any clue as to why/how it has failed or are they going to investigate and let you know?

 

There are other brands that have more catastophic failures more often than Alfa. If you check out the Dekra data on used cars in Germany and you'll find that Alfas hold their own against any brand or model. They are at least as reliable as other brands, if not more so.

 

There has been an article in 'car mechanics' magazine commenting on the high failure rate of the Fiat multiair engine.

In a nut shell, iirc, the engine uses oil, no surprise there, the dip stick is very hard to read / inaccurate, coupled with the long oil change interval and the units are being starved of oil, resulting in failure.

 

It does make you think that motor manufacturers are making engines too sophisticated for their own good...

Despite what my service indicator says, it's getting an oil change every 12 months if it likes it or not

 

They don't know why as yet. They need to grab the error information off the diagnostics to find out what happened and what is required to fix it.

Andy, I know what you are saying and I agree. Just suffering from shock after being told what was wrong . I read somewhere of BMWs needing new gearboxes after only a couple of months so even the (supposed) best can suffer troubles too.

 

My moms neighbour is on his 3rd gearbox on an X3 in 14 months. This one isn't right either. He's absolutely livid.

 

Thought as much, bought mine used, don't think the oil had been changed for over a year and 14k miles, i'll admit it did start to sound a bit tappety, did an oil and filter change and I don't know whether it's a placebo effect or not but it feels smoother when revving and sounds quieter than it did before the change, may not be the reason for failure in your case but first thing that came to my mind

 

Because Mangoletsi couldn't give me a courtesy car (I ended up getting a free hire car through the AA) I called Bauer Millet and the guy asked if I had checked my oil level. I did check my oil level before I went away and I think it was OK... But it wasn't easy to tell. As Bauer couldn't supply a car either I went with Mangoletsi. They confirmed the failed unit.

 

The Multiair in my Giulietta had not used any oil in the 16000 miles before I got it a first service . It is difficult to gauge the level from the dipstick but I did manage to read it. I believe the sump capacity being lower means that an under filled engine is proportionally more under filled.

 

yeah i don't really trust dealers, might sound silly but had a new radio fitted as a button was faulty, and they hadn't put the dash back properly, had to pop it back in myself, you think they'd employ some element of care and concern seeing as it's there job to maintain cars

 

A couple of years back, our MA unit had to be replaced when it failed after the engine had been overfilled with oil at the factory. Again, not easily spotted due to the difficult-to-read dipstick, :tut:.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...alfa-giulietta/283279-check-engine-message-and-dna-not-working.html#post4251700

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...alfa-giulietta/283279-check-engine-message-and-dna-not-working.html#post4257858

 

Let's keep it rational.

Not ALL Multi air engines will use oil, not ALL Twinspark engines use oil. (mine uses none at the moment)

Some, do, and of those that do, as it is very hard to read the dip stick accurately, and it has an extended oil change period, there is a percentage of engine failures. Enough to make an article in a national car magazine.

Doesn't make the Multiair a bad engine any more than the Twinnie, but it does need to be kept an eye on, and IMO, the oil changed more regularly than the service period.

 

I was told by the dealer that the car was always serviced by them and they always use the correct grade of Selenia for the engine. It appears that it was a pure failure of the MultiAir unit.

They said the car will be ready for close of play tomorrow so looking forward to getting my baby back!

 

Update: car is now back with me and is in fine fettle again. They replaced the MA unit and it's nice and smooth again. It appeared that it was a general unit failure and he mentioned that they are not that uncommon BUT that they have never known a replacement to fail, indicating that the issues affecting early MA units have been sorted. He told me that they always use the Selenia oil that is,specific to the engine so it is nothing they did wrong and I haven't owned the car long enough to screw it up :lol:

Anyway, all's well the ends well

 

.....It appeared that it was a general unit failure and he mentioned that they are not that uncommon BUT that they have never known a replacement to fail, indicating that the issues affecting early MA units have been sorted.......

