'05' 2.0LTR, 156 JTS catalytic converters

[red156]

Hey there fellow Alfa lovers...

I'm just new to the forum and seriously considering joining the QLD club, I recently (about 8mnths ago) purchased a 2005 156 JTS, 2.0 ltr 5 spd....and I'm in love..!! this missus thinks I'm anal..but it's true love..!! lol ( she is jealous I don't pay as musch attention to her curves I think..!)
The car had 43,500k's on it wen I bought it, it now has about 54,000, i have had the cam/drive belt replaced,and one coil, and it is just about due for it's 2nd service since i have owned it...it has a couple of small issues that were there when we purchased it...the warning light for the passenger airbag on/off switch randomly comes on, the outer dial for the drivers side A/C control has come off so I cant adjust the A/C temp (16 deg..good in summer not so good in winter !!) oh yeah and just recently the horn stopped working...damn I miss the horn..!!
Now comes the clincher....we were down the Gold Coast on the weekend and it chucked a "engine failure--go to dealer" warning alarm at me...with all the bells and flashing etc...freaks me out everytime!!!
The engine is running fine still..I took it to Comet Auto and Steve put the diagnostic machine on it and apparently I have faulty catalytic convers...!!!  $$$$$$$
After scraping myself off the floor from being told the cost of replacement...i decided to go looking myself, below is a list of my options...

1: Replace the cat's with a second hand part..approx $1500-$1600 fitted

2: Knock the guts out of the cat's and fit a high-flow cat further down the exhaust system, moving the rear sensors to behind the new cat...as suggested by Rob at Rob Bliss exhaust in Geebung...approx $600-$800.

3: Purchase an after market "maniverter" from the UK..approx $550.00 (aud) delivered, plus fitting (maybe I could do this myself..?)

Option 2 is looking tempting just not sure how the engine management will handle the new readings it will get..??
Option 3 would be ok, but can I be sure that the part will fit my 05 model as I belive ther are some crossover models between 05 and 06..??

Any and all advice , comments or facts would be highly appreciated in helping me sort the little red devils drama out...!!!

Over and out...cheers Justin

PS: this is my 2nd Alfa experiance..my first love was a 1985 2.0 5 speed GTV...woohoo!!!

[John Hanslow]

Give Alfamotive a call on 07 3277-3186 and get an opinion from An Alfa Specialist.  They might have other options or better pricing giving you alternatives.

[Alfa_alchemist]

Unfortunately, faulty cat converters are a common sight on 156 JTS's - there seems to be two main causes for this:

1) Low quality of Australian fuel and;

2) Constant misfire problems that relate to JTS engines (these are usually caused by: faulty coil packs, bad front O2 sensors, dirty MAF's, stuck open thermostats that make the engine run cold and thus 'rich', high carbon deposits inside the engine, etc)

As the engine runs bad (usually rich) this 'poisons' the front cats. The problem seems to show up only when that dreaded 'MCSF' message comes on screen when you've been cruising and stays on.
The error will point to the O2 sensors behind the front cats - these sensors do not affect the ECU (they do not affect the fueling) as they are only there to 'spy' on the cat. Even when you remove the error it will come back after about 2000 km.

For most people it doesn't seem to affect the performance of the car in any way, so they just live with it (the truth is, at some point this problem will affect pretty much every JTS owner) so you can just learn to live with it (turn off the buzzer sound in the display menu and hit the 'info' button when you start the car to avoid the MCSF message flashing).

If you are set on fixing the problem, I wouldn't recommend replacing them with used ones, as you don't know what condition they're in - you can have the same problem pop up again 6 months later and you don't want that after you've spent $1500.

I also wouldn't go down the path of aftermarket cats - on the UK Alfa forums there are a lot of complaints about O2 sensors throwing up the errors again after those cats have been fitted.

As is the case with pretty much any other Alfa part - I would recommend you go new and genuine. Do not go through the official Alfa dealerships cause they will charge you through the roof. Try contacting independent Alfa specialists or an Alfa parts supplier such as Arese spares - check out the website.

[ForzaSab]

Go try APF up at Boondall.
When i got my cambelt fixed i was very impressed by his A) honest thoughts and B) his passion for Alfa's.
I live on the opposite side of Brisbane and would not hesitate to drive across to see him.

[red156]

thanks guys some very good info there...!!!

hey Forzasab...who is APF and do you have a contact number for them plz..??

Cheers

[ForzaSab]

 

A.P.F. Motors

Address: 97 Stanworth Rd, Boondall, QLD, 4034

Phone number: (07) 32654914

[wankski]

issue probably fixed... but if i were in the situation, quality aftermarket cat can be installed for a few hundred as suggested... or you can install a de-cat pipe at a regular exhaust place to get rid of the cat altogether...

if lambda causes issue, it can be soldered to an inline resistor to report correct value.

an alfa independant can give further advice...

[Jekyll and Hyde]

issue probably fixed... but if i were in the situation, quality aftermarket cat can be installed for a few hundred as suggested... or you can install a de-cat pipe at a regular exhaust place to get rid of the cat altogether...

if lambda causes issue, it can be soldered to an inline resistor to report correct value.

an alfa independant can give further advice...

You do realise that the front cats in a JTS are part of the extractors, yes?

[wankski]

You do realise that the front cats in a JTS are part of the extractors, yes?

ah yes, since cf3 on have 2 'pre cats' in the primaries and the main cat... my bad, i was refering to the main cat... if they are all bad... go option two...

i don't like the sound of tracking down new original primaries... makes sense, but where ever you find them....$$$