147 GTA gearbox knackered

Right then, basically, my gearbox is kaput. I was on my way to BMC for a service, pulled out of a lay-by, gave it some in 1st, lost power, pulled over and dumped all of my gearbox oil over the A689. At first I thought i'd popped a driveshaft but on closer inspection on the ramps Justin informed me of the bad news. Theres a hole in the bell housing apparently. At first, Jus quoted me £2100 for a re-con fitted with a Q2. I got me head round this and promptly borrowed loadsa of dosh off me girl. I rang him the other day though and he said he had ordered the one wrong and i found today that the right one would indeed cost £2600 !!! and thats without the Q2. So i'm looking at nearly a £3k bill. OOOOOOF. Plus the price of me service.
I'm just seeing if anyone has any ideas on how I can cut my bill down?
I not keen on putting a 2.5 geabox in simply cos its not original GTA equipment, but wouldnt completely rule it out.
A genuine, good, verified mileage second hand GTA gearbox would be ideal i suppose, but even then theres no guarantees. And the chances are it wont have a Q2.
I'm probs gonna end up buying a Q2 to fit with the gearbox anyway. Ive told Justin i'll think it over on the weekend and get in touch with him on monday, and tbh i wouldnt really want anyone else to have the work, so in the meantime.....ANY IDEAS??????

An official Alfa recon 156 GTA gearbox isnt that expensive.
I think mine was only 1300 Euro plus vat I think in Ireland!
BTW they are apparently sometimes actually new..

Q2 is only 250 quid sterling for the part.

Perhaps get a second quote?

Defintely get the Q2, its very strong and standard V6 will not bother it.

Personally I'd stick a 2.5 box in it but if you're not keen on that then you'll just have to try and find a GTA gearbox in a breakers yard..

Did Roswell mention that AutoLusso have one, they've just bought a crashed GTA that they are going to be breaking..

Had mine done on my other GTA ,gearbox plus fitting was only 1500,
unless the prices have gone up ,that was in the beginning of 2007.
But if i was you, i would definitely be thinking about having the Q2 done at the same time.
But like Pud237 said, try AutoLusso and they do the Q2 aswell.

whats was the miles on it?

Does sound expensive - same happened to mine - but it was cover be warranty however I thought the box from Alfa was £1800

Try a main dealer - might be worth asking for help?

Originally Posted by Pud237

Personally I'd stick a 2.5 box in it but if you're not keen on that then you'll just have to try and find a GTA gearbox in a breakers yard.

There's absolutely no way I would fit the wrong box to the car.

Originally Posted by Pud237

Did Roswell mention that AutoLusso have one?

I did, by PM.

Cheers lads. Much appreciated for ur advice.

Defintely get the Q2, its very strong and standard V6 will not bother it.

But if i was you, i would definitely be thinking about having the Q2 done at the same time.

cheers trailbreaker/24v, autolusso are fitting a Q2 at their end. cant wait.

Pud, there are advantages to a 2.5 g/b, but i would kinda view my car as a bit of a lemon then with it not being GTA Original Equipment (or better). The price hasnt turned out that bad anyway (still a lot of dosh like), but i remember when i broke the g/box in yours, all in all, it ended up costing me about a grand. This time its 1200, but i get a Q2 thrown in. Bonusness. So not far off in price terms between replacing the 2 gearboxes.

whats was the miles on it?

doyle, the mileage on the clock is 27 or 28000. low mileage for a gearbox to break. jus at bmc did say the oil was orrible black rather than red tho. hmmmmm??

Try a main dealer - might be worth asking for help?

cheers, tried that but the service dept was closed when i rang. nevermind. ive probs sorted it for cheaper anyway. but ta anyway.

