or certainly not yet. It's gotten under my skin a bit! Some of the issues are just regular maintenance, it's the niggly bits that aren't that are frustrating. I'm slowly working my way through though...

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I’m still not happy with the clutch action on this thing. It starts off lovely, then stiffens up as it’s used, especially in traffic. Apparently it’s a well known issue with these and the 156 and is caused by the bottom bush on the clutch actuator shaft getting clogged up with crap inside the bellhousing. The recommended remedy for this is to remove the clutch actuator arm (that the slave cylinder acts upon) which reveals the splined top of the shaft, remove the top bush and dribble a small amount of oil down the shaft to lubricate the bottom bush inside the bellhousing. I did actually attempt this when I did slave cylinder but the actuator arm was seized to the shaft and what with the slave being seized in as well, I didn't have time to mess with it.

When I left the clutch arm last time, I poured a load of 3in1 oil over the top of the splines in the hope it would relesase it over time. It didn't. This is what I was on at



I thought I'd try applying heat but I've no blow torch so had to make do with a hot air gun set on high. I used one of the attachments to shield the hose running near it and got it smoking. Still wouldn't budge. I let it cool a little, gave it some more plusgas and tried again for longer. Still no. Tried a 3rd time, still didn't work at which point I became concerend I was going to damage something so I put a load of plusgas and 3in1 down the splines again and came inside and sought further suggestions on how to proceed and made some dinner. By the time I went back out to it, it had cooled down and the oil must have done its stuff because it actually moved a tiny amount. Lots of wiggling and lots of oil later...



Success! After that was off, the plastic bush needed removing to allow a small amount of oil down the shaft to lubricate the bottom bush. I'd already anticipated that this would be brittle and a little tt to remove so I ordered a new one (£16 for a plastic bush!). I did end up snapping a little bit off the old one so I'm pleased I did.



I put about 2 teaspoons of oil down the shaft, fitted the new bush (lubricated it with red rubber grease) and put it all back together. I haven't driven it far enough yet to know if this has finally sorted the clutch action, Monday morning will reveal, but the pedal is certainly softer and smoother, I just hope it stays that way all the time now.


I hadn't washed it for about 6 weeks so gave it a good clean today. Look at the state of these..



Looking at it, I think the bumper needs to come off to access those and I can't see it or them coming off without a fight. I think it's wise to pick my battles with this car! They do look proper ropey though!

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Tuesday 26th March 2019
quotequote all
And that more or less brings me up to date starting from last October. Touch wood, the clutch issue finally seems sorted! As you can tell, it had been a bit neglected in the last couple of years so I want to continue getting it to a state where I'm happy with it, then maybe look at upgrades.

I noticed the other day that one of the rear calipers is sticking and the handbrake isn't great so I've just ordered two new. I'm a bit sceptical as they were mega cheap off ebay, so we'll see what they're like! I may as well do discs and pads at the same time. Looking at it, it seems that one of the suspension arms will need moving out the way to clear the bottom caliper carrier bolt (cheers Alfa!) so I'm thinking about buying a 240v rattle gun as I don't fancy tackling the bolt holding the arm on without one!

I want to sort the inlet manifold. They have internal swirl flaps which when old, get clogged, don't close properly, get weak and fall off causing havoc. There's a few options - buy a blanking kit for about £40, remove existing manifold, blank it myself and refit (risks boost leaks), buy a used one already blanked from Autolusso for about £120 and fit that or buy a brand new one for about £350 keeping the swirl flaps and map out the EGR so they don't get clogged. Not quite sure which way to go, my Alfa guy says not to remove them but loads seem to have done it.

Once that's done I might look at a remap and get some bits of paintwork done. I'd like to give it to the dentman as well and let him do his stuff. It's one of those cars that shows dents really badly and it's picked up a few in its 10 years! I had him go over a Civic Type R I had about 10 years ago (also bought cheap and neglected...I don't learn!) and couldn't belive how good the results were.

