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156 check up - bugger!

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bugger check
971 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Jammyjim 
#1 ·
Well took the ol girl in for a check up and the garage identified some faults - strange that for an alfa :D So have a couple of questions that I hope you guys could answer, as well as give me some guidence on whether the prices quoted seem reasonable.

1) OSF Top arm needs replacing £132.93 to fix, including tracking- Do they mean the top wishbone?
2) Fan belt is cracking up £64.73 to fix (£34.00 if done with the cambelt change)- should I just change the belt?
3) NSR Tie rod bushes pulled apart £68.91 to fix - I could do with a little more information as tie rod seems a little generic to me.
4) Both rear handbrake cables are old - £93.00 to fix, I can get the cable a lot cheaper but is it a job I can do and not cause problems?
The rest is a too much to list but all fairly trivial and more cosmetic than anything else. (well excpet the cam belt kit, but I knew that would need changing in about 6 months anyway!)

Thanks in advance.
 
#3 ·
1) OSF Top arm needs replacing £132.93 to fix, including tracking- Do they mean the top wishbone?
2) Fan belt is cracking up £64.73 to fix (£34.00 if done with the cambelt change)- should I just change the belt?
3) NSR Tie rod bushes pulled apart £68.91 to fix - I could do with a little more information as tie rod seems a little generic to me.
4) Both rear handbrake cables are old - £93.00 to fix, I can get the cable a lot cheaper but is it a job I can do and not cause problems?
The rest is a too much to list but all fairly trivial and more cosmetic than anything else. (well excpet the cam belt kit, but I knew that would need changing in about 6 months anyway!)

Thanks in advance.
They're taking the proverbial somewhat... Top wishbones are £34 (it may or may not need tracking afterwards). The aux belt is £17/£34 (non-AC/AC) and is a 5-minute job (but if you're doing the cambelts soon, leave it until then). Dunno about the tie-rod bushes. Handbrake cables are very cheap - sub-£40 for a complete set.

All of these are reasonably simple jobs, and there's enough assistance available on the forum to D-I-Y for a fraction of the price!
 
#4 ·
Depends what they refer top as "tie-rod" .. the transverse arms (run from centre to hub): four of those, front and rears are differnt lengths, but same for both sides, or the TRAILING arm (run backwards from body to hub bush). EB Spares sell them for around £15 each.

Trailing arms are around £42 each (EBSpares), but are relatively easy to replace IF the hub bush bolt is the right way round .. ie nut on brake side. But if the trailing arm bush is shot, chances are the hub bush is as well. Not so easy now ...
 
#6 ·
tbh those prices don't look too bad (you can obviously do them yourself for cheaper ... as I would) ... as for the handbrake cables, so what if they're old? (mine also got a "warning" last time my car was in the garage), they currently work so why change them? I always leave my car in gear so if they were to break then no damage would be done ..
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the help guys, I was thinking of doing some myself, expecially the auxillary belt (though It does look like I might need really small hands as theres not alot of space) and with regard to the tracking the inside edges of the front wheels are wearing too much - apparnatly if you set the tracking as in the book (think its negative but don't hold me to that) then it wears excessively - the garage suggest zero angle, anyone know different? They are only going to charge me £34.00 for the auxillary belt if I change it with the cambelt (I assume that the climate control I have is A/C, its got a little snowflake and everything :) ), but I do think another £30.00 of labour is a bit much for something I have done on other cars.
 
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