the 3hr oil change

[extraball]

Had the 147 for a few weeks now, so decided to give it fresh oil. I was surprised to find that it took an allen key to remove the sump plug, but fortunately I had one. But the bloody plug wouldn't move, even with an extension. So I rigged-up a 1.5 metre extension, and all I was doing was making a barley twist of the allen key. Still I persisted, and after a ton of force, and some more twists in the allen key the plug moved! Yay, now to do the filter............It wouldnt budge, the tool was giving excellent grip, and eventually I gave it so much force that the tool also twisted-up, and is now useless. By now I am thinking this job should have been done at a workshop, but I like to try to and save some money, get the satisfaction of doing some stuff myself. Then my mind wandered back to the day I brought my second car, as a lad, an old VG Valiant. Same issue, the filter seemed to be welded-on. On that day I hammered a screw-driver through it, and managed to make it turn. So after some deliberation, I decided that this will be my plan of attack. Got on the net, looked at a guide to do changes on 147's, mainly to check how far the threaded piece of the oil assembly protrudes into the filter. Now, maybe some of you will wince.......I got out my cordless drill, and made a pilot hole in two places in the filter, then drove a screwdriver through it. Lots of oil pouring out by now, but I caught all but a few drops. Anyway with a screwdriver in the first hole, I was finally able to move it, but the screwdriver hit the sump, so I moved onto the next hole. Piece of cake by then, the filter was finally off! Makes me wonder about the servicing, the filter was pretty worn looking, no doubt on there too long. At least it will be an easier job next time!

[colcol]

Now get online and order yourself a new oil drain plug and dowty washer, as they will be cactus by now, my 156 had the same problem and the hex in it was rounded off, so i used a torx or spline socket to get the drain plug off, just hammered in the spline or torx socket in, the engineering term is broaching, the more common term is mongrelling, and got the drain plug off that way.
The dowty washer is like a washer with a seal in it, they are quite expensive, but you need one, they are available at bearing and seal supply places and the engineering term is dowty washer.
The oil filters get tighter with age, when you install a new one, put some oil on the rubber seal to allow it to slip, and do the filter up by hand only, the rubber seal over time will harden and make the filter harder to get off, as it will seem to tighten, then you will need a filter wrench to get it off, the strap type wrenches can sometimes slip, you can get filter wrenches that have teeth in them so they 'bite' into the filter, the harder you turn them, some filters have a hex on the end of them so that you can put a socket on the end to assist removal, but the drilling of a hole in the filter, and putting a screwdriver through, that is too kind, by the time i have reached that stage the screwdriver is hammered into the filter with the biggest hammer i can find.
3 hours to do a oil and filter change on a 4 cylinder 147-156 series, on a 6 cylinder 147-156, it usually takes that long, as you have to undo the power steering pump and move it, to get at the oil filter, GGGRRRR!, Colin.

[Neil Choi]

You want one of these.

Less than $10 at Supercheap.  Or $50 Snap On.

[Neil Choi]

Oh, sounds like at the previous service, the mechanic used a rattle gun and did up the sump plug and filter to 500Nm.

Probably a little too tight!!!

Sounds like you had a bit of fun anyway.  I thought the hardest part was undoing and redoing the hundred fasteners holding the undertray to the body.

[extraball]

oh great......I didn't have to remove any under tray, assume it's missing then? That kinda tops my day with the car, as I went for a run this arvo, and RHS wiper control arm broke off at the wiper end 

[extraball]

and that arm is looks to be integral to the wiper motor assembly? It's a fat round arm, metal up until it meets with the RHS wiper.

[extraball]

ah, did some searching on the net, common issue that arm breaking at the joint. Very expensive to buy complete assembly, but most people bodge them with good success. I have already glued it, and will brace it with metal plates, screws etc tomorrow.

[Neil Choi]

Call Monza Motors in Melbourne (03 9729 9946)

They have a fix or replacement for that problem, once done, will never happen again.

Sure your tray is missing, is it there?  It needs to be there to stop things flicking up onto the belts and causing havoc.

[extraball]

must be missing the tray. Thanks for name of the supplier, I will prob go that way if/when my repair fails.

[colcol]

And the tray is good for aerodynamics, it cleans up the airflow under the car, improving fuel consumption and performance, and it catches any coolant and fuel and oil, helping you to pinpoint any leaks, when i first got my 156, to remove the undertray, i needed 3 different tools, i replaced the 3 different fasteners with 6mm cap screws, so i only need a 5mm hex key to remove the undertray, why couldn't Alfa Romeo do the same?, Colin.

[extraball]

no doubt I will buy a tray, another thing for wishlist. Spent couple of hours on the wiper linkage today, the 147 now has good wipers. Wrapped 2 pieces of thin/bendable stainless steel around the rod, and plastic joint. Sunk a screw/nut through both ends, and threw on a hose clamp for good measure. Lucky it's something you cant see, because it looks worse 3rd world orthopedic surgury 

[Cool Jesus]

Bwah ha. ET, sounds like you had the same mongrel mechanic that worked on my 147. Fecken bone heads... I have spare 147 wipers if your surgery doesn't hold up 

[extraball]

thanks, I will let you know if it fails

[Beatle]

HINT:  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS undo a FILL plug before attempting to remove a DRAIN plug.   On anything. 

That way if you can't get the fill plug out. the engine/diff/gearbox retains oil so you can still drive it to a workshop.

BTW, I've used the screwdriver-through-the-filter and ended up rotating the screwdriver around enough to cut the filter in half, with the threads still jammed tight!!