166 Sportronic Gearbox kaput, any suggestions?

Hi Guys,

I love my 166 however have had the auto go and have had a quote for about £3,500 to replace with new. As this is more than the car cost they suggested a second hand reconditioned one however that was still pretty pricey at £1,750. I am in the middle east and this is the only Alfa Romeo workshop in the country so am out of options in going to a competitor. They know the car pretty well (as all Alfa workshops do!) and said that the box has been repaired twice already and cannot be fixed.

As another option I am off to Italy at the beginning of August for a week so if anyoine has any suggestions for something there (will be in Umbria region) would be much appreciated. I really dont want to let the car go or sell it for scrap.... but could be time to let it go...

That's a lot of money to spend on one component, considering the value of the car. It's another reason why I'm not keen on the auto boxes. When they go wrong, you're into heavy expense whereas the manual box is much simpler.

Judging by the number of 166s driving around Roma, I would have thought you could pick up components in Italy much more cheaply than elsewhere. Certainly worth investigating. Do we have any members of the forum based in Italy?

JR thats not good news - the gearbox is usually very reliable.

Any idea what is it thats failed, what mileage do you have on it?

Surprised it has been "repaired " twice already - how do they know?
Have you looked on ebay? Widen search to include Europe wide then use babelfish if you need to translate italiano

The dealer is the only Alfa dealer in Qatar so if work has been done on the car it will have been done by them. Very few people take their Alfas to anyone except the dealer because unlike most Alfa dealers they are actually pretty cheaply priced.

The gearbox is supposed to be very reliable so it doesnt sound good that it has been repaired.

It might be possible to pick up a second hand gearbox in Dubai or Abu Dhabi

I recently had the same experience with my Sportronic box. The reason for failure was that a leak in the heater coil spilled onto the computer , and the computer in its infinite wisdom decided to select all gears concurrently resulting in one very shot transmission. Not knowing the root cause at the time a secondhand unit was installed and it also immediately played up. Fortunately no damage was done to the replacement unit and the computer issue was discovered. The computer was dearer than a replacement transmission. The motto of this story is to be sure of the causal factors in the gearbox demise. If you are up for replacement computer , heater repairs etc and the car is borderline value anyway , do the rest of us a favour and commit it to a graveyard where we all benefit from cheaper parts.

Originally Posted by Mark Simpson

............do the rest of us a favour and commit it to a graveyard where we all benefit from cheaper parts.

and my 156 is just crying out for a 3.0 V6 engine

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the views. The Doha Alfa garage did the repairs on it before (Thanks for telling me before I bought it guys.....!) Im off to Perugia early Aug and my wifes Italian so can help in the translation duties. Mind you, a complete car novice so hope I get it right. Pascs will give you a buzz if its destined for the graveyard.
Hmmm, actually just thinking that some slightly modified Momo Alfa seats in the lounge would go quite nicely!

Whoops, help if I read before posting....
The garage can get a recon one from Abu Dhabi but thats still going to be QR13000 which pains me. The car is up to 95k but had finished a major service and the rest of the car is running beautifully (apart from Alfa air con not really up to 45 degree heat...)

Would be a shame to scrap the car especially is the rest of the car is good.

I will be going to the workshop either tomorrow or Thursday to drop off my cars for some suspension work while I'm on vacation and will have a chat with them

Originally Posted by jrturner77

...apart from Alfa air con not really up to 45 degree heat...

No, it's not even up to 36 degree heat, I've noticed!

Thanks Pascs, enjoy your holiday. If you go to the garage mine is the red one looking all forlorn and lonely. Nice to know there are some other Alfa lovers in Qatar!

JRT, saw your 166 at the garage today - looks beautiful in red.

Is it possible to fit a manual box to the automatic car? removing all the automatic parts and electronics - doubt that would be any cheaper but it looks like they have a few 5 speed V6 cars out back.......and one beautiful Aston which the mechanic said "ah this has big problem"

Anyway good luck with getting it sorted out

Brera in the showroom looks great but at QR155,000 for the V6 its very expensive for Qatar - about the same price as a new Landcruiser GXR 4.5ltr so no wonder they have only sold 3.

Thanks Pascs,

Yep, I love the car and you are seeing it at its worst! The next spend was going to be fixing up bits of cosmetics like small dings and the odd scratch here and there.
Have been speaking to some good contacts in Italy and looks like the local boys Ala and Joseph aren't charging too much at all and seems to be in the right ballpark. Big decision time whether to get it back together now and hope for the best or go for something new.

Other option is selling as is and hopefully get some money back on it. Let me know if you may be interested! Enjoy your holiday.

JRT

Originally Posted by Pascs

Brera in the showroom looks great but at QR155,000 for the V6 its very expensive for Qatar - about the same price as a new Landcruiser GXR 4.5ltr so no wonder they have only sold 3.

Brera everytime! OK, so you're in Qatar but, come on, a Landcruiser...?

All fixed! Forgot to post the outcome so better late than never. Got a recon box very reasonably and the local Alfa guys helped me out by not charging excessive amounts for fitting. After that they also replaced the gearbox computer and is now running very smoothly. Crazy as it sounds, its now faster than before and the air con is working better as well. Anyway, my wife is still pushing for getting a
4WD so hoping to convince her this is the last problem...

If you are a man then you know what you'll drive - if your wife is