[ALFA 155]

i have a 155 ts 16v it is very heavy on fuel. i just got it . can you tell me what to do.how do you set the timing on these cars if you can?97 model. what tools do you need to change the cambelt? and where can i get a workshop manual?
my e-mail is [email protected]
hope to hear from you guys soon tanks.

 

[wrinx]

What do you call heavy on fuel? How much are you using?

wrinx

 

[wrinx]

Oops, forgot, Welcome to the forum

wrinx

 

[Spacecadet]

Never been any good at doing the maths to work out mpg. Therefore I use this

Supanet mpg calculator

It is good, but scary. My V6 will do 120 miles on £20 of Optimax at 76.9 a litre.
Works out at 20.97mpg. Better back off a little!!!

Any ideas on ways to improve this, get this on normal trips to work, then again, she doesn't really get warm in the time it takes to get there!

 

[Spacecadet]

Oh yeah, that link also does a lovely LPG conversion cash saving. I would save £641 a year if I got me an LPG conversion!

Na, don't think I will though!!

 

[marlon]

That's only while the Govt freeze the price of LPG. In 2004 it'll go as high as a kite like all other fuel.

Marlon

 

[John R]

I normally get around 300 miles from full to petrol light on all the time, dont know if this is good or bad but I dont drive around at 50mph every where and I have a really heavy right foot...(is it good to hit the rev limmiter and can it do dammage? all them revs and no fuel? I think I would rather **** the cat up than whole a piston!)
anyhoo back to me job......

[edited by Jason77 - to remove sweary word]

 

[jimybob]

isnt that a dire straights song..??????????

 

[wrinx]

Andy

Thought my consumption was bad at 23mpg eek! eek! eek!

Easy to work out the L/miles thing.........times the litres by 0.22 to get gallons

wrinx

 

[Spacecadet]

Have to admit that the figure I gave was with a stuffed thermostat! Now it might manage 150 to £20
That gives about th 25mpg mark but this suffers if I head off into the countryside and give it a fair wallop. The optimax doesn't help. Makes such a lovely raspy noise!!!

 

[Spacecadet]

On a slight aside. Was watching a prog on telly about those big American Hummers. They said it would possibly do 10mpg!

That means 100 miles on £35 of fuel. That is insane!!!

Ugly car too!

 

[Ralf S.]

Yep. Anyone with duff fuel consumption, change the thermostat. It's about £15 for the V6 (and 70p or thereabouts for the gasket).

My mpg leapt up by 5mpg when I changed mine, so it paid for itself in no time.

Ralf S.

 

[makaveli]

Might be worth having a free check on the lambda sensor to Andy, nothing to lose. I found the same thing with optimax, drinks the stuff, I'm now a staunch Texaco addict I get more MPG their than anywhere else, one of the AO guys from a AR main dealer suggested it and after I'd stopped laughing I found he was right!!!!!

Regards

MAK

 

[Phil]

Keep hearing about this optimax stuff so i've tried it for the last month or so. Results so far are : MPG about 30 average (2.0l 16v) the same as always, performance no noticeable difference, noise level no noticeable difference, wallet somewhat lighter than normal, maybe that will help the 0 - 60 time a bit. This reminds me of my experience with an Ecotec which was no noticeable difference except a very nasty induction noise on the overrun.

For those who swear by optimax whats the secret, yes I am putting it in the fuel tank.

Phil

 

[Spacecadet]

This week consumption, 180 miles on 28.50 of Optimax at 76.9p a litre gives 22mpg, been hussling a bit, and been freezing. Will be looking into that Lambda Probe problem, I feel another post is in order.

 

[Spacecadet]

In answer to the Optimax question, the performance isn't much different between the two. I found the difference in smoothness and low down torque. My V6 seems to pull with less effort with Optimax.

A mateof mine who drives a pug 306XSi 2.0 says it stops his popping on overrun and seems more progressive, not patchy on the acceleration front. His car wears 100k on an S plate so is reasonably shagged now! 'Anything helps' he reckons!

 

[marlon]

I think Optimax only helps if your engine isn't in top condition anyway. If I use it, the exhaust/induction roar is louder (lose that nice Alfa rasp), my fuel consumption does decrease slightly and my exhaust pops on overrun with it.

When I first used it I noticed an improvement in accelaration and smoothness. Since then I've changed a few parts, plugs/leads, lambda etc...and changed back to normal Shell unleaded. I notice no difference between the two now. I'm running a Squadra chip aswell and I can feel no difference in power.

Like I say, I think it "masks" any slight probs your engine may be having.

Marlon

 

[Ralf S.]

I would agree. If the engine's doing it's thing properly then putting even 200 RON petrol in it shouldn't make any difference.

I want to give Optimax a try but it should be 5 straight tankfuls so that the ECU can get used to the new state of things.

Then if it's not much better than regular fuel, I'll go back to the watered down pap peddled by the local supermarket.

Ralf S.

 

[marlon]

I don't think it's 5 tankfuls, just a few miles I'm sure. You should notice the difference after about 15-20 miles definately.

Marlon

 

[shug]

All the petrol in this country comes from two main refineries.Here in scotland it,s from grangemouth.
I used to work there and used to see the tankers from all the petrol companies come and get filled up,texaco esso shell(it,s owned by shell).Optimax is just shell u/leaded with additives plus octane boosters