About to join the ranks of the passionate

[Expat]

Greetings to the members of AROCA. I have signed up to this forum as I am about to purchase a 2005 156 JTS selespeed, my first Alfa. Having read through many threads, the members here are obviously a knowledgeable bunch and I am hoping that you might be able to give me a few "pointers" to check prior to parting with my hard earned cash.

So if anyone has 5 minutes to spare, I would appreciate a few tips. Thanks and looking forward to an new experience.

[dehne]

make sure it has full service history from a good alfa mech, ask about any issues with the sele, take it for a good run first anmd enjoy

[colcol]

If possible, take it to an Alfa specialist, to get it checked over, have a look in the sponsors part of the forum or magazine, the 156's require regular cam belt changes, 60,000 or every 4 years whichever come first, also the oil changes must not be skipped as this can cause run bearings and worn camshaft lobes, the oil used on the JTS is 10-60 fully synthetic racing oil, anything less will ruin engine life, at around 100,000 the 4 lambda sensors will need to be replaced, any problems with sensors will show up with a engine computer fault light, the selespeed should checked out and make sure it is selecting all the gears, if it won't select a gear it is most likely a sensor fault, not the actual gearbox itself, after about 120,000 it will require a new clutch, the front suspension will start to clunk around 100,000, usually it is fixed by replaceing the upper and lower control arms, it is cheaper to replace the whole control arm, than to muck around replaceing ball joints and bushes, also the sway bar bushes can wear and cause noise on the front and the sway bar links may need to be renewed at the same time, have a look at the interior and make sure the climate control system works, these can be expensive to fix and make sure windows and central locking work and you have 2 ALFA keys with it, hope all this helps, Colin.

[Victor Lee]

... the 156's require regular cam belt changes, 60,000 or every 4 years whichever come first

You sure 4 years, Col?  When we bought our 156, I'm sure I read 60,000 km or 3 years, whichever came first.

If it's a 2005 car, then the cambelt change is due soon.  Check the cost to do this from an Alfa repairer... prices seem to vary from $800 and up (and up!).

Good luck with the purchase and enjoy it!

[colcol]

Well spotted Victor!, everyone seems to have a different story on time and distance, heres the story so far, 1997 Alfa releases 156, belt changes are 4 years or 60,000, or whichever come first, same as 33 and Alfasud, so i will remember that, then plastic brittle automatic belt tensioners start to shatter in cold climates, which makes the belt go loose, therefor its called a cam belt failure, rather than a recall to replace plastic tensioners with metal ones, Alfa changes downward, cam belt changes to 50,000 or 3 years, in the hope to get rid of all plastic tensioners on the quite, so you could say it is 50,000 with plastic tensioners, hard driving, lots of city traffic, extended idling, in hot conditions and in dusty areas, and for metal tensioners with no track work not too much city driving,no extended idling, no extreme hot weather or dusty conditions 60,000 or 4 years, everyone has a different opinion of this subject on what the time and distance is, personally i changed mine at 3 years 37,000kls, next time you get the chance have a look at the cam belt and see what a mighty amount of work these do and make up your own mind, Colin.

[Expat]

Thanks to all for your advice  .

The dealer has replaced the cam belt and associated items (2005 model with 70,000ks) so I went ahead and put the money down. Here's hoping for bit of driving joy on a daily basis.

Look forward to "chatting" with you all and renewing my interest in things mechanical.