A mishmash of small spider S4 snags

I've had the S4 Spider a few months now but only driven it a few hundred fun filled kilometers so far ( even managed to get the top down one February day!) so I thought I'd throw out some of the small snags I have to the collective wisdom of my fellow Spider fans - to see if they are usual or not.

1. Electrics. Even when the ignition is off - various things are still live - the wing mirrors, indicators - in fact not much isn't still on! I've tried waving the key at the Alfa to prove it should go to sleep - but! I disconnect the battery now since one discharge incident. Is this usual or due to some imaginative stereo fitting by a previous owner?

2. Brakes - despite a remedial visit to the dealer to cure a "little bit of seepage" on the rear caliper, the brakes remain quite "vague" - the dealer is a main Alfa man so I guess they are all air free, and it was given its road test certificate on delivery day, etc - but they do feel spongy compared with my "day job" 2007 spec car. Am I expecting too much?

3. The new soft top. After two of us wrestled with it to get it latched down, I asked the dealer to adjust it for the much advertised super easy action. On this one the dealer baulked - he says a few months of storage with it up will stretch it. Fact or fob-off?

Any comparative notes greatly appreciated!
Ciao!
Suze

Hi Suze
I know it's not exactly like for like, but on my 1968 GTV, the electrics are "always on". I fitted a battery cut out switch under the bonnet which cuts the battery earth and disables everything.

I haven't yet met a 105 owner with complete confidence in their brakes. I just think they can't be compared to a modern car. I know I have complained to my local specialist about my brakes and he said they were some of the best he had tried!!

They are right about the soft top. If you are leaving the car for any length of time always make sure you leave the roof up. If it's still bad by the end of the summer that's when you need to adjust it.

I'm sure there will be some Spider drivers along soon!

I have a Series 3, and most things are live all the time. I too have a battery cut out fitted in the boot, but failed to isolate it last week. Guess what? Flat battery! Don't know why yet. Could be the Alpine radio that I fitted since I've already realised that the clock stays illuminated if it isn't deliberately switched off using a small button on the radio facia.

I can't comment on the brakes - been sat in my garage for 3 years so if it wasn't for my other car I would have probably forgotten which pedal actually is for the brakes!

My soft top has been mainly left up but not fastened. I worked on the theory that if it was fastened for any great length of time in a dry garage, it may sag, and this I still believe to be right. The car is almost ready for returning to the road and the roof is in great shape. Remember that if it is too easy, you may get annoyed with wind noise or leaks. I still think the roof design is terrific and is head and shoulders above the comparatively primative roof design of British soft tops - MGB, TR6 etc.

Hi Suze
My Spiders have interesting electrics also, one had a dead battery for no reason but it's been charged and hasn't let me down in the last month.
Brakes can feel mushy but then are fine? seems to be the way with these cars. My 77 was the same. I got used to it and notice that it's the first pumping of the brakes that's the worst after that it seems to be fine.
The tops on my Spiders are newish and one is tighter than the other. I find that a slight tug to the right or left helps when clipping the fronts down. I leave the top down all summer, for the most part. I have had the top down all winter on the 93 because I have the hard top on. They do stretch a bit when they are put up and as I said moving them a bit to the left or right helps in fastening them down. Also put a towel along the back window when you put the top down.

Cheers.

Thanks for the notes - seems like I should stop whining and get driving! I've relearned all those engine braking skills I threw away after I passed my test and discovered coasting with the clutch down.

I'll invest in an isolator switch too. I shouldn't complain, because once the battery is connected, the Spider starts up first time with that great Alfa brruuum noise. fantastic!

Classicgal - I will follow your advice - but do tell (just in case someone asks me) what is the towel for - scratches? Or just in case I fancy a day at the beach

Ta
Suze

The towel is to keep the plastic window scratch free and from sticking to itself when it's folded up.
If you use it at the beach make sure you dry it out well

1. Electrics.
I have a "smart" charger on my S4 whenever it sits in the garage... and yes... you have to check carefully that everything is off when you leave it.

2. Brakes
Yes mine are nowhere near as powerful as the one's on my 147... I can't stand the spider on its nose.. but they do work well enough.

3. The new soft top.

As has been said before - leave it up and it will stretch and watch how you fold it down... it's easy to damage the rear screen... I always roll up a towel and fold the window over it.

Hydraulic brakes shouldn't ever be spongy.

Assuming that you have attended to leaks, the main culprit is air in the system and the Spider seems to have a reputation of being more difficult than other cars to get right. My 1968 has single circuit brakes with the M/C under the floor and the procedure that works for me is first bleed the M/C, then each wheel furthest from the driver in turn (LHR, RHR, LHF, RHF). I use a pressure bleeding system and it will probably take at least two goes round with some resting in between for very small bubbles to rise.

Another source of sponginess, and other bad brake behaviour, is the flexi hoses. They're not particularly expensive and deteriorate internally over time so you can't easily tell they've gone bad. Some people use the very high pressure type with stainless braiding. While that gives you a slightly harder pedal it is actually desirable to have the small degree of expansion that the normal rubber hoses have, to keep the pads close to the disc.

The effective working of the brake servo may also induce a feeling of the brakes not being responsive. And there is also the possibility of worn linkages making the pedal seem imprecise.

Having just replaced the servo on my Spider the brakes now are easily good enough to lock the wheels in an emergency stop.

Thanks Cosmo - I tend to agree that with servo assist and hydrolic brakes I should be able to stop quickly despite the age of the car. I think its worth trying a bleed if only to take that off the agenda.