DIY Guide for 147 GTA Autolusso Hose and Thermostat Fitting

[Bobulon]

This guide involves the replacement of my original cooling hoses with silicone jobs sourced from Autolusso (supplied with jubilee clamps) in the UK and a new thermostat obtained from EB Spares, also in the UK.

So first order of business is the tools you will need for this job - from memory 8,10,12 and 14mm sockets, socket extensions, 2 X 10mm spanners, a number 5 hex bolt (i think) fitting for your ratchet or driver, flat bladed and Phillips screw drivers, long nose pliers, a pry bar and not pictured but most important, a heat gun!



Next up is removing your undertray if you have one. I don't so that isn't covered here but it's easy enough - just jack up the front of your car, support with jack stands and undo the required bolts. Next is getting the front bumper off, which required removing the front part of the front wheel arch liner on both sides of the car:



the screws you can see circled here by my laughable MS Paint skills are the ones you need to remove to drop the front of the liner - you don't need to take the whole thing out. Needless to say you have to get the wheels off first  :mrgreen:



Looking inside the bumper from the wheel well you can see these two bolts, use your two 10mm spanners to get these off to release the sides of the bumper. There are also little locating studs on there so just give the sides of the bumper a firmish yank to pop those out of their grooves. This step will need to be done on both side of course.

Under the bumper you will see three bolts holding it in place so get these off, then lift the bonnet and remove the four hex bolts holding the top of the bumper in place. Have a sheet or some flattened cardboard boxes to protect the bumper ready. As you remove it you will need to disconnect the fluid line going to the headlight washers and also the electrical connector for the indicators. The put the bumper aside out of the way.



Next up is the lower radiator support panel. You need to get this out of the way to get access to the connector that attaches the bottom radiator hose to the radiator. It's a simple job with just four bolts holding it in place. You may want to have your jack stand reay though as sometimes the radiator will drop down when you remove this and you can use your jack to hold it in place.



I like to clean and refurb parts that I take off as I go while doing any job so here I resprayed the support panel and soaked the rubber mounts in one of my favourite products, Bowdens Vinyl Revival -  the only product on the market that is formulated to actually restore old synthetics not just protect them. I love this stuff.



Now it is time to tackle the dreaded bottom hose connector. Apparently many people have broken these while trying to remove the hose but for me it was as easy as ignoring an engine warning light on my dash. First actually disconnect the smaller hose that comes off that t-junction as that will give you more control over where your existing coolant will flow - namely into your bucket. Take the cap off your expansion tank first of course. When it stops draining it's time for the magic to happen. Dont try to disconnect the plastic joiner from the radiator like a J00b - (Army slang for Just Out Of Basic) as this is where your heat gun comes into play. Heat that sucker up to soften it and avoid any cracking and regrettable breakages, that connector is actually part of the radiator and if you break it you're in a world of hurt. I also sprayed the connector liberally with Vinyl Revival and let it soak in for 10 minutes which also softens it up. With those two steps taken and squeezing both the metal clips above and below the joiner it came straight off without a word of complaint. Easy peasy.



Your next step is to get the induction system out of the way, which is simply a matter of loosening the clamps from the throttle body, oil return line and the MAF body just above the air filter box. Under that you will see the two main hoses you will be replacing. Unfortunately there is a junction box full of electrical connectors in the way, Don't be intimidated by these little sods just show them who's boss by opening the lid an carefully manipulating them out and to the side so you can get access to the two screws that hold the box in place. you may need to disconnect on of these connectors to do so:



As you can see it's a weird little mongrel, and obviously thought up by some Alfa technician who'se wife had just left him and had decided he was going to take it out on everyone who had to change a V6 thermostat. As you can see on the picture there is an odd little clip on the side that needs to be lifted up, this unlocks the ability to move the top part of the connector sideways which in turn allows you to disconnect it. This is the only connector of this type in the known universe and I sincerely hope whoever designed this died of an exploding spastic colon on their wedding day.

Once this junction box is out of the way you can get full access to the bolts holding on the thermostat and it's now a simple job of replacing the old with the new, after cleaning off the old gasket remnants and putting a new one in place. Of course disconnect the old hose first! You can now also disconnect the upper radiator hose and replace it with your sexy silicone version. These hoses may be held in place by one of those hellspawn single use clamps that were designed by the aforementioned designer who's spastic colon hadn't yet brought about his impending demise but luckily for you I have a mini guide here on how to defeat his evil intentions:



There are actually two ways of tackling this beast born of hatred and despair and the madness brought about by the designer of this contraption having an incredibly small penis. The largish loop section is actually a separate part held on by two small tabs on either side. A small flat bladed screwdriver can lift these tabs out of the way allowing the bulbous loop to simply slide sideways out of the way allowing you to cut the bits underneath with sidecutters and opening the clamp. If you can't get at that part as it's out of reach there is another fastener shown in the yellow circle which can be opened up with a small flat blade, if you lift both sides of those tabs then get underneath the bit under them it releases the grip on the clamp and allows them to move, loosening it and allowing you to move the whole thing. Et Voila!



So now your new hose and thermostat upgrade should look something like this, however there is one more to go, but it's an easy one. This hose goes from the expansion tank down to the steel hose that runs along the bottom of the radiator like so:



With this one it;s just a matter of disconnecting the old hose and feeding the new one up or down, depending on what makes you comfortable, and connecting it at both ends.

Nearly Done! Prior to doing this I had a radiator flush in my system for a few weeks (In the instructions for these things it says like 20 minutes but as I was changing all the hoses anyway, and it's the hoses that get damaged from excessive use, I wanted to get a really good flush going. Plus I was getting gunk in my expansion tank after only a few months from replacing it so wanted to do a big clean out.



I used the VERY slow but thorough recirculating method of flushing the system by basically connecting a long hose to the top engine outlet, turning the heater on and just filling the expansion tank over and over with the engine running until the coolant coming out was clear. I then put in my new coolant into the expansion tank until the colour started coming through nice and strong, and then switched off the engine. There was a bit of settling and i had to top off a few times but since then no more gunk in the tank.

On a side note i also found an effective way to clean that gunge out of expansion tanks - Wheel Cleaner! Half a bottle in the tank, give it a swoosh with the holes sealed up, let it soak for 5 minutes. Another swoosh, another soak, another swoosh and a VERY through rinse and it was good as new.



The finished job, with sexy new silicone hoses and a nice clean tank! I hope you have enjoyed this guide and put it to good use. Stay tuned for my next installment on turning your manky door handles into Italian leather luxury items that your Alfa can't live without  :mrgreen: