replacement engine for GT V6

[zippytheclown]

well, I just got the call from the insurance company, my car has been written off after I drove it into a puddle during the rain event we had here a couple of weeks ago.  It turns out that a genuine replacement engine for my car is $59600 plus 10% GST plus freight making it a $72000 proposition to put a new engine in a GT V6, the insurance company naturally baulked at the prospect of paying nearly 5 times the insured value of the car for the repair.  The reason I was given was maybe Alfa, along with Mercedes, are trying to discourage people from buying new replacement engines and repairing their cars when they could obviously be (in the opinion of alfa and mercedes) buying a new car instead!!

I wouldn't have believed this prepostorous amount if the mechanic hadn't actually shown me the quote sent to him (I think the supplying company name was Wilims or something like that).

Reason the motor needs replacing is because the mechanic seems fairly certain it has bent conrods at the very least.

Has anybody else come across this ridiculous pricing strategy for new engines from alfa?  I'm seriously considering buying the vehicle back at salvage cost (indecently reasonable) and just leaving it in the garage until I have enough cash to rebuild or a decent second hand one comes up, the car has been deemed a "repairable write-off", there isn't a mark on it just a dead engine and the carpets a bit damp from the water seeping up through the floor

[colcol]

I heard of $30,000 for a replacement engine in a 159, that was a V-6 that was based on the Commodore, its only been out of production a few years and not that rare, they would still have a few in stock as legally they have to hold supplies for 7 years.
For the V-6 Busso, it has been out of production about 10 years, so they are a bit more valuable.
This is why being able to buy back the written of car is a good thing.
I would buy the wreck back off them and find someone wrecking a GT V-6 and get a motor and put it in.
If you can't find a GT on ebay or such, do a ring around the wreckers, try Monza Motors in Victoria for example.
I think that the V-6 in GT's are slightly different to say 156's due to engine bay restrictions, the manifolds are different and the power outputs vary, so try and get the correct one.
When the engine gulps some water, the motor has been 'hydraulic' it has tried to compressed water, which cannot be done, and bits get bent and broken, blocks have been known to break, Colin.

[zippytheclown]

thanks colcol, I will be buying the car back, it's too ridiculously cheap not too, and I can afford to wait for another motor to come up.  who new the air cleaner was so low in the front of the car? every other car in the world has the airbox near the top of the engine...............

[colcol]

If you have ever changed the air cleaner filter, you will see how low it sits, on the 156, it even has a cutout to feed air into, i suppose there wasn't enough room at the top to pickup cold air.
If you see flooded water or big puddles, give em a wide berth.
A few years ago when they had the floods in Queensland, quite a few Alfa 156 turned up cheap on ebay with 'water damaged' motors.
I remember about 30 years ago, when the Busso first came out, one of the Alfa Romeo Specialists down here in Victoria had a new one for,....... he tried interest me in it, it was covered up by a white sheet, pride of place in the workshop for $10,000, back in the day when that was half the price of a car it went in, Colin.

[zippytheclown]

yes, needless to say, if I get her back on the road again, I'll be steering clear of standing water.  I never realised the airbox was so low in the front, or I would've thought twice.  anyways, lesson learnt, I have a story to tell and nobody got hurt

[Craig_m67]

How deep was the water ??

There's a silver 3.2 GT in QLD forsale right now around $5k if you really need a new bolt in engine or core.  I'm sure somebody would buy the brakes/uprights off you and the gearbox at some stage to reduce your costs.

Be worth pulling your motor down to check first though... Have you tried drying it out and turning it over (by hand)?

[LukeC]

Back in about 1991, I repaired a 164 engine that had been through a flood up in near Mt Isa. Car only had about 30,000 km on it.

#1 rod was broken in half and had bashed the inside of the block and liner, but not holed it. It cleaned up ok with a die grinder. All other rods were OK (were checked for cracks and straightness). You could buy 1 rod, but only sets of P&Ls. Guy got pretty much a fresh engine out of the claim. I think the bill to the insurance company was about $4500 back then.

I remember he was an accountant in Mt Isa, and used the car to visit local towns and was scared of light planes, so had bought a car that was good at high speed. He told me to run it in, do the first service and make sure it still did 200 km/h.... it did!

He rang me up a few weeks later and said thanks, and it still did an indicated 230 km/h.

[zippytheclown]

I saw the GT up here for 6k in the car sales, I did think about going and having a look................

I've got the car home now and sitting under the house, I'm going to wait a while and then maybe see what second hand engines are available, the mechanic that inspected and submitted the quote to the insurer did tell me he got the motor started, but it was so rattly he shut it down immediately, not sure if i'm game to try it in case I do irrepairable damage to the block.

Just a side question, anybody advise how much effort involved in pulling the engine/box out? I don't have a lot of room but if it was straight forward enough I would think about it and then send it somewhere for inspection

[Craig_m67]

A good/working 3.2 is A$4-5k in the UK, and they have a lot more of them.

Easiest engine out is underneath with the gearbox attached.
Lots of stuff to remove, including subrframe (obviously), radiators, bumper .. but not complicated.

Plenty of project builds on AlfaOwner documenting what needs to happen.

You should also watch the auctions (pickles/Manhiem). I saw a working (rear end shunt) 147GTA go through for $1.7k a few months back.

[310]

that's sound bout right. we just replaced a engine in a 2014 FIAT 500 at work under warranty as the car only had 600kms. and the price was $10000trade $12000 RRP. with the price of a new car being $15000. I don't know why they do it. but that's still a new car so warranty covers it hopefully the prices will drop down.

[colcol]

Enzo, what caused the Fiat 500 motor to crap out when it had only done 600 klms?, Colin.

[zippytheclown]

I just spoke to Comet Automotive here in Briz, he's going to have a look around for a motor for me and give me a price to supply and fit.

Went to have a look at the 6k GT here, I was thinking it would be awesome to do an engine swap then just wreck it out, should've called first I guess, he sold it yesterday.  BUT, it had 149,000kms on it, I asked him when it last had cambelts done, he said he thought at 68000kms so maybe I dodged a bullet, and there might be one very disgruntled new alfa owner up here soon, mind you at that price if it's in good nick it's probably worth the new owner springing for belts/water pump anyway

[rowan_bris]

Why Comet for an Alfa?

[zippytheclown]

why not? they do alfas, they did my cambelts, the service was ok, mainly went there after advice from somebody else
 

Only other alfa mob I could think of up here is john french, is there somebody else?

[rowan_bris]

They are not someone I would think of in terms of Alfas. 


yes there are others - you can see them listed in the sponsors on the AROCA site for Queensland