Ours might be about to prove to be the exception to this, . After having a new MA unit fitted back in 2011, it has been faultless until yesterday, when about 10 miles into a journey, she went onto 3 cylinders accompanied by the EML illuminating and the this, that and the other "not available" messages on the screen, . Oil level is spot on (I check it every week and had just dome so prior to this run) so it's not that, .

I had her booked into the dealer tomorrow anyway for a health-check prior to them issuing a 4th year warranty as the original 3-year cover runs out on Tuesday so that's lucky I suppose.

 

At the same grade, maybe... The problem is that MultiAir requires a relatively high grade of oil.

 

I think it's more than the grade, it's the quality measure that's important: right grade, wrong quality = trouble.

 

I'd be very careful with using the words "quality" and "selenia" in the same sentence..

 

There is nothing wrong with Selenia other than the price!

I ran several Alfas on it for years without issue.

 

Mine went into garage today too, for multiair unit failure. Ive been told they have to get part from Italy. I think a main dealer should have this part in stock if they are known to fail!

 

Unlucky It does seem daft that they don't keep a stock of parts. However, it maybe that they had that many failed MultiAir units that they ran out!

 

Forgive my dimness, but when people talk about "Multiair unit failure" are they talking about the entire engine or simply a component?

 

It's a component that sits on top of the valves. had my car not been under warranty, it would have cost around £800 to replace

 

they said that they simply don't stock it. Maybe i should move to cheshire so i can use Mangoletsi!

 

Perhaps it's to expensive a unit for a dealer to keep on the shelf tying up his cash?

 

Who says multi air units failing are common?

Are there loads more posts about them?

It's daft to expect them to stock an £800 part, what if they never have another failure, they're stuck with it.

 

I don't see loads of posts to justify the reaction to the title of this thread either.

 

I was told that failing MultiAir units are not that uncommon though the guy at Mango mentioned Fiats more than Alfas. He did say that there have been no failing replacements which is good.

I guess it is unreasonable to expect a dealer to keep a stock of expensive replacement parts but its not unreasonable to expect them to be sourced in the UK. You shouldn't need to wait for a replacement to be shipped in from Italy.

You have to bear in mind that my reaction earlier was in the wake of my poor car having a pretty major repair after me only having the car for 3 months. But on reflection, these things happen and it's best they do under warranty. I had a Toyota Prius before this (a lapse, forgive me!) which is known for its legendary reliability. I had the car a month and a wheel bearing failed to the point that the dealer wouldn't let me have the car back until it was fixed.

I have noticed that my car is ALOT smoother in N mode now and more eager than before. Sign that the MA unit may have had a bit of trouble at low revs for a while. It's still producing a lot of road noise which I assume is the tyres. Hoping to sort this out with a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s.

Oh and the top of my gear knob came off. Alfa Romeo ownership is never dull. But I love it

 

I guess it is unreasonable to expect a dealer to keep a stock of expensive replacement parts but its not unreasonable to expect them to be sourced in the UK.

Have been buying a few parts for a old Audi recently(who said Alfa's were problematic?). Parts have been expensive but even reasonably obscure parts are available the next day from somewhere in the UK. Have to say I have been impressed with the parts support from Audi but then I'm sure the relative numbers of Audis to Alfas sold would likely account for this.

 

German Giulietta sales for feb 2013

Giuliettas sold; 130 or so. Ford Focus sold over 7000 , as did the Mercedes A class.

 

WARNING!! Then this thing happened means that the oil level is very low
Same thing happened to me because of the sharp depreciation had to replace the engine

 

Woops, wrong thread!

 

Well, that's it confirmed - the replacement MA unit has failed, .

There's also some mention of a fuel leak into the exhaust, , but I'm not sure of the details as this was being conveyed to me by Mrs RRZ during a 2-hours-on-a-bus-instead-of-20-minutes-in-the-car journey home from her work - let's just say that she's not public transport's number 1 fan right now, .