Alfa 156 1.8TS engine management

[John S]

Anyone had experience of engine missing a beat on an Alfa 156 1.8TS. At any steady engine speed other than idle at 900-1000rpm when stationary the engine will miss a beat quite regularly. When moving in any gear, most noticeable @ 30mph in 3rd, the car will give a positive small lurch and then pick up immediately.
The other characteristics of he problem are that the idle speed is anywhere between 1000 and 2000 rpm and will not die back to 900 for a least a minute, or sometimes not at all, and on changing gear say dipping the clutch from a steady 2000 rpm, the engine speed can rise to 3500, even if I have lifted off the accelerator just before dipping the clutch. My local dealer is not a garage in which I have any faith, [they just failed to sort out my brakes, did not carry some out actions stated and wanted to charge me £7.20 to fill the washer bottle on service although it was already full!] so I need advice or for someone to tell me of a good Alfa specialist - my location is central south coast. mjohn.sheppard@btinternet.com

[AlfaRomeo156]

I know this may sound a bit strange but is your Air Con running when you're experiencing problems? My engine Idles fine when its off, but as soon as I switch on the Air Con it grumbles, and twitches on the verge of stalling, also power under 2200 RPM is very sluggish when the air con is on.... I'm taking my car to the dealer on thursday, because i think my Air Con might be a bit seized.

As for garages, don't know any unless you live in N.Wales!!! Have you tried calling the freephone number thats printed in your Alfa manual? They'll tell you your nearest dealer, also check the Alfa website, it may have a "Find A Dealer" button on there somewhere!

[John S]

Thanks for the thought, yes the air con will up the engine load - but mine has no air con - its an Irish car originally. John S.

[Jimster]

OK I have never heard of any of this happening before.........And I don't think the tech department have either.


My first thought is ECU, but I wouldn't count on it. I am dissapointed at the performance of fellow Alfa dealers in the UK as well, but I think that you should go ask some other Alfa owners opinions on a good deler

[AlfaRomeo156]

Ok, I'm having problems with my engine .... I thought it was the air con but it isnt...

sometimes the car is fine, idles fine and everrything, then all of a sudden the rev's will dip, the engine will be on the verge of stalling and takes a few seconds to revive if you dip the pedal. Also, while it's misbehaving you can foget a smooth ride at low speeds. Driving through a town when it's been bitchy is impossible, the car lurches and is horribly slow picking up.....

[Jimster]

Originally posted by John S
Anyone had experience of engine missing a beat on an Alfa 156 1.8TS. At any steady engine speed other than idle at 900-1000rpm when stationary the engine will miss a beat quite regularly. When moving in any gear, most noticeable @ 30mph in 3rd, the car will give a positive small lurch and then pick up immediately.
The other characteristics of he problem are that the idle speed is anywhere between 1000 and 2000 rpm and will not die back to 900 for a least a minute, or sometimes not at all, and on changing gear say dipping the clutch from a steady 2000 rpm, the engine speed can rise to 3500, even if I have lifted off the accelerator just before dipping the clutch. My local dealer is not a garage in which I have any faith, [they just failed to sort out my brakes, did not carry some out actions stated and wanted to charge me £7.20 to fill the washer bottle on service although it was already full!] so I need advice or for someone to tell me of a good Alfa specialist - my location is central south coast. mjohn.sheppard@btinternet.com

OK......Can you tell me what year your car is?- both of you........It could be a problem that has been ironed out in later models should it be an earlier one...so there could be a solution at hand

[AlfaRomeo156]

I've acctually got my problems solved now!!!
The stupid petrol cap turned out to be only a small part of the problem (I got a proper Alfa one for £9 anyway!) it was the Lambda Probe in the Exhaust that was shot, also the guy in the garage noticed that the connection to one of the plugs was a bit iffy...

I got a new probe fitted, and the guy replaced the cable for free because he had one lying about. She's now driving beautifully, a truly wonderful car and amazing for what it is (1.8)

[AlfaRomeo156]

I got my problem solved... it was the Lambda probe that was on it's way out!!

[Jimster]

excellent....................I was going to ask you to have the exhaust system checked

[AlfaRomeo156]

Ooops double post! Sorry, I posted the first message and the server keeled over, so I tried another (much shortes, as you see!) message and it worked.... strange, that other one must have slipped inbetween!

The guy at the garage gave us the old probe back and the tip looked like it had been melted? Strange.... apart from that he said the car and engine was tickedyboo!!

I now only have two slight problems with it now

Problem 1 - The cover that you can slide under the sunroof to kill out the noise has broken, something got caught and it was kinda forcefully wedged into the roof of the car by the sunroof! ooops! I got it out, its not much of a problem because I listen to music all the time in the car. the cover was quite grubby anyway!!!!

Problem 2 - The stereo overheats if you use the heater in the car... but I'm on the case, it's nothing an old 60mm computer fan can't fix!

[gemballa]

the problem is one of the sensors of the car!
had that problem with my spider!