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PietereQ · Post by **PietereQ** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:11 pm

Murray I did it already. Disconnecting the cold start injector won't do. Hower I managed once to start the engine after cranking it for 12 seconds or so and it was running very poor - not on all cylinders.

Matt, yes I noticed that the one of the sparks has different number on it. I'll have to ask those pros who replaced it

Anyway at both garages they stated that there is a "weak spark"

Guess that for starters I'll do what Mats suggested, I'll buy new distributor cap & rotor, maybe better counterpart for the stock coil, and new hi-voltage wires to the sparkplugs.
Now two questions
-How much would such part cost
-Do I have to buy original alfa parts (cap&rotor) or are there any other available counterparts? If so could you recommend any products etc?

Thanks,
Pete

matt · Post by **matt** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:47 pm

All the stuff should be bosch or marelli so you don't have to buy genuine "alfa" $$$ parts here, go some where that stocks Bosch or marelli parts too for a price comparison.
The cap shouldn't be too expencive as its usually Bosch, the rotor can be expencive, look around. I got quoted over $100 for a rotor once, never bought it.
"IF" you find the rotor over priced where you are take the old one to an auto shop and they'll measure it and should be able to find something to match very closley. This is what i did a while back and had no problems.

HT leads and coils............theres a whole range of stuff out there from absolute crap to the best $$$ can buy.

Again the Bosch coil should n't be very expencive, get an oil filled one like the original, they original will be adequate or you could get something with a bit better "spark" like an Accell super coil

, they big yellow one! ($135 AU)

With HT leads generally you want a wire or copper core HT lead, don't get sucked in by the expencive 10mm HI PO sillicon "wow" leads. I made up my own copper wire core ht leads and they work great, next to no ressistance with them but you would get some radio interference from them. (Don't have a radio/CD in my GTV at the moment). actually they may effect EFI too????? i use carbs

Cap/rotor & COIL first the leads should be ok, leave them last.

If the plugs are a bit oily use the hotter NGK BP6ES plugs so there's less chance for them to clog up/foul etc

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 2:48 pm

I would think they are wet/oily because the lack of spark...

Murray · Post by **Murray** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 3:06 pm

Yes guys but if that liquid which is pooling in the intake isn't oil from the breather then it's fuel and if disconnecting the connection to the CSI doesn't fix things then the injector is perhaps stuck open.I would pull it and check to see if fuel flows even with the electrical connector disconnected.

PietereQ · Post by **PietereQ** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:03 am

Murray the injector is fine, I took off the intake hose, opened fully the throttle, whlie my father was cranking the engine. When connected, there was a lovely mist of fuel filling the plenum, and when disconnected no fule was injected. Guess I did all what was possible. I'll start looking for the parts from tomorow, and let you know about the resluts when installed.
Again, thank you all very much!

Pete

aralfa8589 · Post by **aralfa8589** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:29 pm

Your thread interests me because I had a similar problem with a Milano that sat for a year, being started and idled only occaisionally. When I finally tried to start it to drive it, the battery was weak and the car flooded big-time as you described.

By now, you should have a new distributer cap and rotor. Verify this before you do anything. Charge your battery.

Install a new set of plugs, the slightly hotter ones sure won't hurt. The plugs I pulled looked like yours. Mine was flooded so bad I just let it sit open overnight.

Check for a nice fat spark, but don't try to start it. You now have a decent primary and secondary ignition, but maybe not...

Now go to Greg Gordon's site and do his whole procedure. This takes care of grounds and air leaks. You will, at this point, be feeling pretty good about yourself and the car.

If you need tools, buy them as needed as it beats hell out of paying a mechanic!

Please keep us informed. All of the information in this thread is good solid advice. You can conquer this, just take your time and take a time-out if your jaws start getting tight!

Jeff Lang

matt · Post by **matt** » Mon May 01, 2006 8:47 pm

Any progress Pete?

tomp · Post by **tomp** » Wed May 03, 2006 4:58 am

Hi Pete, Im wrestling with a similar problem on my milano. I think I just found the problem. The ground wires under the valve cover bolt are loose. In fact the bolt is stripped ( got it like that but forgot about it). CLEAN AND CHECK ALL GROUNDS!
-Tom P.

PietereQ · Post by **PietereQ** » Fri May 05, 2006 1:08 am

Haha! I've been driving the car for week so far and it's such a blast to drive! The third garage (Bosch authorized service) - it was like chalk and cheese in comparison to previous ones. Here they called me every day so I was in the know about everything, they even called me if it is ok to import parts form Germany via UPS, because it would be little more expensive. Really good damn garage, proffesional approach. Aaa and the things which were replaced: New, smaller, more efficient igniton module, 6 new spark plug "pipes" (those brown plastic things you know), new coil, new sparkplugs, and few minor things. Basically car had huge problem with electric stuff, ie. spark was very weak (old coil), 3 sparkplug "pipes" created great resistance to the current, and generally they had to set the things with afm, igniotion timing and so on. Now I can say that "Revival stage 1" is complete. There is also the big issue with the emissions, my car overreaches the EU emisson norm by 300%! And thanks to the Bosch guys it is no longer 600%

The reason for this is the 3rd and 5th ciyinder, they burn oil like hell, and are likely to have bad compression. Anyway if the possible service of this will reach 250-300 Euros, I'm gonna look for the 3.0 liter QV

Again thanks guys for ev'rything

Best regards,
Pete

PietereQ · Post by **PietereQ** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:52 pm

Hope this may somehow contribte to AR community

The problem is .... BACK

It appears that on 3rd and 5th cylinders I have an oil leak, still dunno from where; head or below.
Unfortunately the car started to show some new symptoms. The engine stalls on his own accord, feels like there's no accelerator line between gas and the throttle (the rpm goes down to idle despite WOT).
Hyopthesis:
Responsible: a) jamming fuel pump b) crank position sensor c) fuel owerflow?? system??

Worst is, that usually cars runs perfectly, but likes to die in the middle of a runabout or during overtaking

or in other favourable conditions. The symptoms last from 3-4 secs to 3 days and than again ok.

What do you think?

Nicholas · Post by **Nicholas** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:22 pm

During your varied rectifications did you replace the spark amplifier ? that is the small silver box on the FWD LHS of the engine bay. Are your ignition leads original copper core ?

PietereQ · Post by **PietereQ** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 3:21 pm

Nicholas wrote:During your varied rectifications did you replace the spark amplifier ? that is the small silver box on the FWD LHS of the engine bay. Are your ignition leads original copper core ?

I have replaced the igintion module and coil in the first row.
I hope this may bring some light to my problem because my bella is playing on my nerves again, please take a look at this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Mn-vDaDZc
the quality is crappy because it was recorded by cellphone, and it even suffered while uploading. In the 4th second you can hear that despite WOT the engine stumbles and backfires. What would be your guess? Fuel pressure issues or maybe electricity?