156 Stalling intermittently 10 minutes to restart

[martysworld]

Hi guys I'm new here so excuse me if this has been covered before.
My Alfa 156 twin Spark has just recently begun to stall when you pull up at lights and even sometimes when you have stopped for a few minutes then get back in to restart.

There doesn't seem to be any common factors e.g.: hot or cold weather etc

You wait 10 to 15 minutes and then it restarts. I have had the car hooked up to computer diagnostics and no faults have shown?
I have a feeling it's to do with the fuel line but am having problems pinpointing?
Is anyone out there can help me it would be much appreciated.

[colcol]

Sounds like a crank sensor, starts ok, runs and then stops, wait about half an hour and it starts and runs, crank sensor ok, when hooked up to computer.
Could also be a blocked fuel filter, rubbish settles when stopped, as you drive, the rubbish gets caught in the filter and blocks it and engine stops.
Could as well be be crap in the fuel tank, blocking pickup after a few minutes, then after you drive, crap blocks pickup and engine stops, fuel pump gets switched off, and crap falls to bottom of tank.
The easiest thing to do is change petrol filter, on JTS it is under the car, in Twin Spark, it may be in fuel tank, more difficult than JTS.
I would take it to an Alfa Romeo Service Provider, they have seen it all before, Colin.

[martysworld]

Thanks Colin saw on another site someone having exact issues and it was a crank sensor. Will wait to see what some others say first.
The other site said the crank sensor initially will do when car is hot and as it gets worse the engine won't need to be as hot when it starts to happen again. This seems to be my case. At first I thought it was the heat as it happened in bad traffic on hot days as time has gone on the temperature doesn't need to be as hot. Any more thought greatly appreciated.

[poohbah]

Sounds similar to a fault I had in a Fiat Regata a few years back. After hours of work and hundreds of dollars finding and fixing things that weren't to blame, it turned out to be a $1 electrical connection in the ignition. Basically, the connection had corroded, so when it heated up and expanded, the contacts separated and the car stalled. Once it cooled down again it was good to go for 20 mins.

Similarly, last week I had a couple of warning lights come on in my 156 that diagnostics indicated was a faulty relay, but the Alfa mechanic knew could also be caused by a dud fuse. Turned out to be a busted fuse only - cost $15 to fix.

Don't know if that helps. Whatever, take it to an Alfa specialist, and they should be able to diagnose without too much drama.

[Mick A]

+1 Crank Angle Sensor.

[martysworld]

My only thing here is if it was a crank sensor fault shouldn't it have shown up when it was hooked up to a diagnostic computer???

[pasey25]

My only thing here is if it was a crank sensor fault shouldn't it have shown up when it was hooked up to a diagnostic computer???

only if it happens while the sensor fails/is failed.

when it comes back (wen the car is cold/cooled down) it won't be picked up

[colcol]

Not too expensive for a new crank angle sensor, just a bit hard to replace, as its stuck down the back of the engine, would most likely have to put the car on a hoist and get at it from underneath, ALL cars do crank sensors, i had a VL Commodore that did THREE, Colin.

[martysworld]

Thanks guys, a friend had a spare coil and said it could be that and that is easier to replace. So we did that, now the next few days will let us know.

[colcol]

You mean your freind had a spare coil pack, single coils went out with distributors, coil packs tend to die and stay dead, where crank sensors come and go to annoy you, Colin.

[martysworld]

As I said I'm new at this...Yes a coil pack

[Mick A]

It's not going to be the coil pack.....

[colcol]

The crank angle sensors failures are linked to heat, they work ok cold and when they get hot they fail, lift the bonnet for half an hour and they come good, due to them cooling down, i know about coil pack failures, once they stop, they don't come good, such as the single coil packs on the JTS, Colin.

[martysworld]

Hi guys thanks for your help. The coil pack as you stated did not help at all The Crank angle sensor has now been replaced and so far so good. But it's only been on a short drive so far.

[Mick A]

Good stuff.