[Guest]

I have owned my Brera for 2 years and she has covered just over 55000 miles. I bought her at 46000 miles with a bit of a rattle down the right side of the engine, but I wasn't too concerned having seen the problems outlined on this forum. I changed the power steering pump and the water pump and although the noise subsided, it was still there.

Last week, the dreaded "check engine" warning popped up on the dash display and refused to go away. The car was due a service so I checked it in with instructions to check the error and the rattle.

The phone call duely arrived....Phase displacement error???? Basically the cams are not timed up with the crank. Stripping the side of the engine revealed all three (yes 3) timing chains stretched almost to the point of jumping the sprockets.

At the moment the garage is waiting on parts from Italy and the cost is looking at £2000, including the 20 hours labour to put it right. I am hoping that the cam variators are OK or that adds another £1600 to the bill.

Possible cause is the engine having been run low on oil at some time in it's life. Be warned, check your oil levels.

 

[Spyder]

I think that is Alfas excuse, they ended up changing the engine on my 159 V6 when the chain stretched and stripped a nylon bush at 19,000 miles. They (the advisor sent from Alfa Romeo) tried telling me I'd over run the service interval but when I'd pointed them to the service book which showed the service was every 21,000 miles they changed their tune.
It is obvious there is a fault with the timing chains as the multitude of posts on here testify to.

 

[Snokio]

regular oil changes is recommend it seems, I'm trying to do mine at 10K (ish) intervals, although it's more common on the 2.2 (due to the single skinny chain design IIRC)

Which garage have you taken this to? an Alfa Specialist over dealer should be fair bit cheaper!

 

[BenzinaBrera]

Is this repaired under warranty?

 

[Pud237]

3.2s have skinny single chains as well. Keep on top of your oil is all I can say, and the 21k service intervals are only good for those that are getting rid once the warranty expires.

 

[alfaholic1001]

Which 3.2 v6 pudz?

Mj

 

[Snokio]

They one made one version

 

[Squadrone Rosso]

They run duplex chains AFAIK

I'm flush & change every 10 - 12 k personally.

 

[Pud237]

Which 3.2 v6 pudz?

Mj

Brera/159 3.2 V6. 156/147/GT/GTV/166 Busso engine is belt driven.

 

[Pud237]

They run duplex chains AFAIK

I'm flush & change every 10 - 12 k personally.

Single chains like a pushbike unfortunately . You can blame GM for that one, it'd have cost millions for Alfa to re-engineer it.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...ti-q4-major-engine-failure-4.html#post4746650

Every 10-12k will see this engine through a normal working life without issues I'm sure.

 

[symon]

It isn't just Alfa who are having issues with Chains on long service intervals.

Some V5 Golfs like mine also suffer problems, especially when on the longlife schedule. (Which is an oil change every 20k or so)

Luckily mine was put on the 1 year or 10k interval since it was new.


Manufacturers are stretching service intervals to make cars seem cheaper to run at the expense of longevity.

If you are having it serviced according to the book it would be well worth doing an interim oil and filter change yourself.

 

[V6Alfisti]

Ah I didn't realise this affected the 3.2 as well.

Might be worth a call to AutoLusso/Alfaworkshop as the 2.2 is only £550 all in Alfa Timing Belt Change Special Offer

 

[symon]

Ah I didn't realise this affected the 3.2 as well.

Might be worth a call to AutoLusso/Alfaworkshop as the 2.2 is only £550 all in Alfa Timing Belt Change Special Offer

That isn't a bad price, certainly worth it for peace of mind..

 

[Pud237]

Ah I didn't realise this affected the 3.2 as well.

Might be worth a call to AutoLusso/Alfaworkshop as the 2.2 is only £550 all in Alfa Timing Belt Change Special Offer

Unfortunately they don't do a replacement kit for the 3.2 (yet). You can buy everything as standard replacement parts but it is prohibitively expensive to warrant changing it as a precaution - here is a quick price-check on eper, this is retail price so you could probably get a little discount. This is every chain, chain tensioner and guide, as well as the sprockets, but not all the other stuff like new nuts/bolts, new seals, new gaskets etc. The 2.2s have a habit of wearing out the teeth on the sprockets as well as stretching the chains so I have included them in the quote. The inlet/exhaust sprockets also control the variable valve timing so it makes them mega expensive.

Tensioner 1: £179
Tensioner 2: £60
Tensioner 3: £166

Chain 1: £64
Chain 2: £135
Chain 3: £135

Guide 1: £31
Guide 2: £24
Guide 3: £34
Guide 4: £37
Guide 5: £44
Guide 6: £39

Driven gear 1 £46
Driven gear 2 £68
Driven gear 3 £73
Cam sprocket exhaust: £385 x 2
Cam sprocket inlet: £385 x 2

Oh and thats plus VAT too..

 

[alfaholic1001]

Brera/159 3.2 V6. 156/147/GT/GTV/166 Busso engine is belt driven.

Thanks. That is a full answer. Do we have typical symptoms when they start to wear?

Mj

 

[Pud237]

Thanks. That is a full answer. Do we have typical symptoms when they start to wear?

Mj

If a tensioner or guide has worn, you tend to get a rattle from the engine first. If the chain has stretched then you tend to get an engine management light showing a phase sensor error faultcode.

 

[BenzinaBrera]

Guys you can get all the needed parts from newgmparts.com for much much cheaper just look under the 2010 Camaro 3.6 LLT section, the parts are all exactly the same except for the pistons and conrods. They ship worldwide and super fast also. All genuine GM parts. Ive bought a bucket load of parts for my engine from them and can personally vouch they are legit.

 

[parcstroman]

The 3.2 Brera engine is originally the Australian Holden Commodore VE Alloytec. Looking at Holden Commodore forums, stretched chains are commonly reported, but there were changes to the chains to address the problem in 2008, so apparently not all 3.2s are equally affected.

 

[Guest]

Is this repaired under warranty?

On a 56 plate??

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately they don't do a replacement kit for the 3.2 (yet). You can buy everything as standard replacement parts but it is prohibitively expensive to warrant changing it as a precaution - here is a quick price-check on eper, this is retail price so you could probably get a little discount. This is every chain, chain tensioner and guide, as well as the sprockets, but not all the other stuff like new nuts/bolts, new seals, new gaskets etc. The 2.2s have a habit of wearing out the teeth on the sprockets as well as stretching the chains so I have included them in the quote. The inlet/exhaust sprockets also control the variable valve timing so it makes them mega expensive.

Tensioner 1: £179
Tensioner 2: £60
Tensioner 3: £166

Chain 1: £64
Chain 2: £135
Chain 3: £135

Guide 1: £31
Guide 2: £24
Guide 3: £34
Guide 4: £37
Guide 5: £44
Guide 6: £39

Driven gear 1 £46
Driven gear 2 £68
Driven gear 3 £73
Cam sprocket exhaust: £385 x 2
Cam sprocket inlet: £385 x 2

Oh and thats plus VAT too..

You are also going to need oil, antifreeze, gaskets, seals and anything else that might break oh, a new aux drive belt is probably a good idea too.