Why do Alfa make things so difficult (just changed my stat ...)

Well I thought the job would take a couple of hours at most ... and I've only just finished it now (4 hours later )

... I was going great guns, within 20mins I had all of the pipes etc disconnected from the old stat and one of the bolts holding it one off ... then comes the bolt underneath the stat ... well that bolt is used for both the stat and the EGR exhaust gas heat exchanger, so the first thing I thought was to just bend the bit of the heat exchanger that was attached and then squeeze out the stat, but I thought to myself that I must do it properly so I preceded on taking it off, the trouble is that in order to get the heat exchanger off you need first to have the stat off ... hmmm catch 22


so after a couple of hours of trying I just bent the heat exchanger ...


Everything went back together fine and I went to start the car ... first error I got was "Engine Oil Sensor Failed go to dealer" ... well I get those now and again anyway so I stopped and restarted and low and behold I now have oil!!! I left it running for about 5 minutes to see if it would get up to temp, but then I got VDC failure, ABS failure, EBC failure STOP ENGINE AND GO TO DEALER!!! Checked the battery connections and low and behold one of them wasn't done up right ... sorted that and started the test again.


My old twinny would pick up temp just sitting there, trouble with a JTD is that it doesn't pick up heat quickly so after sitting there for another 5 minutes the temperature gauge hadn't move (started to think that I'd broken the gauge...) so I took her out for a drive ... within probably about 5 mins of driving was up to the magic 90deg and it just stayed there



If I'd just bent the heat exchanger in the first place I'd probably have had it done in less than an hour ...

LOL, the joys.

It Is an alfa every thing on them seems to be a bit of a problem.... but then again they are worth it

I will need to do this very soon on my 2.4, so it is really useful to hear what your experience of the change was.

I have had a look at the instructions on elearn and I'm wondering if the thermostat is fitted the same as yours on the 2004 2.4 JTD. I think the EGR is attached differently.

Also, did you bother taking the undertray off? It seems to have that in the process. I'm guessing it's so that you don't catch any coolant in it. Should I bother as I don't have any ramps or a hydraulic Jack?

I also need to order the stat. GSF can get one for about £60.

Did yours come with the gasket in the end or did you have to buy separately?

Cheers.

Is this the reason that modern Alfas (or any other modern car) will never be classics....

You'll need a degree in electronic management plumbing

Originally Posted by Starsky

I will need to do this very soon on my 2.4, so it is really useful to hear what your experience of the change was.

I have had a look at the instructions on elearn and I'm wondering if the thermostat is fitted the same as yours on the 2004 2.4 JTD. I think the EGR is attached differently.

Also, did you bother taking the undertray off? It seems to have that in the process. I'm guessing it's so that you don't catch any coolant in it. Should I bother as I don't have any ramps or a hydraulic Jack?

I also need to order the stat. GSF can get one for about £60.

Did yours come with the gasket in the end or did you have to buy separately?

Cheers.

I didn't bother taking the undertray off I just let the coolant drip over the engine ... oh yes, mine didn't need a gasket, it came with a rubber connection (I did ring up my local stealer and they confirmed this was all I needed)

Originally Posted by 156Chris

I didn't bother taking the undertray off I just let the coolant drip over the engine ... oh yes, mine didn't need a gasket, it came with a rubber connection (I did ring up my local stealer and they confirmed this was all I needed)

I wouldnt do that as there's stuff in antifreeze that damages components.

I'll try and catch as much as I can in a container just like elearn suggests.

Originally Posted by Starsky

I will need to do this very soon on my 2.4, so it is really useful to hear what your experience of the change was.

I have had a look at the instructions on elearn and I'm wondering if the thermostat is fitted the same as yours on the 2004 2.4 JTD. I think the EGR is attached differently.

Also, did you bother taking the undertray off? It seems to have that in the process. I'm guessing it's so that you don't catch any coolant in it. Should I bother as I don't have any ramps or a hydraulic Jack?

I also need to order the stat. GSF can get one for about £60.

Did yours come with the gasket in the end or did you have to buy separately?

Cheers.

Hello Starsky

Above you mentioned about "instructions on elearn". What do you mean? There are on-line free manuals about Alfa cars to explain this sort of things? Where can i get it to my 147 1.9 JTD 16V?

Many thanks

Check out this thread there is a link to pretty much all the Alfa workshop manuals ...


http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-...op-manual.html (Workshop Manual)