Had the same prob with mine. Dealer had it back for a week and finally found it to be a split turbo intake pipe :-( well that's what they told me. Seams fine now.

 

thanks for your reply

there is no alfa dealership in saudi, i got it special order from italy, so i have noone to ask.
do you think i need to drive it below 3000 rpm for the first 1500 km or do these cars not need lapping?

 

It is a matter for debate, I did below 3000rpm for a few hundred km and then gradually reved it higher in short bursts on straight flat roads until it had done 1000 miles now I just do what I like.

You don't really need to do it, but I'm glad I did, you don't get full power anyway for 1000 miles so no point in trying!

I guess these days you should be able to plug the car into the internet and get it diagnosed from the dealer you bought it from, no idea if the technology has caught up with common sense yet though!

How clean is the fuel, there have been problems with European settings and non EU fuel as apparently it varies a lot world wide and the car is very fussy as sold in the EU. It could be that perhaps? It can be programmed to be less fussy, someone in South Africa had to do this.

Good choice of car, real commitment to import your own!

 

How clean is the fuel, there have been problems with European settings and non EU fuel as apparently it varies a lot world wide and the car is very fussy as sold in the EU. It could be that perhaps? It can be programmed to be less fussy, someone in South Africa had to do this.

Good choice of car, real commitment to import your own!

Jip, this was part of the reason the Giulietta was delayed in South Africa. It was supposed to be launched in September 2010 and only arrived January 2011.

Perhaps you should get hold of someone at Alfa Romeo and ask them whether they cant program your car with the same specs as our South African cars..

Our highest octane is 95, 93 octane is still sold all over South Africa, and only a few years back did we get "lead replacement fuels". So our fuel is not the best in the world

 

This happened to me as well. When I was about to take it to the dealer, it went back to normal (and has been ever since for about three weeks). Not saying that you should just wait it out, but apparently the issue that is causing it can go away by itself.

 

I don't believe it!!! :-( my check engine light has come on again for the forth time now!! Won't go in D mode or A, it just stays in normal. I'm getting a little fed up with keep taking it back every few weeks now :-((((

 

That's not good.
Has it been happening under the same conditions, ie steady driving or hard acceleration to 6k rpm? Are you always driving in D or only when you need it?
What does the dealer do, just a reset?

The only problem i have had with mine is a little cough (twice now) when i accelerate hard in D and get to about 5.5 - 6k in second.
i don't know if this is the rev limiter but it felt like a missfire. they were weeks apart so i havent bothered taking it back to the dealer.

I hope you get yours sorted in full this time and don't need to take it back until service time.

 

It happened on the motorway I was cruising and just going over a 100mph when the light came on. It's only done about 200 miles since they said they had fixed last time. Not sure where I stand, but getting fed up with having to pay insurance on curtsey car every time I take it back. It 5 times now in 9 months. Not good on a car I paid £30,000 for

 

It happened on the motorway I was cruising and just going over a 100mph when the light came on.

... same happened to me yesterday... 100mph cruise and sudden loss of power, couldn't get engine past 2500 rpm, luckily way home was only downwards... all I can say is: "Senza 200 cavalli saremmo solo lunache"

otherwise 6 months 20.000km and not a single grumble till...

 

Why on earth are you being charged a fee for a courtesy car which you're having because there is a manufacturer fault?
Next time you take it in, just tell the dealer that if it happens again, you'll be rejecting the car under the sale if goods act. That normally puts the wind up them

 

Chris toke ur advice and rung the cloverleaf club and then someone in Italy. They have given me a case number and r sorting things out for me now, so hopefully things will finally be sorted and I can get back to enjoying gorgeous car. Thanks

 

Nice one mate. Hope it works out for you. Keep everyone updated

 

noooo

 

Hang on? Saudi Arabia? Don't you just walk away from it when the ashtray is full and buy a new one?

;-)

 

Happened to ours this morning on the way to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood, . Went for an overtake and had almost completed the move when the power dropped away, the engine management light came on (along with the "Check Engine" message) and it went on to 3 cylinders - not ideal in the face of oncoming traffic, . Managed to limp to a layby (wouldn't rev above 2000 or pull anything higher than 3rd gear), and as we came to a halt it cut out and refused to restart.

A call to AlfaCare saw an AA patrol quickly there and although he couldn't identify the fault, eventually he got it going again on all 4 pots (but with D and A "unavailable" and the EML still illuminated) and we made it to Goodwood with no further drama. Our return journey to our B&B started out with the light still on and stuck in Normal mode but about 10 miles into the journey, we stopped for fuel and on restarting everything had cleared and we were back in Dynamic, . Still going to get it checked at Meridian in Portsmouth on Monday before we tackle the 400 mile trip home, then it'll be into Western in Edinburgh for an extended check as it has had the EML on (although with slightly less dramatic side-effects and quickly cleared by them) 3 times previously.

