Alfa 147 2.0ts engine swap..... (flipping cambelts...)

[dalocoluke]

Hi there, very new to the forum so hope this is going in the right section!

Just got our very first Alfa, which will be getting turned into a demo car for our car audio company (dalco car audio ), Bought with 50'000 on a '52' plate, full leather, air con and 4 brand new tyres for the sum of £400 Plans for the car will include, lowering, window tints and then a full audio install for demo purposes, all of this hinges on changing the engine first though!

We have a sourced a new engine (cf3) with a new cambelt and balance belt for a good price, what i would like to know from you engine experts is, what new parts will i need to fit the engine (gaskets etc) and also the general process (anything to look out for, tips and tricks etc) any help will be gratefully received, and once up and running i hope i can provide some useful audio info for all the alfa owners on here!

[V8pete]

You might want to fit a clutch while your at it!! Get the concentric also!

Gaskets nil! Only thing is a cam cover seal! There is a variator (variable valve timing) on the inlet cam that makes a rattling noise similar to diesel knock if its knackered(on cold start up)

If you have a complete engine, you can just about do it through the engine bay< but I normally drop old engine and box out the bottom!

Plenty of threads on here! Do a search for variator, timing blocks and twin spark engine!

Welcome and good luck!!

[dalocoluke]

Thanks! i think i will need manifold gaskets as the engine comes minus the manifolds, and as long as the previous owner isnt lying there is reasonabley new clutch on the existing engine is the gearbox easy to swap over?

Gearbox is straightforward enough.

Any motor factors will be able to do the seals/gaskets for you but add up the prices - I got a full head gasket set from ebay for about £44 delivered which has the inlet, exhaust, cam cover, variator etc in it. Might work out cheaper for you.

The engine and box can go in as one unit from underneath. If you havent done one before I'd suggest borrowing hiring an engine crane.

Take off the airbox and fan shroud to give yourself as much room as possible too.

Oh and you might want to buy a set of proper clip pliers for the rubber donoughts between the metal inlet manifold and the black plastic one. There are various other hoses that use the same clips too.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=260798713494

[iainfm]

Make sure you know what kind of car the donor engine has come from for future cambelt changes. The 147 engines are slightly shorter than 156 engines, and have a different belt.

[dalocoluke]

Thanks for the help guys! Well after a 300 mile, 7 hour round trip, Autolusso helped ease my wallet strain and sorted me out with a replacement motor for the 147, was well impressed with the service i received, very friendly, helpful and professional, thoroughly recommended Will be doing the swap next weekend hopefully, looking forward to it, any more advice, is still greatly recieved, especially as i now also have to swap everything over on the 2 engines! Once its up and running and drives okay for a few weeks, then its on with the lowering / tinting / full valet and body mop, then the all important ice install

[chillihound]

Good Luck with the swap, I hope it goes nice and smoothly - nice to have met you @ Autolusso

[ddclutch]

Remember to keep the full records, receipts etc for the donor engine. DVLA have recently become very tight on engine swaps and you will need these records for the new engine number when that shows up at the next MOT.

[iainfm]

Originally Posted by ddclutch

Remember to keep the full records, receipts etc for the donor engine. DVLA have recently become very tight on engine swaps and you will need these records for the new engine number when that shows up at the next MOT.

I've never been able to spot an engine number on the twin-sparks....except for the one on the sticker behind the flywheel...

[ddclutch]

Its supposed to be a move to cut down on cars being stolen and broken for the parts. But its just another piece of bureaucracy that somehow manages to miss its target and just increase costs an make life harder for everyone else!

[dalocoluke]

Okay just been having a look and one thing i hadnt thought of, whats the best way to go about the a/c pump? is there any way of doing this engine swap without degassing the system??

[iainfm]

Originally Posted by dalocoluke

Okay just been having a look and one thing i hadnt thought of, whats the best way to go about the a/c pump? is there any way of doing this engine swap without degassing the system??

Yes, just unbolt it from the block and drop it down onto the deck below.

[dalocoluke]

Does that mean i will have to remove the auxilary belt while its in the car?

[iainfm]

Originally Posted by dalocoluke

Does that mean i will have to remove the auxilary belt while its in the car?

Yes.

15mm spanner on the tensioner to turn it clockwise, IIRC.

[dalocoluke]

Okay, was hoping to do all the swapping over of parts on the outside of the car, is it a hard job to discharge the a/c system?

[ddclutch]

Originally Posted by iainfm

Yes.

15mm spanner on the tensioner to turn it clockwise, IIRC.

Anti-clockwise to relieve the spring pressure from the auxiliary belt. Just did that job last week. Working on my own I found it hard to get the belt back on, difficult pulling on the spanner with one hand and trying to feed the belt around the pulleys with the other. Eventually worked out a way to do it from the top, using the old cam belt looped around the spanner and pulling upwards whilst slipping the belt around the A/C pump pulley.

[iainfm]

Yep, anti-clockwise. Bloody beer!

That's pretty much how Smaky recommends it's done, except he uses a rope instead of the timing belt.

[gazza82]

Originally Posted by dalocoluke

Okay, was hoping to do all the swapping over of parts on the outside of the car, is it a hard job to discharge the a/c system?

No, but it's technically illegal ... but if you had a leak because you had a loose connection from a pipe to the compressor for instance, you can't really do much about it ...

just keep fingers and bare skin well away!

[iainfm]

No need... you can change an engine without discharging the system.

[dalocoluke]

think i'll just discharge it and hope for the best, whats another £30 for the refill, on top of the money pit this car has already been!

[dalocoluke]

Okay well the engine is in and running, sounds like a finely tuned sowing machine however... The car is stuck in limp mode ( wont rev over 3000rpm ) and plugging it in shows the faults of 2 lambda sensors and MAF sensor. To my knowledge there was no problems with these before the cambelt snapped, so why now? And how the hell do i clear it! Only thing i can think is that we havent been able to take the car for a drive yet as the MOT is out and maybe it needs a bloody good drive before it sorts itself out? the chap that looked at the codes said he couldnt clear them whether that meant his machine couldnt clear them or if he cleared them and the fault kept coming back i dont know, any thoughts?

[ddclutch]

In the absence of any more knowledgeable replies - Have you tried disconnecting the CPU, leaving 1/2 hour and reconnecting. This sometimes sorts out random error codes.

[dalocoluke]

Yeah, tried the ecu reset trick can only assume its a actual problem, anyone know the best way to test the lambda sensors with a multimeter?

[biffa]

Google fiatecuscan download and the free version is good for clearing and checking codes. You will also need a vag cable very cheap on eBay

[dalocoluke]

Got the bottom of the issue, engine had cf1 exhaust pulley on it autolusso have been very good in helping out though, agreeing to send all parts needed to rectify the issue and have even contributed towards the labour, cant say fairer than that!