I have a 2.0 156 sportspack 111 from new since 2000. Car is beautiful but has broken my heart. The engine management system was replaced in the first three months, ditto for all four shocks and steering rack, 5th gear went , head gasket blew, two new throttle boddies and its still not going right. Have had it in the garage more times that I want to recount and they still cant figure why is not running right. The engine pick up is erratic below 3000 revs and it feel like its misfiring but two diffeernt Alfa garages have not been able to diagnose the problem. All said it still a great drivers car and now that i have suffered all this pain with it and its worth nothing I'm going to hold on to it for ever.
the cars before 2001 had some problems, mostly electronical failures which can cost you a lot of many,to be safe by one from 2002, they solved most of the problems
the cars before 2001 had some problems, mostly electronical failures which can cost you a lot of many,to be safe by one from 2002, they solved most of the problems
All the alfa 156, especially the jtd had electronical problems in the beginning, it was the first car they put full of electronics. The new boardcomputer that was installed with the face lift on the inside, tells you immidiatly what the problem is so you don't drive further and you have less risk to damage some other parts, which happend before when you didn't see or knew the problem and keep on driving. The new electronics are much more reliable now then before 2001.
weird ,) I have 1998 model and never had any electronic problems. But it seems that new models (2002> ) with VDC,MSR and other "computer" stuff suffers a lot more...
Never heard of jtd problems before other then a flat spot in the power curve of some 2.4 jtds. My 2001 jtd has now covered 215,000 kms and still running very smoothly.
And imho the first series 156 has hardly more electronics on board then a 155. The first Alfa that really got stuffed with lots of electronics is the 147. Even up today the 147 has features the 156 (MkIII) still doesn't have, like follow me home lights, remote control for electric windows etc.
What do people think about the longterm durability and ability to take punishment (like hitting large potholes at speed on crummy roads) of the rear suspension on the 156? I have had a look under a couple of them on the hoist at my mechanic's here in Italy and noticed that the main control arms are tubular steel and the wishbones (?) are only pressed steel, pivoting on an aluminium subframe. My wife hit a huge pothole at 100kph in our Volvo 480 turbo one night a few months ago and all it did was dent the front driver's side mag wheel rim and damage the sidewall of the tyre. It didn't even upset the wheel alignment! I wonder how a 156 would have gone?
I have a alfa 156 selespeed , great car but I need help with a recent problem with the gearbox system , the warning light keeps coming on at odd times , the gear change has become sluggish , and now is starting to either drop out of gear randomly , or wont start , untill i put it through the gears , or will start but wont go into gear , I believe the problem is electrical as the box in the passenger foot well keeps clicking in time with the gearbox , does anyone know a cure , hopefully cheap , I only need the car for another 1000 miles tops please let me know at pjh656@gmail.com thanks
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