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Sunday 21st April 2019
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I gave the rear brakes an overhaul over the last couple of days. I've known the discs were ropey for ages and when I took a closer look the pads had about 2mm of material left so it was well overdue. The handbrake wasn't great either. From when I did the front brakes, I anticipated everything being seized and thought the calipers were probably the cause of the crap handbrake (every handbrake caliper I've encountered just seems to go to st with age and seize up) and I've never had much success with just exercising the pistons, so I planned on changing them. I found two brand new on ebay for about £65. I was very wary at that price, but they were alright when they turned up. This is fitted with red calipers so I set up a makeshift spray booth in the shed and splashed some colour on.



They aren't exactly showroom finish but they're good enough. When I got to stripping them down they weren't actually as bad as the fronts and it came apart generally ok, although they've clearly seen no maintenance for a while, but the sliders were all free. It's a bit of a pain though as Alfa saw fit to obscure the bottom carrier bolt with a suspension arm so you need to do a pit of jiggery pokery to make enough room to remove the disc without having to remove the suspension arm.



Horrible old discs off.



Shiney new ones built up. I went for Brembo discs & pads, same as the fronts when ECP had a 50% off code. They're good quality and don't rust off in the middle like cheaper ones. It's made a bigger difference than I thought, it stops on a sixpence now.

You may notice it still has it's old calipers on. That's because when I got into it, the old ones were fine. I noticed one of the handbrake arms wasn't returning to its stop and this is why the handbrake was crap, the cable was siezed. Whilst I was there I thought I may as well fit them like a dhead I rounded off the union to the flexi, so I'd probably have to replace the flexi and get the caliper in a vice to get the old line out and I couldn't be arsed getting into that when essentially it all worked. Suppose I've got some spares now!

The handbrake cable did put up a bit of a fight, I had to dremel it off as I couldn't get enough slack to unclip it from the caliper. And it was very nicely rusted into the central mount.



Managed to free it eventually. So for the minute I've no handbrake. I've already forgotten it was parked in gear once so hopefully the new one turns up before I drive through a shop window or something.

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 3rd June 2019
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Not much to report on this, although it seems to be getting rather claggy. I've run a tankful of BP posh diesel and injector cleaner through it which seems to have improved things. I've asked my usual garage for a price to de-swirl the inlet manifold but two weeks later, I am yet to recieve one, despite ringing to chase (which I think probably means they don't want to get involved).

However I have noticed a rather annoying quirk. The aircon isn't behaving: when the car's first started (with the aircon on), you hear the compressor kick in and it works fine and brings the rad fan on. If you then turn the aircon off, it won't turn back on until the car has been switched off and on again. It also seems to be turning itself off after about 15 mins use and then won't come on again until the car's switched off and on. I think it's probably been doing this the whole time I've had it, as I was always under the impression that the climate control was crap because it probably needed a regas. It's only with the warmer weather that I've realised that when it's on, it gets nice and cold...it just won't stay on.

I've some cheapo diagnostic software that provides the system pressure when it's running and it's constantly cycling between around 11 and 16, but I dunno if this is normal or if it should keep a constant reading?

Any ideas what might be wrong?

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Sunday 28th July 2019
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Not posted about this for a while. After getting the quote back about the swirl flaps, I decided I was going to move it on and convinced myself I was going to replace it with a blobeye Impreza WRX Wagon after really enjoying blatting about in my old silver 'classic' shape one. Its MOT was due though so in a rare moment of sensible thinking, I made myself wait until I could put 12 months MOT on it to help sell it. It passed its MOT with no emissions hassle and just got an advisory about a balljoint. I even then went as far as advertising it on some Alfa groups on faceache but didn't get much of a response. Whilst it was advertised, for reasons I cannot explain, I decided to whip off the EGR valve and see how clogged up it was. I was somewhat heartened to find that it had been fitted with a restrictor plate (like a blanking plate but with a couple of 5mm holes in the middle that allow just enough gasses through to the inlet so the EML doesn't come on) and the valve itself wasn't really clogged up at all. Just had the expected thin layer of carbon on everything.

