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156 jerking, no power

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jerking
7K views 27 replies 9 participants last post by  harrylad 
#1 ·
Hi people

I've had my alfa romeo 156 twin spark, 2000 reg, for over 3 years and it's the first time i'm having a major problem with it. Recently the car has been playing up a lot. From a cold start the car runs fine but then after a while, maybe 15 minutes or so the car loses power. When i am changing through gears the car is jerking and the accelerator is not responsive. I put my foot down and nothing happens basically, it slowly jerks up speed. Then after driving around some more the car might start running fine again. Obviously i'm going to have to take it to a garage to get checked out but I would like to know what the problem could be and what the likely cost is going to be, as it is a 10 year old car and I don't want to spend more than the value of the car lol. Any help is appreciated. Oh and if anyone can recommend a good cheap garage, i'm in central Manchester, or if you can come round fix it for me hehe.

Thanks again peeps.
 
#5 ·
id say maf, try and run it unplugged and see i the power comes back. it will idle rough or not atall. as this is free its worth a shot.

Or ask Jon aka 0of0, very nicely if he will hook it up to his laptop, and run a diagnostic for you.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, as Dave has said your better buying the Bosch ones as the e-bay are apparently poor quality.
With the MAF unplugged the car will revert back to its default settings - so should now feel normal to drive and the poor running should dissapear. You'll probably get the injector warning light come on on the dash.
You should see the plug on the top of the MAF, you need to pull a metal safety pin down first with a pair of pliers, then just pull out the plug.
 
#12 ·
ok, so i disconnected the MAF and when i press on the accelerator once its been disconnected there is no power at all going through for a few seconds then as revs go higher there is power, so the problem is worse when it is disconnected. what does this mean?
 
#14 ·
I am going to say get it hooked up to a computer. It will save lots of hassle.

Could be MAF, lambda or the coolant temp sensor sending the ECU dodgy readings.
 
#16 ·
Have you got a laptop?

You can get OBD2 cables from ebay or from rarebear on here.

Then when you ahve done that you can download a program called unidiag and do the diagnostics yourself.
 
#18 ·
#19 ·
in the mean time, read my post again, and ask 0of0 aka Jon very nicely, and be prepared with bear money:lol:
 
#20 ·
I had the local garage do a check on it and they say that the radiator has failed which has led to the head gasket having a problem. Is he talking out of his backside? Like I said the car runs fine then maybe has a problem after 15 minutes then starts running fine again.
 
#21 ·
Did you notice if the car was running at anything other than around 90 degrees???

If not, mech prob taking you for a ride.

Get FiatECUscan(the free version of 2.1) along with the lead. Hook it up to a laptop and read any errors then post them here.
 
#22 ·
Spluttering and no power low down then normal at high revs was oil/water down the plug wells for me (Petrol engine 2.0)

Cleaned em out and replaced plugs (had done 56,000 miles) as they were almost due for their 60k change.

Man what a difference. Ran like new.
 
#23 ·
The car only goes up to around 90, maybe a bit more, never at the top end. Thats why i thought he might be taking me for a ride. I'll have to get myself a cable and the software to test, it'll take me a few days to post the results.

Who is 0of0? Where can i find him? and what will he do?
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the replies. I had another mechanic check it out and as soon as he opened the hood he could see the radiator had gone and then the head gasket. So my apologies to the first garage who also got it right. The mechanic fit a new radiator and head gasket for £280 and now it flies like new. Thanks. For all the help peeps.
 
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