bought a 166 - need to get it serviced

hi all,

i picked up my 2000 (w) 166 3.0 Super yesterday.

the car has covered approx 114k and has a fully stamped up service book up until about 2 years ago. there is evidence of annual services after that from receipts indicating oil, filter and plugs changes.

although the car had it's 72k belts change bang on time, i am thinking that maybe i should give the car another 72k belts change now, just so i can begin my motoring safe in the knowledge that everything is up to date.

does this sound like a good plan?... or should i reduce it to a basic service (on mileage) plus belts?

aside from that, i will soon be needing some new front discs... i figure these come in at approx £150 a pair (unless anyone can point me in the direction of better value ones which are just as good).

the final thing i will need is a new key... as the 166 doesn't have a master key, what do i need?... i have a burgandy key with two black buttons and the car.... can i go into an alfa dealer and let them do the rest?

cheers all

you're getting close to belt change time so it might be worth it for peace of mind....for cheap(er) discs that are OE standard give buypartsby a shot - they alsways seem to have good prices for brake stuff. Think there was another website somebody recomended but i can't remember it....

I think all the dealer needs is the car for the key - they use their examiner system to match a new key to the ECU....will cost about 120 squid IIRC...

Oh, and welcome to the happy world of 166 ownership

Front discs are a doddle to change,obtainable fron most motor
factors for circa £70,do change them ,they make a tremendous
difference to the brakes,only seem to last about 30kish. miles,
you should be able to change discs and pads for about £100.
As for the belt change,yes but factor in the cost of a water pump,tensioners and idlers,for such a big job Jamie Porter ,Alfa
workshop Royston is the best bet,cheaper than everyone else
and very expert,you are still looking about £600,but worth it for peace of mind.

I can strongly recommend http://www.alfabelt.net/. He did a superb cam belt change for. Jon Really went out of his way for me and a very experienced Alfa man.

Yes,Alfabelt haven't heard of him,but his pricing appears spot on,if
you look at my previous thread I said about £600,and inc. water pump £595 ,I notice.
As a matter of interest where is he located?

Daventry!

That's very interesting I live just outside Hinckley off the A5,
Daventry is a very short drive,worth bearing in mind,thanks for that!

I'm a bit ****ed off now... have just been searching in the deep dark recesses of the car and have found an invoice from earlier in the year for a replaced heater matrix... the garage that did the work, also reported on other things that were broken... these include:-

auxillary belt badly cracked (okay, was planning on getting this done at service anyway)
s/f top arm knocking
o/s outer drive shaft boot split
rear handbrake cables broken
n/s & o/s stub axles bushes worn out
front brakes worn out (already know about)
front lower suspension arm ball joints knocking
o/s/f coil spring broken

am i about to become VERY poor?

can anyone with prior experience hang some numbers on these for me... i have emailed Red Motori with the list as this is where I was proposing to take the car for the servicing.

are we talking hundreds.. or more?

cheers

Alex,

Bad luck there, however these are quite common faults on the 166which has a high wear rate on suspension components.

For parts, you should try www.shop4parts.co.uk, or
www.alfaworkshop.co.uk;

The front upper arms, £41, lower arms £94, relatively modest labour costs.

The stub axle bushes probably relate to the rear suspension pillars;
Officially you have to replace the whole pillar, at £220 each, however, there is a thread "166 rear suspension bushes", which relates how you can replace just the bush, at a cost of about £10 each.

You need to clarify this with your specialist, however Sidem part number 49382, or Lemforder 10747 should be the right component.

Springs are about £60/corner from Alfa, however, the improved springs from the facelifted 166 may fit, I am about to attempt this as soon as the parts arrive from Alfa, so I will let you know how I get on.

unfortunate that you found the reason for sale, however none of those items are out of the ordinary and once fixed you should have a great car ready for the next 100,000 miles. Also some of the labour can be combined eg front suspension, doing one you're half way there for the other. A regular garage can do most of that lot rather than a dealer, DIY able too, so source the genuine parts for the best price and get a competent local mech to do the spanner work to keep costs down. Only tricky job is those stub axle bushes, but how to do them is detailed on here.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by vivian 166

That's very interesting I live just outside Hinckley off the A5,
Daventry is a very short drive,worth bearing in mind,thanks for that!

He is mobile, he will carry out the work at your premises.

cheers all... i'm just waiting for David from Red Motori to get back to me with some prices....

guess i'm now looking at the prospect of forking out +/-£2k on a car i paid little more for...

welcome to the world of alfa romeo... i should've learnt from the last two occasions... and more importantly, i should've shopped around rather than waking up on a sunday morning and deciding to go out and buy a 166 that day (not my cleverest course of action ever!)

oh dear, that is an awful lot of money for that little lot...if you're handy at the spanner twirling you can probably save a small fortune getting your hands dirty. We can all pitch in with moral support

well i'm at just over £700 for a full 72k service with all belts (including auxillary) tensioners, idlers etc etc and a new waterpump... that seems pretty good value to me.

the front discs and pads are going to be a whisker over £200 fitted

i need a second key which will come in at about £180 all in (i don't have the key code annoyingly)

that's where i've got to so far... i'm awaiting costs for all the suspension bits.

am now wondering whether it is worth getting the car mot's at the end of it all.. the current mot expires in about 6 months time, but if i get it done now, i'm up and running for the next year.

thoughts?

either do nothing and sell on or get the lot done, as said with a bit of DIY wrenching and you will have a cracking car that will drive beautifully as most of the bits are new. Do not do half of it, you will not get any money back. Its not the Alfa that has let you down in reality, there is nothing unacceptable on that list given the age and mileage, just that the previous owner elected not to maintain it correctly and passed the problem on.

The other thought is how reliable are the recommendations from on this paper, some garage see and Alfa and just quote for everything thinking the owner is up for being taken for a ride. Was it a specialist who knows his stuff or a general garage who do not and see an opportunity?

HTH

pictures to see if the poor beast is worth saving ?

the garage in question was Veloces