Easy days work

[jimay3677]

Well, today I managed to swap out the selespeed fluid with some Penrite LDAS.
There was around 720ml in there that I just syringed out into a measuring jug after running the accumulator de-pressurise routine in MES and then I just put the same amount back in.

It wasn't honey coloured, more like golden syrup.  The LDAS is a full synthetic hydraulic fluid that costs about $25 a litre and is listed on the Penrite website as compatible with the selespeed actuator.
It's a dark green colour so should make checking the level easier and make it easier to spot leaks (looks for wood to touch)

I also dropped the gear oil and put in Royal Purple 75-90 Gearmax (or maybe it was maxgear)
That was fun, I had a bitch of a time removing the drain plug but got it eventually.  Everytime I change gear oil in a car it seems to take longer than the last time, it took about 30 minutes per bottle to put back in.  There were a few 1-2mm metal particles on my drain plug but all seems fine so I'm not too fussed.

I also swapped coil packs two and three over as yesterday the engine stumbled and recorded a misfire error on cylinder two (5k after putting in 95 octane rather than 98 octane), I checked all the coil packs and the resistance was pretty much the same on all 8.22-8.32ohms (is that right?) I also blasted the connectors with contact cleaner and put in a bottle of injector cleaner.

[colcol]

Hello Alfa81,
For putting in gearbox oil you need to get a sucker for putting in gearbox oil, it looks and is about the same size as an old school grease gun, you put the hose in the bottle of oil, pull back the handle at the back, it sucks up all the oil, then put the hose on the end into the filler hole and push forward the handle and all the oil goes in, i am sure you can buy them of ebay, about 4o years ago before i dicovered a gearbox oil sucker, i used to rig up a 2 metre hose into a gearbox oil container, put the other end into the filler hole, hang the oil container upside down on the open bonnet and let the oil run in using gravity, it would take EIGHT HOURS to fill up, then a bloke at Repco showed me an oil sucker...., you can also get little hand pumps to put on the top of the oil bottle and pump, but the oil is so thick, its hard work, and the hand pump seems to force the oil container out of shape.
So you said it recorded a misfire on cylinder number 2, did you remove the spark plugs and see if they were different colours?, as i don't have a scanner that i can work, i would be looking at the spark plugs to see any differences to trace the faulty coil pack and swapping the coil packs around to see if the same coil pack is suspected of being faulty, Colin.

[jimay3677]

haha, yeah I had about a 2 meter hose and cable tied the bottle to the grille on the open bonnet after punching holes in the bottom of the bottle.

I can only get the hose about 3 inches into the box so would a sucker get it all out?

I didn't remove the spark plugs (didn't think of that) but I did swap the coils to see if the problem jumps.
I suspect this may be causing the o2 sensor errors I've had, those errors had gone away when I was running v-power for six weeks and have come back with the 95 octane.

Still a great car, after doing the selespeed oil I drove off and had a mini heart attack as a yellow triangle with exclamation mark came on, I couldn't see the message due to the dodgy LCD infocentre (doesn't work when warm) I pulled over and discovered it was a VDC error which has now gone away.

I'm chasing a big leak that appears to be coming from between the gearbox and engine, the sump is quite oily so I'm hoping it's that, I couldn't tell if it was engine oil or gearbox oil.  I'm wondering if it's left over from when the Ford dealer removed the gearbox end to remove the bit of metal blocking the 4th selector, since I'm pretty sure they didn't undo the drain plug, but surely they would have cleaned the oil off.  I've sprayed a ton of brake cleaner on to remove it all and will monitor.  The gearbox let out about 1.9L (which is all I got back in) so I don't think it's the gearbox.  Hopefully it's just the sump and not the rear main seal, there's a gap between the bellhousing and engine and when shining a light up there there was no oil around the RMS so fingers crossed.  I've had sumps leaks before (on a fwd) and I think due to the angle of most roads it leaks along the gearbox.

[jimay3677]

Hmm. Misfire on cyl 1 now.  I've ordered new plugs to start with but seems I may be doing coils soon. Are the NGK ones any better than the Bosch ones?

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[colcol]

I would buy the NGK plugs, because they are more available, but i wouldn't hesitate in using Bosch products either.
There is a Coil On Plug checker on ebay, it is like a wand, that you place on the coil, to see if it is working, there are lights that flash to indicate if coil and or spark plug is firing, they are between $60 -$100, almost cheaper than buying a second hand coil, and defiantly cheaper than a new coil, i seen one work on youtubescottykimerchannel , Colin.

[jimay3677]

Yeah I've always used ngk plugs. But ngk make the coils too

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[colcol]

On my 156 JTS, the coil packs are Bosch, never seen NGK coil packs, when you think about it, they do a good job, all that heat and vibration, in the olden days, they used to say, mount the coils away from heat and vibration, now they mount them on top of the engine, Colin.

[jimay3677]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-NGK-Ignition-Coil-Pack-for-ALFA-ROMEO-Spider-916-2-0-JTS-2003-04-/290952229500?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43be1ab27c&_uhb=1

I wonder if they last longer than the Bosch one's I've also opted for BKR6EIX Plugs.

[jimay3677]

Not sure if it's placebo but the iridium plugs seem to have made a difference to throttle response.  I think the old plugs were the factory fitted plugs too.

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[jimay3677]

Still getting random misfires but a lot less

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[jimay3677]

Well. The Ford dealer read the code but only found the cat codes p4020/30 and said bring it back if the light comes on again so I did and they told me to take it to an alfa dealer.......... so much for warranty.

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[Mick A]

I am sure they mean take it to an alfa specialist then give them the invoice to reimburse you?

[jimay3677]

Possibly

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