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147 Selespeed, needs a new engine so has to go :(

746 views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  stewartbradford 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

After 6 months of less than trouble free motoring the Alfa decided to bend me over one last time. 3 days after taxing it the engine blew up - not sure exactly what happened and haven't tried cranking the engine, and I'm too skint to get a rebuild or new engine put in :(

The V5 has come through the post after getting my private plate off it so I can finally post it up here in the hope that there is someone from AO looking for one either to fix up or just break for spares.

The car itself is a Gabbiano Blue 147 Selespeed, full Lusso pack so heated leather interior (in very, very good condition), climate control and all the toys. It had a new clutch kit 5 months ago, and has done around 6k since - the car changes gear sat on the drive so I think the clutch is fine. And the selespeed stuff is in very good condition, always perfect gear changes, hasn't thrown any errors up, all in all a perfect selespeed system. 17" alloys, a bit of kerbing, tyres in good condition.

Any questions give me a shout, I'm looking for around £350 for it. It will need to be trailered away as it's on SORN (ignoring the fact that the engine probably wouldn't last to the end of the street :p).

In happier times:
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/5322/20907510150221314865056.jpg
 
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#2 ·
I thought your car had an engine rebuild earlier this year by a specialist? Surely you have a comeback with them if you've only had the car for 6 months?

It's a shame as it looks like a nice car - I remember seeing it advertised when you had it up for sale a few months ago.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Yeah it had a rebuild earlier this year, unfortunately not during my ownership so it's a bit of fuzzy whether or not they have any responsibility - the car was bought from them just to muddy things further.

Having looked at the car myself the morning after the failure; the oil filter is bit bashed (nothing major, just a few dents that could've been there for ages) and I think has a small hole in it - there was a brief oil fire on the cats/exhaust which extinguished itself really quickly (no fire damage to the car at all!) but I don't know whether the filter caused the engine failure, or the engine failure caused the oil filter to go. The engine is definitely knackered, sounded like a big end/bearing failure, big knocking noise then the engine stopped. Couple that with the tapping noise that started a couple of months ago (was told by the garage it was nothing to worry about) and I think the engine's goosed.

As much as I'd like to get a proper strip down done of the engine to find the cause I don't have the money to throw away, and I don't think it's worth the hassle. The car's had enough cash out of my pocket from memory it's around £1000s worth of parts, labour and oil in the past 6 months... anyway I've rambled on and didn't mean to!

I'll be chucking the car up on eBay in a few days time starting at £300, if it doesn't go there (or here) then it's off to the scrappy in the sky :(

Just to note, I'm not having a go at the garage, they have worked with me on a few of the bigger bills that have cropped up and been on hand when they problems have arisen but it's still hurts that a rebuilt engine packs up this quickly.
 
#4 ·
If your engine has recently been rebuilt and you bought your car from the garage that rebuilt the engine they should be putting it right for you

You can say whatever you like about a garage on here as long as it is true

Ned



Yeah it had a rebuild earlier this year, unfortunately not during my ownership so it's a bit of fuzzy whether or not they have any responsibility - the car was bought from them just to muddy things further.

Having looked at the car myself the morning after the failure; the oil filter is bit bashed (nothing major, just a few dents that could've been there for ages) and I think has a small hole in it - there was a brief oil fire on the cats/exhaust which extinguished itself really quickly (no fire damage to the car at all!) but I don't know whether the filter caused the engine failure, or the engine failure caused the oil filter to go. The engine is definitely knackered, sounded like a big end/bearing failure, big knocking noise then the engine stopped.

As much as I'd like to get a proper strip down done of the engine to find the cause I don't have the money to throw away, and I don't think it's worth the hassle. The car's had enough cash out of my pocket from memory it's around £1000s worth of parts, labour and oil in the past 6 months... anyway I've rambled on and didn't mean to!

I'll be chucking the car up on eBay in a few days time starting at £300, if it doesn't go there (or here) then it's off to the scrappy in the sky :(

I've omitted quite a few things from this post to avoid any rule breakage - don't know what I can and can't say about garages on this site, and because I haven't stripped the engine down I don't want to groundlessly slag off a garage. If someone technical wouldn't mind hearing the full ins and outs and can maybe give some advice I'd appreciate it - stewart@sub-division.com :)
 
#5 ·
As Ned says I would be taking it straight back to the garage if it was me. If it was tapping a few months back then it might have been the start of something bad about to happen. The fact you took it back to the garage to check this noise out highlights that you were concerned about it. It would be different if you ignored something like that and then the engine went bang.

I wish you were closer to me as I'd probably take it off your hands but don't fancy the cost of transporting it over!
 
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