This little discovery and the MOT pass ended up being enough to convince me to keep it. The guy who had it before me didn't really have much interest in cars so I can't see him having gone to the trouble of fitting a restrictor plate to the EGR. He had the car for 5 years, so I reckon it's been on there since it was at least 5 years old, meaning it *shouldn't have as much carbon build up in the inlet that ends up making the swirl flaps fall off. Well, that's the theory anyway, obviously I may be completely wrong. Also, because I'm in stop/start traffic so much, it tends to only average around 38mpg, which would probably turn to about 18mpg in a subaru, which is a bit daft really.

I had though, become bored with its performance so if I was keeping it, I made the decision to get it remapped. Before that could happen though, it was due a major service which I decided to tackle myself to save some sheckles. Read on to see how difficult I found a simple task...

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Sunday 28th July 2019
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So as you do, I made ordered all the kit from a combination of ECP and GSF as they had 50% & 60% codes running. I also decided to change the gearbox oil so ordered some up from Opie Oils.

Had a bit of an undertray to drop



That ended up taking me about half an hour despite the fact there was only one bolt remaining at the front and two at the back. The one at the front was unfortunately rather like a corroded murray mint and took much plusgas and back n forth action to extract without snapping the one remaining stud

After reading a quick service guide, my car should be fitted with a 12mm hex sump plug, so I made sure to order a 12mm hex key as I knew I didn't have one. However I got under there to find this..



Most definitely not a hex key, but a ribe fitting which my very late car definitely wouldn't have. I didn't have one of those either. I tried a torx T50 but it was fking tight and I could feel the bit flexing so decided to give that up until I had the right fitting. I find this kind of thing fking infuriating and I seem to manage it almost every time I attempt a job.

Instead I got on with the gearbox oil. Again, I'd looked this up and was surprised to find that this box actually has a dipstick - remember them!? So that acts as the refill point and there are 10mm hex drain points on the bottom of the box and the diff. If it's on ramps like this was it'll all drain through the diff but I took the other off as it's magnetic so cleared the hedgehog like filings from it. As it was draining it didn't look too bad but once collected it was pretty black



Turned out that box had a pinhole in it, which I didn't realise until it had been sat for about an hour FFS! I left that draining and got on to the air filter. This is a bit of a pain on the 147. Like lots of italian stuff, the airbox is low down and the cover swings open so that there is a gap precisely 3mm too small to extract or insert a filter.



Held my breath undoing those clips and some crowbar action ensued to force the gap open wide enough. Otherwise you'd have to remove the battery and battery tray to extract everthing from above and I wasn't getting into that again.



It was pretty manky, it's last major service was 25k ago. Incidentally I just couldn't get the new one in with that bit of foam on, so that got ripped off.

The fuel filter on the other hand has good access, located on the bulkhead and was without incident



With that done, I went to re-fill the gearbox. I already had a funnel with a long tube extension for this sort of thing, but found that the tube was about 1mm too wide to fit into the dipstick hole. COURSE IT fkING WAS. This meant I had to rig something up. I managed to find some small vacuum hose in the shed so used that as an extension to the tube. This was the setup.



Just after taking this pic, Greenpeace arrived due an oil spill of Exxon Valdez levels. The vacuum hose very quickly came out of the bottom of the main hose and oil went fkING EVERYWHERE!



I was not happy! Battery, inner wing, outer wing, intake hose. All covered. Sigh. So that was another half hour lost.

Pollen filter next after smearing oil all over my engine bay. Except I found I couldn't fking do that either, as the cover for that is held on by 5.5mm hex headed screws and I didn't have the right bit. How many types of fixing does one car need Alfa!!??

