145 playing tricks on me

So here I am selling my 145. On a test drive, i need petrol as i've ran the tank down to minus 3 litres. £10 from "total" goes in and it suddenly drives like i've left the handbrake on. It really doesn't want to rev through, especially from standing start.

Any suggestions as to the possible prob?

Who of you experts gets this conundrum solved?

[RicksAlfas]

hee hee.
My wife got a 145 for our first boy arriving!!
We didn't want his early years clouded by being driven around in a van with windows!!
They are very impressionable at that age you know!!
wink
Dunno about your motor. Sounds grim.
Could the catalyst have collapsed??
Does it feel liek someone has stuck a banana up the exhaust??
Any warning lights on??
Is air filter reasonably clean??
Plugs could be on the way out - they don't last 60k really. Plug leads could be breaking down too.
You could try resetting the ECU if you have your master key safe and sound, and see if that brightens the poor thing up.
Good luck!!

[rarebear]

I'm afraid a piston has gone.... did you have enough oil i the sump ?

Reset ECU and took it for a run, no good - just getting more noise from the exhaust - hope its not the cat. No lights on, no other obvious signs - looks like the garage awaits on friday with a hefty bill......

Unless you know better..

Piston ?....gulp.

hoo-bloody ray. I had a look at the plugs. When the top popped off the plugs to reveal all, three of them were pretty damned wet. Then i remembered what a great job i had done last week jetwashing the engine bay. ******!.

Anyway, i suddenly felt £300 richer, and when i took it out for a spin, it revved like a thoroughbred & bit the tarmac like a shark.
What about the booster advertised on ebay - 10-15bhp for less than £50 - sounds too good. Is it an air intake mixer or something. Would appreciate any thoughts.

And i'll try the super/shell fuel test for myself now.

[rarebear]

I'm glad I was wrong ! congratulations...
did you notice any oil in the plugholes (with the water) ?? also a common problem with TS\engines.

[PhadeRunner]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Anyone have any thoughts on the cheap bhp booster advertised on ebay - 10-15bhp for less than £50 - sounds too good. Is it an air intake mixer or something. Would appreciate any thoughts.</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">The cheap eBay bhp booster is actually a 5p resistor plus instructions. You fit it between the Air Flow Meter (AFM) and the Engine Management Unit (ECU). This changes the value sent back to the ECU and makes it think that the engine is pulling in cooler and denser air, it adjusts the fuelling (i.e. increases it) to match this false reading. The mixture is richened slightly and you'll get more power at the expense of fuel economy. I doubt you'll get anywhere near 10bhp extra and the running of the engine may be compromised in certain climates (extremes of temperature in either direction). It is a very crude form of chipping without the associated timing and rev-limiter changes that you get with a proper chip.

My advice, save your money and go to your local electronic component shop, buy a variable resistor and put that in instead. Then you'll have a tunable system for even less money!

In all seriousness though, it's definetly not worth it and the increases that it claims would be easily attainable by cleaning your AFM mesh (with carb cleaner), swapping in a decent cone air filter and checking the throttle body butterfly alignment to ensure that WOT really is wide open.

[Toad]

Always use Ron97 or above when selling your car.. it won't cost you much & always makes Alfa run smoother & rev better... Or at least it seems that way to me. But cant hurt if your selling.

[McGuinn]

I prefer to use Ron ,39, Dublin. He drives like a Ron97 but less chance of him mistaking the brake for the accelerator...

[bazza]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:<hr /><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by McGuinn:
<strong>I prefer to use Ron ,39, Dublin. He drives like a Ron97 but less chance of him mistaking the brake for the accelerator...</strong><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">...and you don't end up with the drivers seat smelling of urine. laughing

she's gone....i am now alfaless

maybe i can get a soft top when the kids are both kid-seat free.