 

Strange one, David Hope it stays off and you continue to enjoy the rest of your weekend We went to Goodwood on Thursday (with Meridien Milano/Abarth) and it brought back fond memories of last year
You're in safe hands with Allan at Meridien He's just taken delivery of a set of Bilstein B14s for my new car, so I'll be back down there sometime next week to have those fitted!

 

Well, we may have got to the bottom of the problem at last, .

When we set off from the B&B to Goodwood on Sunday, we had barely got 400 yards when the EML came on and it lurched into 'limp' mode again, . As we were at the start of a particularly narrow and twisting stretch of road through some dense woodland, stopping was not an option but fortunately we were able to struggle through (30mph max in 3rd) to a place of safety where we could pull over.

I disconnected the battery and let it sit for about 10 minutes before reconnecting. This time it did restart, and without the previous misfire but with the EML still on and the "Dynamic and All Weather Not Available" message displayed. However, it would now pull cleanly throughout the rev range and performance seemed to be better than when in 'Normal' but a little short of the full 'Dynamic' power delivery. Maybe this suggests what the engine would actually be like without the DNA system - i.e. 'N' is a detune situation and 'D' is an overboost?

Our return journey to the B&B after Goodwood was the same - EML on and the same 'more than N but less than D' power characteristics. Monday morning, when we went to take it to Meridien Milano in Portsmouth, the light was out and full Dynamic was available all the way there - typical! . However they were still able to obtain some fault codes out of the memory, one of which was (P1062) a stuck actuator valve for the MultiAir system on number 2 cylinder. One of the suggested causes was the oil level being outside the acceptable limits, in this case overfilled confused which is odd as I've never put any in (such a difference from the TwinSpark unit in our old 147!!! ) and our dealer has never had occasion to do so either so it must have come from the factory like that.

Meridien drained off about a pint and so far so good. A 400 mile journey home plus about 50 miles of stop/start journeys today and not a hint of any problems recurring, :thumbs:. So, anybody else with this might find the dipstick worth a look. Ours was above the cross-hatched section but still on the flat portion - I thought nothing of it (after all that's how it left the factory and they should know best, :tut but it would appear to have been enough to upset the electronics.

 

I just had the check engine warning appear as well. Was on my way back from picking up the kid at his daycare. Doing about 30 km/h in 2nd when it appeared. DNA is unavailable, and Start Stop has been disabled.

I called my dealer and they said it was in safety mode and that it should be OK to drive it home carefully. I'm taking it to them in the morning to have it checked out.

 

The warning light was gone today. Still took it to the dealer though. My G is currently hooked up for diagnostics while I enjoy a coffee. Hopefully it's something minor.

 

Turns out it was an error message from the Start & Stop system 0 seconds after ignition that put it into safety mode. They couldn't find anything wrong with anything through diagnostics though so they just cleared the error message and told me to come back if it happened again. Most likely it was just a one off - knock on wood.

 

Oh well, it was great while it lasted. 3 days and 500 miles or so of enjoyable 'Dynamic' motoring since the Meridien fix and then the blasted EML came on again. So it looks like a weekend of 'Normal' progress until we can get it into Western on Tuesday, .

 

Typically it 'fixed' itself again on Tuesday, , just before we arrived at Western. They're still trying to identify the cause - the service manager even took it home that night to see if it would reproduce the symptoms next morning but nothing went wrong, . He did notice a strange noise from the transmission however which is why they still have the car but that's another story for the 'Gearbox Woes' thread, .

 

Update. With their attentions switched to the whining gearbox, which took 24 days to fix due to a parts supply issue, , Western were unable to conduct the series of road tests they had originally planned to see if they could get the EML fault to re-appear.

We got the G back last Friday night (5th) and for the 50 or so miles we put on her over the weekend she ran great. Then on Monday morning, following a 20 mile blast down the M8, once she got into the stop-start traffic in Edinburgh city centre the dreaded EML with limp mode surfaced again, . Back to the dealer but of course the light went out before we got there.

Western decided to hang on to the car, rig it up with a raft of test equipment and park it up for the night to see if a cold start might prompt the fault again. Next morning - success, , if that's the correct word to use under the circumstances. Finally, their tech guys got to experience the fault at first hand and they have confirmed Meridien's suspiscions (from way back at the start of July) of it being a fault within the MultiAir actuator unit. Now just got to wait on the part arriving from Italy and we should hopefully have her back by next Tuesday - exactly 5 weeks off the road if you discount our brief reunion last weekend, :rant:.

 

Good luck with it, hope this sorts it out once & for all.

 

Check engine & power loss HELP!

