[euroboy]

Got a final 200 mile journey today to get my Spider back to the UK before I take delivery on my new one and the bloody thing is throwing a wobbler (it must know!)

Im leaving for Rotterdam in 3 hours so any advice before then appreciated!

OK:

For 99% of the time engine idles and revs fine - however every now and again it loses all power.

When revving the engine when stationary the symptoms are that it will very quickly drop 500-1000 rpm and then come back to the original revs - this happens in a cyclic manner 5 or 6 times before all is normal again. The drop is VERY sudden, not in a smooth up and down fashion like you might expect if it was a problem with air metering.

If youre on the move it manifests itself as a very sudden loss of power (almost as if the engine is going to cut out) and then immediately its back to normal - I guess you could liken it to pinking. Its very disconcerting when in the outside lane doing, ahem , 70!

The AFM is 6 months old and genuine, I cant see any obvious signs of air leaks on the induction. My other thought was throttle pot but im not sure if it would cause these probs.

Im at work but when I get home im going to do a battery and throttle reset but after that im out of ideas and worried! After today the car is getting laid up for 2 months whilst I put it onto UK plates, but I just really need it to make this journey!

Help!

 

[Zegalini]

As time is of the essence check the 'TIPS' section and 'Erratic idle speed' from the following website http://www.alfa156.net./

Good luck :thumbs:

 

[euroboy]

Thought I would post a quick pupdate to this:

ECU/Throttle reset didnt cure it but had the opportunity on the drive home to experiment.

The problem only occurs when under full throttle so as long as you drive the car sedately theres no problem and in the end it got me back home without issue.

Poked my head under the bonnet and I can hear a hissing sound at the throttle body - think there may be some sort of leak. Car is now garaged and wont be coming out again until it goes to the specialist for its first MOT, polybushing and exhaust fixing. Expensive cars to keep these Spiders!!

 

[Zegalini]

Sorry to hear that the quick fix didn't work but, at least the Spider's going into the garage soon.

Nice car btw :thumbs:

 

[x0ted]

Maybe teaching you to suck eggs, but have you checked for splits in the induction pipe?

Mine had a nasty one in one of the creases on the underside of the corrugated/flexible section up by the throttle body which wasn't obvious unless you were really looking and causing all kinds of issues.