Hi all, It will come as no surprise to you lot that the wiper motor on my '99 GTV Lusso has failed. It works on an intermitant basis usually when it isn't raining, when I've stripped it there's new wires soldered all over the place so it looks like repairing it isn't an option. As you will know the motor only comes complete with the linkages from Alfa at a rip-off £335+VAT. Is there a cheaper option and is the basic motor fitted to any other models such as the 156 ? Valeo have refused to supply me with a motor even though I deal with them through work saying they can only deal with Alfa. Any help would be great
cheers
Steve
AFAIK Valeo only supplied the Wipers for the GTV/Spider.
156, 145, 146 and 155 are Magnetti Morelli I believe.
147 and GT are Bosch and the 166 is Trico.
Its doubtful if another Valeo motor, from say Peugeot or Renault, will be suitable as the electronics are almost certainly not the same. Sorry but I thinks it's either a new Alfa spare part or trying to find a used part from a scrap-yard....as you probably already know.
I can confirm the motors are Valeo, well ours is anyway!
Although the scrapper we bought a second hand motor from reckoned there were two fitted to the GTV/Spiders.
Steve, try some of thses online scrappy search engines. They're very good usually, alos there's a guy on eBay who's scrapping a GTV.
Apparantly they go fairly regularly on these cars...and the electrics are strange so swapping another motor will involve changing the circuit boards over. Don't think it would be such a bad job but without knowing which other cars use the same motor.....
Thanks for the info,from what you've said it looks as though its only the GTV fitted with this poor quality motor, its a bit cheeky of Valeo to supply a poor product in the first instance and then insist you can only buy it from an Alfa dealers at rip-off high price, perhaps a bit of fair play by Valeo is required here ? As it seems a very common fault I was a bit reluctant to go down the second hand route in case I get lumbered with another duff motor, you know what these scrap yard boys are like for giving you your money back. I'll have a think about it over the next few days as I'm considering selling the car and buying a 147 2.0 Lusso but its not fair to pass the car on to a new owner the way it is.
many thanks for the comments
Steve
UPDATE:
Rang round a few local breakers and found one breaking a phase 1 GTV . I got the wiper motor for a bargain £35, I checked the pcb before purchase and once fitted I have wipers again, even the intermit works !! This car was front end bumped and the engine had been removed but it may be in undercover storage, it also has a full black leather trim, if anyone is interested its at Metro salvage, waterloo street, Bolton 01204 388488
The mark-up on service/replacement parts in the car industry is typically ten times. A part that (say) Opel/Vauxhall would buy from Bosch for £12 as an OE part when the car is built will cost £120 at the dealership. For an Alfa because the volumes are less and tooling/development is spread over fewer cars a similar part will have an OE cost of £18 so at the dealership as a service/replacement part it will cost £180. Why the large mark-up? To keep the tooling going for 10 to 12 years and because after two to four years they are produced on less efficient lower-volume production lines. They then have to be stocked at distribution centres at further cost.
Bosch (or Valeo) and Alfa won't be making a big profit from these high prices, in my experience. In fact after eight years most part manufacturers are trying to stop supplying the spare parts because they are loosing money.
Anybody know a scrapper who has one at the moment - my intermittent has just gone . The two speed settings are ok as is the wash, but I just hate things not working properly. However, I don't want to pay £350 plus to get a new one!!
try Douglas Valley breakers 01257 424695, they are always breaking GTV's and are not to far away from you in Standish, Wigan. http://www.douglasvalley.co.uk/
Thanks guys, I tried Douglas Valley and they said that they had 2 types, Valeo and Magnetti Marelli, both would set me back 47.50 + VAT (pounds that is). I just need to figure out which one I've got first!
All fixed now (Valeo motor was delivered in a couple of days). A bit of careful assembly to ensure that the wipers swing the correct way and all is well so far Thanks for the info on Douglas Valley, I would not hesitate to recommend them to others judging on this experience.
I have run into the same problem with my relatively newly acquired 1999 3 litre GTV, the intermittent wipe only wipes when it feels like it!
Alfa now charge over £800+VAT for the motor plus linkages!
Does anyone know of a specialist who can overhaul my wiper motor?
I know where to go for a magneto on a 1922 Vauxhall, but struggle with more modern stuff.
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