Alfa 147 GTA Problems

[Stuart]

Hi,

I own a 2005 Alfa 147 GTA Selespeed which is less than 12 months old.
I have had some recent problems with the diff and gear box which Alfa have attributed to "driving style" i.e. not warranty.

I would like to know:

a) if anyone has experienced similar problems with this diff/gear box in a 147 GTA, 156 GTA or Alfa GT
b) what kind of "driving style" or treatment could cause a major break such as this?

NB: the car has never been on the track although sold with a Sandown Level 2 driving course and is used mainly for city driving i.e. very few opportunities to "drive" the car.

I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks,
Stuart

[john]

Hey Stuart,
  To say that this sort of incident is quite common is an understatement,especially in Australia.I have a couple of friends to whom the same thing happened,both times with Ateco & the dealer trying hard to pass the buck back to the owner.I would have thought by now they realise there's a serious weakness in the planteray gears for the gearbox and diff.We had an expert test these parts a while back and he found the particular alloy used as the planetary gear was not strong enough to meet the design strength at just 50% throttle.
In both cases both GTA owners had to fight vigourosly for warranty to honor their claims.One had his replaced as a "goodwill" gesture while the other recieved part reimbursement for repair costs.
  I find it despicable that they still insist it's down to driver abuse when there have been so many cases in Oz.This is the problem with the aftersales support Alfa need to address before people start trusting them to buy another newer model.

[Peter]

Hey Stuart,
My son's GTA has just done in the diff. 2 months out of warranty and the dealer says that he has abused the car so Ateco will not assist. The car was used by a director of Ateco for about 4500 km and my son has since clocked up another 35k. The diff just went bang and broke up into pieces - it actually shot a piece through the gearbox housing. The dealer has come back today and said that Ateco will not consider assisting.
He has not hammered the car at all and it has never been on the track.
This is obviously a problem with the GTA and it is a disgrace that the importers willnot do anything to help.
I am pretty discusted!
Peter

[Peter]

By the way John, what does one have to do to get Ateco to come to the party?
Regards
Peter

[Sam]

Folks,

This is really a sad situation.

I remember reading a review / comparison of the GTA against some other cars. They said it went great, until it broke a diff (or was that a drive shaft?)!
This was a couple of years ago, so I would have thought they (Alfa) would have had a recall on it, or at least offered some help.
Keep in mind these are fairly expensive cars.

Also, can someone tell me why so many 159s are braking Cam belts?
I know they changed the replacement interval from 80,000K to 60,000K, but I can't understand how a cheap little Holden Rodeo can go 120,000K on a timimg belt, but an expensive Alfa can't go more than 60 ?.

Can't they find a better solution ? like stronger belts?

Sam

[Evan Bottcher]

Also, can someone tell me why so many 159s are braking Cam belts?

That would be 156s (and 147s)? - I believe the 159 now has a timing chain in both 4cyl and 6cyl varieties...

[Sam]

Yes 156 + 147s have the timing belts.
A freind of mine is a car wholesaler.
He said the re-sale value on these cars has dropped due to peoples perception of timing belt issues

[Scott Farquharson]

Yes timing belts on 156/147's are a problem.  Change every 50k or face the consequences.  I did one at 60k.  16 bent valves.  Many more have done the same.

[Southern75]

We had David Stone from Ateco at the club night in December and he openly sstated that there were problems with the diff but he believed that many were subject to abuse. Ateco would help but they always investigate, but hey this could be sales propaganda.

He gave an example of one reaching the rev limiter 175 times ... unfortuately Ecu's can tell the truth.

My advice .... find someone who can flash the ecu first!!

[Scott Farquharson]

He gave an example of one reaching the rev limiter 175 times ... unfortuately Ecu's can tell the truth.

So what's wrong with that?  My 156 reaches the rev limiter 175 times a week.  Are they saying they have set the limiter too high?  Or what is the point of the rev limiter?

[Southern75]

maybe this is the case?