This sounds similar to my problem & I hope someone may have helpful suggestions from similar trouble! I've had my Giulietta since June, bought as a demo with about 2000km on the clock. After a week I started getting error messages & warning lights - hill assist, start stop, steering corrector etc all unavailable. The dealer linked it to the diagnostic computer, found no faults, said it was possibly a water droplet somewhere causing false error messages. Warnings came & went intermittently over the next few weeks with no discernible pattern as to when they'd light up. But gradually they became a lot more frequent, & were often accompanied by disturbing loss of power, the 'check engine' light, & inability to engage D or A modes.

I took it back for a "check-up" a week ago & I still don't have it back. The workshop kept thinking they'd found & fixed the fault, only to have the lights come back on. This morning they called to say they'd reprogrammed the computer following directions from head office here in South Africa & it was now fixed for sure. So we had the emotional reunion, filled up, & headed home. 5 minutes later going up a hill, the lights were back on & the power dropped & we crawled up in second gear. I took it straight back (warning lights on all the way); of course, the computer showed no errors, & warning lights didn't come on for the technicians! I left it with them anyway. But they seem truly baffled as to what it can be. Any ideas??

 

This sounds similar to my problem & I hope someone may have helpful suggestions from similar trouble! I've had my Giulietta since June, bought as a demo with about 2000km on the clock. After a week I started getting error messages & warning lights - hill assist, start stop, steering corrector etc all unavailable. The dealer linked it to the diagnostic computer, found no faults, said it was possibly a water droplet somewhere causing false error messages. Warnings came & went intermittently over the next few weeks with no discernible pattern as to when they'd light up. But gradually they became a lot more frequent, & were often accompanied by disturbing loss of power, the 'check engine' light, & inability to engage D or A modes.

I took it back for a "check-up" a week ago & I still don't have it back. The workshop kept thinking they'd found & fixed the fault, only to have the lights come back on. This morning they called to say they'd reprogrammed the computer following directions from head office here in South Africa & it was now fixed for sure. So we had the emotional reunion, filled up, & headed home. 5 minutes later going up a hill, the lights were back on & the power dropped & we crawled up in second gear. I took it straight back (warning lights on all the way); of course, the computer showed no errors, & warning lights didn't come on for the technicians! I left it with them anyway. But they seem truly baffled as to what it can be. Any ideas??

Jessica,

Firstly welcome to AO.. :thumbs:

Secondly, please join the South African Lounge: Lotsa SA people on there: Here is the link:
South Africa - Alfa Romeo Forum

Thirdly, have the dealers in KZN spoke to Arnold Chatz in Gauteng (they sell and service the most number of Alfa's in SA so they will in all likelyhood be able to help the dealers in KZN)

Fourthly, if you want send me a private message and I will give you the contact details of a few FIAT and ALFA SA Big Wigs who will ensure your car gets fixed ASAP! :thumbs:

Fithly we had a member on the SA forum that had similar problems. This was due to one or two of the wheel sensors being faulty, causing hill holder to fail and the DNA system not to engage. He to got his car tended to quickly after I got him in touch with the Big Wigs at FIAT SA.

 

My guess is on one or more of the many sensors strewn about engine bay and car being knackered.

 

Thanks!! Will follow up on all those. My husband has phoned Alfa / Fiat HO but am not sure who he spoke to so it would be great to have the bigwigs' no, thanks. I went to the SA Owners Forum but couldn't see where to join the 'lounge' - ? & couldn't find the thread you referred to - but will go back for another look shortly. Thanks again! J.

 

Latest (and hopefully final, ) update. Got the car back on Tuesday (day 35 of the ongoing saga) after having the MultiAir actuator block replaced. 250 miles on, everything seems spot-on; in fact, if anything, the throttle response and power delivery in 'D' seem crisper and more aggressive than they ever were before - I anticipated an overtake opportunity, went on the throttle to squirt into the approaching gap in the oncoming traffic and had to lift off the loud pedal sharpish when I almost rammed the car in front, so quickly did our G surge forward, . Maybe having left the factory with the oil overfilled, the electronics have never allowed the engine to operate at 100% for fear of it blowing itself to bits, , although the excess oil pressure did eventually manage to damage the micro-valves in the MultiAir system, .

.

 

Latest (and hopefully final, ) update. Got the car back on Tuesday (day 35 of the ongoing saga) after having the MultiAir actuator block replaced. 250 miles on, everything seems spot-on; in fact, if anything, the throttle response and power delivery in 'D' seem crisper and more aggressive than they ever were before - I anticipated an overtake opportunity, went on the throttle to squirt into the approaching gap in the oncoming traffic and had to lift off the loud pedal sharpish when I almost rammed the car in front, so quickly did our G surge forward, . Maybe having left the factory with the oil overfilled, the electronics have never allowed the engine to operate at 100% for fear of it blowing itself to bits, , although the exsess oil pressure did eventually manage to damage the micro-valves in the MultiAir system, .

________________________________________________________________________________

Those sport wagons look really