Ive had the weekend to think about (and get wrecked), and have chatted to all people/garages involved, and i am purchasing the box from autolusso which he is sending to BMC probs next week with a Q2 already fitted.
Justins just gotta work his magic and fit it then and the total will cost me around £1200. I cant complain really (well i can about it breaking in the first place), but i was gonna pay £2100 at first for a re-con. I'm kinda glad jus ordered the wrong gearbox in the first place, he's sort of saved me at least a grand.

So, my gearbox has just broke, that was the first thing to need replacing on my old 156 (puds car), if history is repeating itself (which it feels like to me, teehee), then the cambelt will be the next thing to go. aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!

Anyway, all your help has been greatly appreciated and inthe end i will be paying less. Int' forums brill!!

Thanks again

have i not used them quote thingys properly above??

oh well, you know wot i mean.

Originally Posted by Roswell

There's absolutely no way I would fit the wrong box to the car.

Well the gearbox is the same, just the ratios that are different. You're not fudging anything or making it worse somehow just it will be revving slightly higher in each gear (which has its advantages and disadvantages)..

But AutoLusso's box + a Q2 and fitted for approx £1200 is a bargain, I'd go for that.

How old's the car? I'd get them belts changed sooner rather than later if I were you.. Once bitten and all that

Best of luck with it

Originally Posted by bacon

I've had the weekend to think about it and have chatted to all people/garages involved, and I'm purchasing the box from Autolusso which he is sending to BMC probs next week with a Q2 already fitted. Justin's just gotta work his magic and fit it then and the total will cost me around £1200.

So my call to Bri to get Pud's number, my call to Pud to get your number, my call to you, my call to Ned and my recommendation of Jus @ BMC weren't a complete waste of time then eh?

Yeah, cheers Roswell. much appreciated. i owe u a pint methinks. The gearbox is getting sent next week to BMC, so i may ge it back late next week or early the next depending how swiftly they (auto lusso) can get their behinds into gear (pardon the pun). Cant wait to get it back all Q2'd up. Hopefully in time for the next meet/run out. Just need me wheels and suspension sorted now, and that new dink thats appeared on the passenger door thats right on the crease. I noticed it when it was getting loaded onto the recovery truck. I think i was more P**'d off with the dent than the gearbox at the time. Anyway, again, a big CHEERS lads.

I don't know about the british insurances, however my insurance included a 'Engine and drivetrain'-clause. So my gearbox trouble was covered by this. It was only valid for cars less than 8 years old and with less than 100000 km on the road. But you probably checked this already...

I don't know about the british insurances, however my insurance included a 'Engine and drivetrain'-clause. So my gearbox trouble was covered by this. It was only valid for cars less than 8 years old and with less than 100000 km on the road. But you probably checked this already...

Cheers 0100100. I havnt checked this with my insurance but would be extremely surprised if this were the case. I'll check tomorrow tho. cheers.

right, can someone please tell me how to do them god damn quote things properly. i feel like a numptie. haha.

Originally Posted by bacon

right, can someone please tell me how to do them god damn quote things properly. i feel like a numptie. haha.

Click on 'quote' after the message you want to quote, then start typing your message underneath the text that comes up in the reply page.

Originally Posted by bacon

right, can someone please tell me how to do them god damn quote things properly. i feel like a numptie. haha.

a-ha. see, i just worked it out. wot a plonker.

cheers pud, u must have been writing ur reply the same time i was, i pressed 'submit' and wa-la, i look even more of a numptie now. thing is though, it'll only take me a couple of days to forget it again. teehee

You'll get the hang of it

Originally Posted by bacon

Yeah, cheers Roswell. much appreciated. i owe u a pint methinks.

No worries mate.

Originally Posted by Roswell

So my call to Bri to get Pud's number, my call to Pud to get your number, my call to you, my call to Ned and my recommendation of Jus @ BMC weren't a complete waste of time then eh?

Well worth the cost of my 2 messages

What a depressing site on the truck, at least the truck mine came in on looked cooler than that one yours was on

Glad you've got it sorted

Originally Posted by Bri</