147 snapped timing belt

[prova]

Thanks guys .... I think a replacement engine is the way to go and thanks for the advice regarding Alfaworkshop. Cool Jesus I have sent you a PM .... was hoping you might give me a call about the engine you mentioned? Thanks, Ren.

[dehne]

Hi there
I have a complete 2001 147 3door manual for sale engine is in great cond, I'm chasing $1000ono for it call or txt on 0418711643 and I can send pics. Engine has about 200,000kms on it

[Cool Jesus]

Mate that's not bad. I'm not sprucing dehne's sale here. You can drive it home and strip one or the other for spares and tip the rest l. There's a plethora of future savings, best purchase I ever made was a semi complete wreck which harvested $1000's in spares for my 147.

[kaleuclint]

I'm reading this and thinking to myself: unless known otherwise, fit a new belt at purchase.  Looking for an Alfa for Junior at the moment.

[dehne]

Plus has a full set of koni yellows as well

[prova]

Thanks Dehne ... i'll keep your car in mind, cheers, Ren

[prova]

First of all a big thank you to everyone who gave me some advice when I first posted. The car is up and running again!

I ended up fitting a second hand engine freighted down from NSW for $650 all up which I think is a great price for an engine with 89,000Kms. Had the engine fitted by a young local mechanic as a 'homer'. He fitted my new belts and water pump (these two items I supplied), changed engines over, new oil/filter, etc for $800 and I drove the car home happily! The water pump and genuine belts cost me around $320. $1720 in total for the entire job.

On the second day the engine developed a miss. I changed over the coil packs to my old ones which I knew were good but no improvement ... actually the miss got worse. Bought fancy new plugs ($245 set of - the engine idled smoothly but the miss still occurred when revving with the mandatory and painful dash warnings. I gave up for a while and then did a bit of online research and decided to do the manual ecu reset. This worked really well and the car was driving again but it did do a couple of small misses at the very start of my 15 minute test drive. I drove it again later that evening and all was very well. Since then I have completed another two drives of 30 mins with one small miss per drive. Ill keep driving it and see how it goes ... next proper service I will get the codes checked properly.

I read a lot of 'for and against' the manual ecu reset but in my case it got my car driving again.

Also of note ... my snapped timing belt appeared to be in excellent condition but was obviously stretched and snapped by the absolutely buggered (missing teeth, worn out) balance shaft belt. I think at some stage the timing belt was replaced but not this belt which is such a bodge job! My advice to anyone buying a 147/156 twin spark with no concrete service records of a recent cam belt fitting ... get a new one on immediately. And what I have learnt is that I am 48 years old and still learning everyday!

Cheers, Ren

[johnl]

I've never had a timing belt let go, but have been told and have read that old timing belts can look as if they are in good nick, but break anyway. They can also strip teeth, which in the end can be just as bad if more than a few disappear.

It's my understanding that a balance shaft belt can't hurt the timing belt unless it breaks and / or comes off, and then gets tangled up with the timing belt and cogs. The worst that could happen if the balance belt strips teeth or jumps teeth on a cog  (but doesn't come off) is for the engine to vibrate more.

When I changed the timing belt on my TS 147, the balance shaft belt went in the bin. IMO it's just an unnecessary risk to keep it. There is tad more vibration, but hardly noticeable.

Regards,
John.

Also of note ... my snapped timing belt appeared to be in excellent condition but was obviously stretched and snapped by the absolutely buggered (missing teeth, worn out) balance shaft belt. I think at some stage the timing belt was replaced but not this belt which is such a bodge job! My advice to anyone buying a 147/156 twin spark with no concrete service records of a recent cam belt fitting ... get a new one on immediately. And what I have learnt is that I am 48 years old and still learning everyday!

Cheers, Ren

[prova]

The balance shaft belt was snapped and by the look of it had got between the pulley and the timing belt .... stretching and snapping it.

[Craig_m67]

I'm reading this and thinking to myself: unless known otherwise, fit a new belt at purchase.  Looking for an Alfa for Junior at the moment.

What about an Alfa Junior.. Resplendent with rust in all the usual places. Would easily drive it anywhere though, mechanically it's lovely 

[johnl]

The balance shaft belt was snapped and by the look of it had got between the pulley and the timing belt .... stretching and snapping it.

Misread your meaning. I read it as the balance belt still being on its cogs. Mental note not to read and reply to posts when I've had almost no sleep...

Still, no errant  balance belt will ever avoidably wreck my engine, since its landfill now. Seriously, the balance belt does nothing of significant importance on the TS engine, other than increase risk and maintenance costs. The TS runs quite smoothly enough without it.

Regards,
John.

[psproule]

Ren, glad to hear it's up and running. Get yourself a cheap VAG Alfadiag OBD cable such as this one; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Alfa-Romeo-147-156-DIAG-CABLE-SOFTWARE-VAG-USB-OBD2-SELESPEED-AIR-ABS-ECU/122343405162. You might need a driver patch for the counterfeit serial chip that it will have but that's easily overcome nowdays. Then license a copy of Multiecuscan. The diagnostics info available through the Alfa ECU's is quite impressive for the era and very helpful, particularly where the software translates all into plain english along with diagnostic hints and tips. Also gives access to various tests and routines. I find it invaluable for working on our two Selespeeds. And get a copy of the workshop manual - also on ebay.

Re the miss, keep an eye on outputs of the airflow sensor and the Oxy sensor. With Multiecuscan you can graph their outputs and compare with examples of normal sensors from the net or the specifications manual. A lazy / slow O2 sensor can cause some hiccups. They can misfire or stumble a little bit during warm up as it transitions from open to closed loop mode under control of the O2 sensor. But in normal driving it shouldn't misfire at all, particularly with new plugs and known good coils. If it misses often enough on one particular cylinder the ECU will log a code for that specific cylinder (again - Multiecuscan) and you could swap coils to another to see if the fault follows.

Pat

[prova]

Thanks Pat for your post ... much appreciated. I think the next step is to buy all the items you suggested. Funny though the car is running really well now and has not missed a beat or brought up any warnings/beeps on my last 5 or 6 drives. Happy days!