Alfa 90 "issues"

[Rocco166]

Hi all,

I've just gotten my '85 Alfa 90 re-registered after a 7 month recommissioning at a local (perth) specialist Alfa mechanic - it passed the roadworthy fine but now I have driven the car myself there are a couple of things that I am curious about :

under heavy acceleration (as in - when trying to merge onto the freeway) there is a constant knocking sound from the front of the car which I think is the engine  it's not noticable when the car is idling or under light acceleration or when cruising along - the engine has had new mounts/exhaust and all the brackets appear in order.....any ideas what the noise could be?? it is a bit tappetty at idle but my mechanic reckons it's a "hard job" to sort out the noise so has left it as is....   I fear that it might be a bearing that's given out but as the car has only travelled 74,000 klms I am hoping that's impossible or highly unlikely..

secondly it was fitted with a double clutch which I had reconditioned it works fine but only "grabs" at the top of the clutch pedal travel, as a tall bloke it means that my left knee is up past the steering wheel every time I use the clutch - my mechanic has told me that there is no adjustment to lower the point on the pedal to make it more comfortable to use - is that right??  prior to the car being laid up the clutch was on the way out so that might account for the change since I last drove the car....

Also I am on the hunt for a working trip computer (from the centre console) or at least one that has a working LCD display - mine had died after 7 years of storage in a hot shed 

[dehne]

i have the trip comp, not to sure on the engine noise but how it the front donut it might be a little worn,cracked, with the clutch prob have you checked the slave cyl at the gearbox these sometimes get crap in them also check the line from the brake master cyl to the clutch master as it might have a small hole/crack in it that would cause the clutch prob, other than that how is the car driving and are you enjoying it

[Rocco166]

Hi Denhe

great!!  If I can buy a comp from you that'd be great and thanks for the suggestions on the possible cuase of the knocking, I'll get that looked into but from memory I did get all the mounts and bushes replaced as they had perished a bit due the long period of inactivity...

Aside from the teething issues the 90 is a nice drive once you get used to it - i think that's where my expectations and the reality of driving a 25yr old car have not quite matched, I guess with my current garage I am a bit spoilt for choice and the other cars are newer - I am sure that over time I will fall in love with this car all over again    it is frustrating though to have paid so much money to my mechanic and still ended up with a car that's not 100% - every time I look at the 5-page invoice and the dent that it put in my bank account it reminds me never to do this sort of thing again...

[bteoh]

Hey Rocco,

Who did the work on your 90 in Perth? Just curious, that's all.....

Hope you get more fun out of it in due course.

Cheers,
Brian

[ARQ164 Shane]

i had that in my alfa 75 it was the nut on the tie rod .
see if that helps
cheers Shane

[Typhoon90]

Knock under hard acceleration could be pinging, it it a light, higher pitched/ frequency sound or a heavier, hard, lower frequency sort of knock?
An Alfa specialist thinking valves are "too hard" to adjust? Wow, go elsewhere next time! Shims are not at all hard to adjust , time consuming maybe, but not hard!
My 90 has the clutch engaging way at the top end of it's travel, and the road test I have a copy of from 85 mentions the same thing.
I plan on bending all the pedals on my car closer to the firewall, they're all WAY too high and have plenty of travel to achieve this.

Regards, Andrew.

[alfagtv152]

Hi Rocco,
As an X 90 owner I can tell you when I got mine it had 40,000 kms on it and the clutch always took near the top,on all the 90's and GTV6's I test drove so do not worry about that.As far as valve clearance adjustment I have to agree with Andrew(typhoon 90) he can't be much of Alfa mechanic,Inlet valves are shimmed and the exhaust is just a screw adjustment type of thing.
If the pedals are to close for you guys don't mess with the pedals,that wouldn't be good,just space the steering wheel away from the column until your feet are cumfy.You can buy different lenght adaptor kits for aftermarket wheels or get something engineered to suit.
I loved my 90 and really enjoyed the light show of the STARWARS DASH,never had any trouble with it electrically except for a bad earth in the boot,maybe because I'm an electrician they behave!.
Cheers
Andrew

[JOHN G]

Hi Rocco,


As I am aslo from Perth can you please tell us who the mechanic was you used? if you are not comfortable posting on here can you pm me thanks.

90 clutches do have a high take up point.

Always looking fo another 90 so if you every want to sell let me know

John

[dehne]

will pm my bank dets when i get home, and can you pm me ur address, if you need anything else let me know as i have heaps of 90 parts, john i have a 87mdl super 90 with 16inch 156 rims on it for sale atm,

[ARQ164 Shane]

what oil are you using ? if the oil runs to thin the oil pump would not cope or it could be the spring the oil pump.
use an idea

[Sheldon McIntosh]

An Alfa specialist thinking valves are "too hard" to adjust? Wow, go elsewhere next time! Shims are not at all hard to adjust , time consuming maybe, but not hard!

To be fair to the mechanic, I think we need to know more about the problem before we slag him off.  And Rocco never said that the mechanic said that the valves are hard to adjust.  Also, it's not clear if he means that the mechanic says it's too hard to fix the 'tappety at idle' or the knocking at high acceleration.  (Of course it could just be that I've missed something here)

I was of the impression that even the healthiest V6s are always slightly tappety anyway?  Am I wrong in this impression?

Could you add any more details Rocco?  You say it's only under hard acceleration, so do you mean it's at high revs or under high load?  Does it make the noise at standstill if you rev the engine hard?

And yes, they always have a high clutch take-up point.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

I plan on bending all the pedals on my car closer to the firewall, they're all WAY too high and have plenty of travel to achieve this.

Jeez, I'd think very hard before doing that.  I've had brake pedal to the floor at least once (coming into turn one at Sandown granted, but still, it could happen on the road), and some extra clutch travel needed once to get me to the mechanics before it failed.  My first 90 had the accelarator bent over and down a little bit, but I didn't notice until I got the second one.  I found those pedals really comfortable, even on Melb-Syd trips.  An extra carpet helped also, for long freeway trips only of course.

[alfagtv152]

 it is a bit tappetty at idle but my mechanic reckons it's a "hard job" to sort out the noise so has left it as is.... Angry
I think you missed it Sheldon!
Cheers
Andrew

[Brad M]

"Hard Job" could mean it is going to take a far bit of time, question is do you want to pay for that time?

[Rocco166]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the suggestions on the knocking noise in my 90's engine - as far I can tell the noise only occurs when the car is on the move and under hard acceleration - I'll look into it further when I get the car back from having a new thermostat that works installed and the dodgy immobiliser replaced - both things were issues from day 1 but also went unaddressed during the 7 month rebuild.

Just to clarify the mechanic issue - the guy I used is a German and Italian specialist and had previously rebuilt the engine in my '81 Mercedes and did a fantastic job which i why I chose him to do the recommissioning on my 90, I chose to minimise the labour costs (his hrly rate is $30 an hr cheaper) on the rebuild but in hindsight (which is always 20/20) I think instead I should have stuck with my regular Alfa mechanic who services my 166 - he charges more per hour but knows his stuff and has all the contacts you need when you're trying to track down those elusive parts.

Once all the current issues are sorted out I'll be taking the car back to my regular mechanics for a proper assessment of what still needs doing and get an estimate of the $$$'s involved to get the car back to a more useable standard.