GTA Service

Hi all i have a 53 plate 147 GTA with only 24k on the clock, the car is garaged every winter over the winter months, sept-april, ma question is im going to take it to my local specialist bluebell garage at aycliffe to get it serviced before it goes back on the road and was wondering what sort of service you guys recomend i get on the car.

Apart from an engine service my main concern is the gearbox, alot of people on here have said to change the gearbox oil with a really good quaity fully synthetic oil to prolong the life of the diff....Any thoughs on this guys.. If so what oil and where can i get it..
Also at this age would the engine benefit from a coolant flush.

Lastly the timing belt, would it be safer to change it now or could it be left another year....

Is the anything else that should be looked at on the car, that i havnt mentioned here.

Many Thanks...Mike

Hi there, BLuebell certainly has a good reputation on here, though I havent used them myself. Sounds like the belts are now 5 years old, and I would defiinitely get them done now. If you do you might want a new water pump aswell, as the GTA has a plastic impellor one. Get them to fit a metal impellor one, they will probably know what you are on about!
As for gearbox oil mine has original in, though was checked on my last 2 services and topped up. (car has 62k now). Whether you upgrade the oil I dont know??

Thanks for that, have you had your cambelt done at bluebell if so how much did they charge, also has your diff been ok..Mike

No I got my cambelt done at my friendly local in Middlesbrough, not an Alfa specialist but a really good mechanic. He charged about £800 for full service inc spark plug clean, tensioners, blets, metal water pump, oil, filter, gearbox oil top up. He got the parts from a main dealer though or would have been a little less. My diff has been fine touch wood!!

Don't forget to ask the mechanic to change during the cambelt change the cam cover gaskets and the sparkplug well O-rings. Auxilliary belt as well.

When you say auxillary belts do u mean air con/alternator belts.

God this is goin to be expensive...

Also what about spark plugs.....Mike