[prgreycloud]

Hoping someone out there can give some advice to a newbie! - have had an intermittent orange engine warning light coming on and off over the few weeks on my brera 2.2jts (reg July 07) which I've owned for the last 12 months.

I sent the car in for a service a couple of weeks ago at Stoneacre and they kindly said they'd put it on the diagnostics (for £60 plus vat...), and that if anything was diagnosed which was a warranty issue then I'd get the money refunded. Unfortunately "nothing showed up on the diagnostic" so I paid my money and they reset the warning light, but two weeks later the light has come on, gone off and now returned again.
My main concern is that I now have 57,000 miles on the brera and the warranty will have expired in the next month and I'm left with not knowing what problem is . I've phoned the AR customer service number supplied by Stoneacre and they registered my concerns and 2 days later I got a call back - top and bottom of it is that they suggest I take it back to Stoneacre and pay for another (inconclusive?) diagnosis. AR customer service wouldn't let me speak to their technical team for advice/discuss my options - "they don't talk to members of the public, only with the dealerships".

Not best pleased to say the least - first alfa I've had - love the drive but lots of niggly things wrong with it - don't want it to be my last but the way things are going.......

Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Nev]

Welcome to AO!

Normally the 2.2 is pretty solid.


How does it run/idle?


Two things it could be:

1) Dodgy Cam shaft sensor which will finally fail and put you in limp mode. (cheapish to fix)
(I had that)

2) The dreaded stretching timing chain. Again this should eventually put you
in limp mode but will be more expensive to fix.


Get it in quick and tell them you want it fixed.
Just clearing a warning is not fixing the problem.
And you shouldn't be being charged for taking it in with
a warning light on. That's just robbery! :tut:



Search around on the 159/Brera lounge. There are a
couple of folks who've had the issue and if it sounds like
it then get back into the dealer and get in touch with AR.uk at the same time.

 

[prgreycloud]

Nev - thanks for the speedy reply - my biggest concern is that neither ARUK nor stoneacre think it's their problem. If the sensor was dodgy would this be flagged up in the diagnostics? The car idles ok, bit slow off the mark at low revs, but I have read some of the remap saga so nothing unexpected.

 

[nigelread]

Hello and Welcome:wave:
Start a new thread here http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-159-brera-and-946-spider/ you will get more response

 

[n13roy]

Good Morning......and Welcome to the A.O. Forum, I'm sure you will enjoy it here.......:thumbs:

 

[sandys]

As you've started diagnosis on the problem in warranty period I believe Alfa will honour claims out side of it, was certainly the case for me, started to get MCSF on my GT a week or so before warranty expired and it took about a month and a couple of visits to nail down.

Confirm with your dealer though.

 

[DSgtv]

from one newbie to another did you get a printout from the diagnostic check?
if not ask them for the print out.
you have paid for this so you should get it. check the date on it matches the date it went in.
they should keep these on file in the diagnostic machine so no excuses for not giving you a copy.
if the eobd light has been on it should have recorded an error.

 

[frazzmac]

Might be the lambda sensor needing sorted. This seemed to be the cause of an intermittent engine check light on my previous 159 - not 100% sure as I traded the car in before it was really confirmed that was the problem. That was a 3.2 BTW.

As long as you brought it to ther attention before the warranty expires and its logged at that time, it shouldn't matter that fix doesn't happen within the warranty period.

Oh, welcome along!

 

[jillyflower]

My light kept coming on and I took it into the main dealer- Bludy Donalds :rant: They charged my just shy of 30 quid TWICE to put it on the computer n diagnose the fault n reset it................I took it to my great guys -independent alfa garage in Wellingborough -they diagnosed it-Lambda sensor and also fixed what Donalds broke!

 

[Nev]

I'd go directly to AR.uk and raise concerning about them charging you
for diagnostics during the warranty period too. Disgraceful.

 

[ALFA TUNER]

What i fail to understand is how the dealers you took it for dignosis told you"THAT NOTHING SHOWED",as it is not possible for the MIL to flag without a fault.:lol:
WTF did they erase then for the light to go out?:cheese:

 

[coraline]

HI just joined the forum. I have had a Brera for 3 and a half years and had so many problems that I'm seriously thinking of getting rid! I had an orange warning light on which was 'fixed' but turned out to complete injection system failure! My windscreen wiper is playing up I'm told its the spindle alignment which will cost £200 to replace, and now the outside temp display on my dash is saying its 30 when its actually freezing. I have a love-hate relationship with my car i love it but it hates me!!

 

[prgreycloud]

Thanks for the replies - got it booked in for another diagnostic check at an independent alfa/fiat garage in Lincoln. He said the diagnostic check should be included in with the service and for the sake of £30 I'd rather them check it then go back with some evidence or confirm previous diagnosis. Will let u know how I get on. Suppose if I wanted trouble free motoring rather than excitement then I should have gone german instead of Italian ..... Thanks again.

 

[ensor]

ensor

I am currently having the same problem. I have not had it diagnosed but was told by the main dealer that the system self checks and if it finds an anomaly the light comes on. It will then come on for the next four times the car is started even if the fault has cleared. If during this period a fault returns then it will recommence the cycle. It is therefore difficult to know whether a fault very occaisional or lomg term. In my case the fault started just after the warranty expired but does not seem to have an effect on performance. Does anyone have a list of the faults that affect this warning.