[Joski]

Hi there,

I've just bougth myself an Alfa romeo 156 2.4 JTD Veloce this weekend and thougth I'd better join the forum to get the low down on owning an ALFA as well as make some friends .

To my dissapointment it's already started to play up. After only owning it for less than 10 minutes the car decided to light up the ASR light and then display a VDC Error.

I thougth I leave it until after the Easter holidays, but to my horror it then decided to tell me the ABS has also packed in.

What can I do to rectify this problem.

Can anyone help.

Cheers

 

[quattrothedog]

welcome joski.

i think i'd be taking the car back where i bought it, and asking for a refund !!

 

[Hunter]

Yep, take it back and ask them to fix the probs....or did you buy it privately?

Should be a small sensor in the rear wheel arch. I had mine changed too.

It's still ok to drive, but just take it steady when braking.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

 

[alfaholic]

Welcome to AO.
As said by the others, first thing to do is take it back to be sorted gratis.

 

[Skilaree]

I used to own an Alfa 147 and it used to regularly light up those particular warnings whenever the weather was damp and/or cold. switching off and restarting used to sometimes 'rectify' the problem and it never occurred when the car was warm. Took it to the dealers on one occasion and they could find nothing wrong with the car.

My 156 has not been afflicted with the same problem.

 

[Joski]

Thanks for that guys. You've really cheered me up now.
I'll definately be taking it back. Hope it is just a sensor.

After this mornings fiasco with the warning lights however the ABS light decided to switch off (or has it just burnt out???). So at least thats one problem out of three sorted.

Everything seems to be fine while driving, but like you say, it definatly needs sorting out.

I'll keep you informed of any further developments.

Oh by the way. has anyone fitted HiD kits to the standard headlights?

 

[phil hoare]

Possible Adjustment Of The Brake Light Switch This Has 2 Functions 1 To Put The Brake Lights On And 2 The Second Stage Of The Switch Sends A Signal To The Abs Control Unit Concerning A Pressure Signal If The Second Signal Is Incorrect The Abs System Check Will Pick This Up On Its 4 Second Stat Up Check And Illuminate The Warning Lamp

 

[Joski]

Hi there,

Well I took it back to the used dealer who is the biggest $£%& in the world!!!

I took it in on Tuesday 11/04/06 and I was told that it would be an hour of a job as he’d already had it diagnosed on the Thursday prior. (Received a P Reg Renault Megane as a courtesy car. What a heap!!!)

I then received a phone call on Wednesday stating that the problem required yet another day. So me being the soft touch that I am went a long with it.

On Friday evening a received a call from the used car dealer stating that he could not rectify the problem and that it would need to go to a FIAT/ALFA dealer as his equipment could not diagnose or rectify the problem. (Mmm. The lies are starting to roll in now.)

I then asked when would it be ready and to my surprise he just blatantly stated “DON’T KNOW!”

At this point I was fuming :rant: as I had just bought a car and had only cover 50 miles in it (Mainly taking it to the dealer). I then requested the number of the Alfa dealer who turned out to be a small FIAT dealer. (OK fair enough at least the car is at a main dealer now and no cowboy is messing with it.) The FIAT dealer was unsure if it had been repaired? As the technician had finished for the day.

I then called the car dealer on Saturday asking if it was ready and the reply was NO! :tut: (Oh, what a surprise!).

I then followed on the call and was told that the C.A.N. Network had gone down and that FIAT was unable to access my system until Wednesday, as they would need to connect via the internet to the Main Fiat Head Office to get into the system and reset it.

Call me daft but is this really required or is the dealer telling me yet another one of this white lies.

Please can someone tell me if a C.A.N. Network is really this difficult to repair and that it must be remotely reset or is this just a load of crap.

Please can anyone help.

 

[phil hoare]

that to me sounds like bs concerning the can system on a 156 jtd

 

[Joski]

Hi Folks,

Well I've finally got my baby Alfa 156 back and no warning lights in sight (fingers crossed)

The fault finally turned out to be a sensor on the steering column which tells the VDC/ASR which direction your pointing the car.

So after all that, it turned out, that I initiated the fault. As on the day I picked it up it was working fine then I decided to adjust the steering column and well the rest is history.

Moral of this story is: Don't move the steering column, if it's ok then leave it alone. But if you do need to move it, do it gently!!!

I just can't wait for the weekend, as I've been waiting two weeks to put on a new set of Alloys. As well as some other bits and bobs.

 

[Andy G]

well done, glad its back, but you'd think by adjusting the steering col, it would be able to cope with a change like that!

Enjoy....

 

[Joski]

I agree, maybe I just pulled on it to hard and knocked it or loosened one of the connectors. We'll just never know. Another mystery for Mulder and Scully

 

[S4M_MC]

Glad it's all sorted, Welcome to the AO