RE: Misbehaving GTV6 and Milano 3.0

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

Alfa V6 under hood electrics - gotta love 'em!

> Here are the problems with the Milano:
> 1. In the last two weeks it happened twice that while
> driving the brake pedal becomes very hard, loses power
> assist and the brake light flashes. Scary in heavy
> traffic when you find out that your car does not stop

Most likely the fuse (the big one under the hood?), or a connection, to
the ABS pump.  Check all electrical connections in the system,
particularly under the hood.

> 2. Sometimes, after the engine starts, the warning
> lights would start flashing randomly (like a Christmas
> tree) front door, back door, battery, steering etc.

The infamous ARC.  One or more of the sensors that feeds one of the
idiot lights in the ARC has a bad connection.  Given the above brake
problems, I'd start there - chances are once you sort out your brakes,
the ARC will stop acting up.

> And here are the problems with the GTV6:
> 1. There is no clear pattern, but I noticed that it
> happens more often in lower gear (2nd): the power cuts
> off completely for about one or two seconds When power
> comes back it jolts the transmission and the whole car
> very badly. This cant be good for the clutch and
> transmission

On the Alfa V6, there are a couple of sensors feeding the ECU that if
they loose power, can cause a non-running situation.

Any sensor located at the front of the motor (in the water pump area)
can cause these symptoms.  It's most likely a connection to a sensor,
rather than the sensor itself.  Pull apart each connection, one by one,
clean it, and put it back.  Other problematic areas are the combo relay
on the passenger side firewall.

Are you noticing a common trend here?  Alfa V6's are famous for
electrical connector problems, particularly under the hood.  For both of
your cars, I'd clean and detail a lot of the wiring in the engine
compartment, paying particular attention to the sensors at the front of
the motor, any ground wire, and the injector grounds at the rear of the
RHS cylinder head.

> Anybody else has experienced anything like that?

Oh yea, everybody with an Alfa V6 has at some time or another..

HTH,

bs
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