[mattyg73]

Hi all I have just bought a rather down at heel 156 05 plate 1.9jtd facelift for a bit of a song! . Its got red leather in great nick all the gadgets seem to work including the aircon I paid £650 for it and I intend to use it as a second car for work and generally fix it up a bit on the way. I consider myself to be reasonably handy with the spanners and will tackle all of the work myself. The faults I have identified so far (in order of importance are )-
Last service in the book was at 52000 miles its now done a hundred and no proof of cambelt.

Brakes are a bit squirrelly under hard braking but its only made 1 small journey in the last 6 months and they do seem to be getting a little better under use.

Oil dripping from intercooler area I have had a look underneath and the lower one is covered in masking tape I guess its hiding a split.

A knocking noise from somewhere at the front dependant on road surface

Body in decent nick just needs a few badges replacing and a good power polish.

gear knob knackered (annoying me more than anything)

The thing is filthy

I have not been a great fan of diesels and have only owned two (this being the second at the age of 42) but I have to say I love the power delivery and the lovely bit of torque when its on the turbo. The first task is to address the cam belt and give it a bloody good service as the oil resembles mother mc gintey's irish stew ! my first question is, my car is a multi jet version how much horsepower should it have as there seems to be a few different power outputs listed and I want to get the correct kit (number of teeth etc) Also where does everyone buy their bits from ?.

Thanks in advance

Matt

 

[samsdads156jtd]

Hi there,

Cambelt on these isn't too bad a job though its a good idea to replace the waterpump and pulleys too as they have a habit of going too! You can get kits from a few places, i used a Gates kit when doing mine last year. Also a good idea to replace the alternator drive belt too as you have to remove it to get the timing belt off. You'll need a timing kit or camlocks to get the job done, i used the timing kit from ebay, did the job and saves taking the cam covers off to lock the cams.

Brakes could be a sticky caliper but the 156's don't have the greatest of brakes out there!

Knocking from the suspension could be the ARB drop links or bushes or the bottom arms, again not huge jobs but there will be a lot of rusty bolts to deal with!! Top arms tend to squeak when they wear out.

Gear knob on mine is a bit knacked too but after reading a few of the tales on here i think i leave it for a while, lol!! Its glued on and a bugger to get off...

Oil dripping from the cooler is a another common fault, you can get hoses but there are kits out there to replace the whole lot with better hoses and cooler.

Give your map sensor a good clean too, i took mine out and the thing was thick in gunge! makes a difference when clean.

The mutltijet is a good engine and i have a '05 plate and it pulls like a train, though i have fitted a cone filter, decat pipe and a solid lower turbo hose.

The 16v should have 140hp.

I have used ebay, shop4parts, autolusso and rockauto.com for sourcing parts, just be careful as there are some dodgy stuff out there. Also look up the eper website as this breaks down the car and lists all the part numbers which is great for google and sourcing parts!

Hope that helps and good luck with the car
Alasdair

 

[dgmayhead]

Congratulations! Before you blow the budget on wish bones, droplinks, arb, cambelt and water pump have a good poke around underneath and check it's not rusty as hell. If the floor is solid you've bought a peach and everything is worth fixing.

 

[mattyg73]

Congratulations! Before you blow the budget on wish bones, droplinks, arb, cambelt and water pump have a good poke around underneath and check it's not rusty as hell. If the floor is solid you've bought a peach and everything is worth fixing.

Thanks for the replies I just spat out my coffee and had to go and have a look. All is as Alfa intended although very dry will underseal when I do it all I think.

Matt

 

[dgmayhead]

Great news. Didn't want to scare but it's a known weakness. Mine looks beautiful and pulls like a train but it's Swiss cheese underneath.

 

[198497]

Once the rust issue has been checked (with good outcome I hope) you can also put a budget on the silicon turbo hoses.
Plus to replace small vacuum hoses with silicon ones - if those are still original they are most likely to be in a position of perishing at any point.

Power delivery is a brilliant thing with this engine. I couldn't stop smiling when drove mine for the first time (well, I still smile when I am driving her, people might be thinking I am high )

Another item that you might find need attention at some point soon - clutch (torque does wear it) and often DMF too.

Engine usually 140bhp, but might be 150bhp
Here is a link that can give you an idea about the engine
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/gene...cific-things-to-look-out-for.html#post2769552