So, round 2, after ordering some ribe bits and the other...

The pollen filter is accessed under the glovebox, the cover's held on by 3 screws, two of which are hard to see. The driver I'd bought turned out to be too long to access them properly so that had to be 'modified'.



They came out alright but the cover was a right bd to get back on with the new filters fitted. I ended up upside down, on my head with a screwdriver prising it into the right position. Definitely needed changing though



With that *success I moved on to changing the oil, now I had the right tool. I'd also ordered a replacement sump plug just in case things got serious. The sump plug was very very tight. Almost as soon as I applied proper pressure, it rounded off. WINNING! The following combination eventually got the little bd off



and I didn't have to worry about damaging the plug as I had a new one to go on...that didn't even nearly fit. Thanks ECP! So unfortunately I've had to refit the somewhat knarled old one. So that's a job for the next oil change. The filter is low down, at the front near the turbo with pretty good access so that went without incident.

I'm happy to say that after all that faffing, it did drive noticeably better, with improved pickup.

I'd noticed that there was a fair amount of shunt when coming off the power so had a poke about and found the engine stabiliser bush was looking a bit borked.



I found a Febi replacment for about £25 so boshed that on. It didn't really make much different to be honest.

So there you go! How to make a simple service last 2 weeks! So since I've had it, it's had..

Cambelt & waterpump change

Clutch & DMF change

Clutch master & slave change

New disks & pads all round

GTA wheels

Aircon regas (which didn't solve the problem)

Full service

Christ! And after all that, in my infinite wisdom, it's booked for a remap next week. It apparently should take it to around 210/215bhp from 170bhp (although it's never felt like 170bhp to me). Will the new clutch survive? Will the turbo give up? Is anyone bothered? Probably not but I'll no doubt tell you anyway. Other than that, I've had a quote from the dent man to go over the car for £180 which I think I'll get done, I'm going to take it to an aircon specialist in St Helens who I've used before to get an answer as to what's going on there and whilst I was underneath, I noticed some bits that are starting to need some attention





So I'll get those rubbed down and treated once it stops raining again. Think that'll do for now!

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Sunday 28th July 2019
quotequote all
147s, 156s, 159s they're all flawed in one way or another, but seem to add up to more than the sum of their parts. And they're all knocking on now so I think anyone buying one pretty much knows what they'll be getting into.

A golf would be boring :-)

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Monday 5th August 2019
quotequote all
After all this work, it rewarded me by locking me out of the bonnet! A pull on the bonnet latch inside had no effect and no amount of pushing and prodding to the bonnet itself would change the situation. There was no way I was bending myself double and losing all the skin on my hands to fix it, so I farmed this one out.

It went in on Friday, they managed to access the catch by removing the undertray, removing a bumper grille and the main grille but said it was an absolute pain. Once in, they found the cable had seized. The part wouldn't arrive until today, so I collected it with the grilles removed to use over the weekend and dropped it back off today.



I also had it remapped last week. I paid for a 'hub dyno' power reading - I'm a bit sceptical as to the accuracy but it was interesting to watch. The car gets driven on to scales and weighed, then is taken for a run with sensors fixed to the centre of each front wheel. The laptop then does some magic and gives a BHP/NM reading. It turned out it already had a map on it! So as it was, it was making 181bhp and about an extra 25lb/ft over standard, so he made a full backup of this in case anything went wrong as there was no standard file to return to. He then flashed on his map and went for another run. Apparently, it's now making 211bhp and 325lb/ft. Well I can believe it because it's made a hell of a difference! You need to be a bit careful with it now as giving it full beans from low rpm will not be nice to the clutch with all that torque.

I did slightly st myself as after it had been sat for a couple of hours, I went and started it and the EML came on. I read the code, which came back as 'control unit calibrations'. It was still driving ok and didn't go into limp mode but I'd paid him by this point so thought I might have a battle to get him back out to it. Anyway, he had a look at the file and managed to sort what was causing the issue (some kind of tuning protection apparently) and came back a couple of days later to re-flash it. Touch-wood it's been ok since, bonnet excepted!

