alfa faq

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@xxxxxxxxx>]

hello all,

well, it's friday again, and after answering yet another electrical related
alfa question i decided it's time to perform a public service to the list in
the form of an alfa faq.

question 1:  i'm having a problem with my alfa.

answer:  it's in the wires.  it's always in the wires.  alfa uses connector
technology that was developed prior to ben franklin's kite flying incident,
and they always fail.  poor electrical connections are responsible for 99%
of all problems in all alfa's.  if it doesn't start, run's poorly, stumbles,
or a light bulb doesn't work, chances are there's a bad connection somewhere
that's responsible.  if the temp reads high or the oil pressure reads low,
it's a connector.  (well, in that case *maybe* the oil pressure sender is
bad).

on earlier cars, any connection in the car can cause a problem.  clean and
detail everything.  pay special attention to the fuse box, especially the
fuse holders themselves.  on the later cars (bosch injected), pay special
attention to anything under the hood, especially any wire for any sensor at
the front of the motor (side of the motor with water pump for fwd cars), and
always, for any car, check the grounds.  v6's, don't forget the ones at the
rear of the rhs cylinder head.

question 2:  ok, i've detailed all the connectors, and it still doesn't
work.  what now?

answer:  relays.  add them everywhere.  a perfectly normal alfa wiring
system that is working as intended (yeah, right!) still falls short in a
couple of areas, most notably, the current load on some switches.  the most
commonly overloaded switches in an alfa are all conveniently located right
in front of you, next to the steering wheel (rhd may vary).  they're the
ignition switch and the headlight switch.  both are designed to handle only
about half of the current load that is placed on them (or so it seems), and
they will fail.  the ignition switch will fail prior to your job interview,
and the headlight switch will fail right around inspection time, so plan
your relay upgrades accordingly.

add a starter relay between the ignition switch and the starter/solenoid.
add standard 12 volt relays between the headlight switch and the headlights
(duh!).  don't forget the high beams.  installation of relays in these areas
will prolong the life of the switches indefinitely.

there.  that about covers it.  the questions may be frequent, and may all be
different, but that's the answer for 99% of them.  the rest usually involve
spark plugs, oil, filters, or modifications, and there are no right answers
for those questions.

bs, alfa faq author

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