156 woes - fortunately not my car!

["John Fielding" <johnf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

I thought I would pass on a little bit of information I gathered on the flaky Alfa
electrics you all know so much about with the older models.  Well, it seems Alfa do not
learn, even with all of Fiat's wisdom!

Last week I was in one of my customers workshops working on an electronic problem on a
Porsche when in was driven a late model 156.  The car is about 3 years old and looked
quite well looked after by the owner.  Naturally being an Alfa I had to take a look to
satisfy my curiosity as I haven't had any contact with the new models.

The owner complained about a hunting idle and the engine did indeed seem to be possessed.
Hitting the acclerator pedal and releasing it made the idle sit up at about 3000rpm and it
wouldn't come down unless you switched off and then started the engine again.  Then it
would idle normally.  Punch the gas pedal again and it idled high.

The Bosch diagnostic system did not cover the 156 so the techs were a bit in the dark.
After doing the obvious checks for false air leaks etc attention focused on the idle speed
stabiliser which is mounted on the back of the throttle body and drives the butterfly
shaft to control the idle speed.  After a struggle this was removed and taken to a work
bench to figure out what was wrong.  Finally, as we couldn't fathom out what this black
plastic gizmo actually did, it was decided to open it up and take a look see inside.  This
part is made by Bosch in Spain.

Surprise!  Inside is a small Taiwanese origin electric motor, the sort used in cheap
kiddies toys, and a well chewed up worm gear and sector gear with a most of the teeth
missing.  This in principle is like the VW idle speed servo mechanism, but I was appalled
at the cheap and nasty design and construction.  As there was nothing we could do to fix
it and the owner wanted to get his car back in one piece, we called the Alfa agents for a
price for a replacement part.  You really don't want to know how much a new part is, it
would make you sick.

By contrast the VW version is a well engineered mechanism and rarely gives trouble.  It
uses a german made motor and although the gears are also plastic they are high quality,
incidentally also made by Bosch.  The VW Golf sells for about 1/2 the price of a 156 but
has a far superior servo mechanism.

So if you think the 156 is a wonderful car, take a closer look at the flaky electrical
bits fitted.

John
Durban
South Africa
Alfetta 1.8L turbo - no Bosch bits fitted any more!
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