My Progress & Timing Question

Its good to hear you have it sorted mate. Now you won't have to worry about it for another 3 years of so.

well done for getting it sorted,

sounds like you also need to fix the annoying rattle from the passenger seat

Thanks guys at least i got there in the end.

Just a quick question, the coil lead number 1 the rubber plug holder bit has been detached from the coil pack since i got the car (No orange insulator stuff left), it can be pushed together so the pins have contact. I havent actually tested if it works, car does not seem to fire on 3 would the wasted spark be used and make it sound as if it firing on 4

Bit the bullet and decided to go for a run, started fine but there is a loud tapping from the cam cover. Will this go away once oil pressure has been built up. Have only ran it for a few seconds and turned off.....please verify if this is ok

As per my last post you can hear the engine from this link

Alfa cam belt change

My 156 and my 145 sounded like that after changing the variator. The sound went after a couple of minutes.

I assume it was because of the oil pressure in the variator.

Thanks simon better take it out for a run and see how it is. It was more coming from the right side, maybe need to wait for the oil to start lubricating the cams.

Let us know if it still ticks after a drive.

To confirm, mine sounded the same after changing the variator. I also thought something was up but as per with Simon, the noise went after the engine had been running for a little while. You can apparently avoid this if you pre-fill the variator with a small amount of oil just before fitting it. The noise *should* disappear after you've taken it for a bit of a run.

Thanks for the help guys.

The car runs great, big differece in performance. Everything seems alot smoother and much quiter without that stupid K&N Filter.

Temp is still sitting in the low 70s after the thermostat change.

just over 70ºC is ok on ally topped engines. I think the sensor for the coolant screws into the cylinder head, so gives about 10ºC lower reading than the actual coolant temperature.

On facelifted cars the gauge is marked differently, so 80ºC is where 70ºC is on the earlier cars.

The dashboard gauge and the ECU get their temperature readings from different sensors / thermistor circuits so it may just be the dash which is showing the incorrect temperature reading while the ECU is actually getting the correct reading (the one that actually matters).

Your car will either have a single 2-in-1 coolant temperature sensor mounted in the top of the thermostat (will have 3 wires) or it will have 2 separate sensors, one in the top of the thermostat and the other in the side of the head behind the thermostat [see this post (145 Temp Gauge)]. If you have 2 sensors and you believe you have a problem then try replacing the one in the head as it's this one that sends the temperature to the gauge. If you have the 2-in-1 sensor then it has 2 separate internal temperature thermistor circuits in, one for the gauge and the other for the dashboard. If either of the thermistor circuits is faulty then you will need to replace the complete sensor.

The actual temperature of the engine should sit at a constant 90 degrees whether moving or standing still and the gauge needle should sit at the 9 o'clock mark. On alloy engines with 2 sensors this is 80 degrees (so the 10 degree difference that Simon was talking about) and on the 2-in-1 sensor engines this is 90 degrees. The first fan speed should come on when the ECU detects 92 degrees (sent from the coolant temp sensor in the top of the thermostat).

This is the temperature of my Ally top QV after fitting a new thermostat and radiator, the car had only just pulled up after a run, and hadn't been idling for more than a few seconds.

Funnily enough my Fiat coupe runs at almost the same temperature, with a new thermostat,

I was driving for about an hour and when stopped it would rise to about 75-78 when on the move it will drop to about 65-70. The gauge seems to give instant readings with driving conditions.

I have 2 sensors the guage sender on the head and the ecu one on the thermostat.

during the full duration it never went anywhere near the 80 mark.

Do you think it's the temp sensor to the ecu thats at fault as the temp needle gives out the various reading in relation to what sort of driving

To check the actual coolant temperature you can have the car plugged into the diagnostic equipment. This will tell you what temperature signal the ECU is getting.

If it is more than about 10ºC different to the gauge reading then the gauge sensor that screws into the head may be faulty.

What sort of temperature is the gauge showing when the fan kicks in?

Sorry symon posted at the same time,so did not have a chance to read yours. That roughly where my needle sits

Since i got the car i have never heard the fan cut in