Lets see how long it lasts...

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Wednesday 26th August 2020
quotequote all
marco58 said:
Researching this particular model lead me to this excellent post. I fancied a 3 dr version of this car, in Nero Etna, but the only one had just been sold in Antrim, NI, which would have created a logistical challenge anyway. Then i noticed a 147 Ducati Corse in the background of the photo of another car which was for sale on gumtree, and the car was only 20 miles from me. I contacted the owner to ask if the 'Other' car was his, and for sale. He replied "at the right price". Never buy a car in the rain, but current wet climate gave me no choice, and i didn't want to miss it. There were plenty of dents and scratches, and it was a 4 door, but basically OK, and the service book and Owners Manual were present. The vendor even threw in a new gear knob, new front fog-lights, and front grille badge. The following day, upon collection, i noticed the registration number looked familiar. It was this car, YR09YJV. Unfortunately it seems that heavy objects have been dropped onto the bonnet, causing 4 or 5 dents, and holed the plastic scuttle, (Plastic scuttle replaced for £15.00), and N/S/R arch has scraped against a wall, the High oil level warning light is on, but Castrol Edge 10/40 is in the post, together with an oil filter and ZX1. If things return to near normality next year, i plan to drive it around Lake Como, and further South, like i did in my My Audi TT Mk1 last September, tent in the boot. I'm very pleased with this car, especially all the good work that has been done and recorded above. It's gone to a good home. Note: Purchased from a subsequent owner from the above.

Edited by marco58 on Tuesday 25th August 16:31
How weird, I never really come on here any more but when I do, I catch this!

I flogged it about a year ago because I didn’t really do the mileage to justify a diesel and it was doing my head in mending it constantly. I therefore made the sensible and informed decision to replace it with a 147 GTA, which I still have. I did see it very briefly appear for sale the other week on a fb group, but I think they took the ad down very soon.

Oh yeh - the damaged scuttle. I placed the for sale ad, then the day after went out to it and something had fallen on to the screen, pierced and smashed it and rolled on to the bonnet whilst it was parked on the road. Whatever it was had been removed when I got there. I was mega pissed off!

Good luck with the fecker, I hope it behaves better for you!

GTVGKN

Original Poster:

20 posts

128 months

Wednesday 26th August 2020
quotequote all
Leon R said:
I have a serious soft spot for 147's but your thread demonstrates why I am scared to own one.

Shame because I truly believe the 147 GTA has the best V6 ever made.
Leon R said:
I have a serious soft spot for 147's but your thread demonstrates why I am scared to own one.

Shame because I truly believe the 147 GTA has the best V6 ever made.
If you bought a GTA (a good UK one) it’s unlikely that you’d encounter a lot of the above as they tend to have been pampered and will have had most of the problem issues dealt with or replaced by now. The only issue I’ve had in 12 months has been a dodgy window regulator and I can’t begrudge it that at 16 years old!

The issue comes when you buy one as a cheap car around 10 years old as at that point everything will be end of life, so you either run it into the ground (which is why the numbers left drop off a cliff) or you suck it up and invest more into it than you’ll ever get back.

[quote] The problem with Alfas of this age now is that they’ve been neglected for a decade and were fragile to start with. Most of the pain of fixing them comes from the refusal at the factory to grease anything, especially when bolting aluminium to steel. This can change the job of changing the front shocks from a 30 minute each side jaunt to a 10 hour slugfest involving removal of most of the front suspension and liberal use of a 10 tonne press.
Yeh, that sodding pinch bolt at the bottom of the shock is always fun

[quote] Is it true that Alfa named this car the 147 as that is the number of months before the car is scrapped due to terminal rust?
They’re no worse than Fords etc of the same age.