Alfa 156 Idle Speed

[Sandy Henderson]

All,

I've just noticed a couple of problems on our 156 2.0TS ( September 1999).

1) When sitting with the engine running, the idle speed starts to get a bit
erratic after a few minutes. Usually it sits at ~= 1000 RPM, but all of a sudden
it dips down to 500 then surges up to ~= 1800 before settling on 1000 RPM for a
few seconds then repeats.

2) Put the car into first gear, press accelerator - nothing happens!. Re-engage
1st and everything is OK again.

Comments on either of the above gratefully received.

TIA.

S&y

[G.J.]

"Sandy Henderson" <nos...@newsranger.com> schreef in bericht
news:lJwO6.3617$r4.2...@www.newsranger.com...

> All,
>
> I've just noticed a couple of problems on our 156 2.0TS ( September 1999).
>
> 1) When sitting with the engine running, the idle speed starts to get a bit
> erratic after a few minutes. Usually it sits at ~= 1000 RPM, but all of a
sudden
> it dips down to 500 then surges up to ~= 1800 before settling on 1000 RPM for
a
> few seconds then repeats.
>

With airco "on" or not??

> 2) Put the car into first gear, press accelerator - nothing happens!.
Re-engage
> 1st and everything is OK again.

Try lifting your left foot from the coupling pedal!

>
> Comments on either of the above gratefully received.
>
> TIA.
>
> S&y
>
>

--
Gert-Jan / Holland
(156) SW 1.8

[Sandy Henderson]

"G.J." <quent...@chello.nl> wrote in message news:<NPxO6.83148$OB1.1...@nlnews00.chello.com>...

> With airco "on" or not??

air con is on - why? does this make a difference?

[Simon James Grundy]

i work at an alfa garage as a valeter (as somebody knows only too well, but
that's another story) and a car came in with the same sort of problem. It
was doing the same sort of thing as you describe, just revving itself,
dropping away, revving itself, dropping away.

Well, it turned out to be that the throttle cable was too tight, and the
throttle butterfly was not quite registering on the "switch" as being
closed, and ballsing up the engine management. So the mechanic just
slackened it off a bit and it was fine.

maybe that's what's wrong with yours.

[Paul de Koning]

On Tue, 22 May 2001 18:01:17 GMT, "G.J." <quent...@chello.nl> wrote
:

>
>"Sandy Henderson" <nos...@newsranger.com> schreef in bericht
>news:lJwO6.3617$r4.2...@www.newsranger.com...
>> All,
>>
>> I've just noticed a couple of problems on our 156 2.0TS ( September 1999).
>>
>> 1) When sitting with the engine running, the idle speed starts to get a bit
>> erratic after a few minutes. Usually it sits at ~= 1000 RPM, but all of a
>sudden
>> it dips down to 500 then surges up to ~= 1800 before settling on 1000 RPM for
>a
>> few seconds then repeats.
>>
>
>With airco "on" or not??
>
>
>> 2) Put the car into first gear, press accelerator - nothing happens!.
>Re-engage
>> 1st and everything is OK again.
>
>Try lifting your left foot from the coupling pedal!

Might also be that 1st gear is not properly engaged. Push the clutch
in until it will go no further, then select 1st. In my experience,
this happened when you selected 1st again after coming to a stop
without downshifting. 1st gear does not engage properly and the car
makes a rattling sound. Small synchronization problem in the gearbox I
guess. Always shift down the gears sequentially, even if you've
already stopped. Hope this helps.

>
>
>>
>> Comments on either of the above gratefully received.
>>
>> TIA.
>>
>> S&y
>>
>>
>
>--
>Gert-Jan / Holland
>(156) SW 1.8
>

_
Paul de Koning

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*** Please reply to padek...@chello.nl instead ***

[Sandy Henderson]

According to the local dealer I need a new Idle Actuator. Cost GBP
£105.58

We'll see if that makes a difference (hopefully it'll sort out the
juddering problem I'm experiencing too - driving along at about 20mph
in 2nd and engine starts juddering as though you're in the wrong
gear).

Thanks for the responses so far.

S&y

[Keith]

My Alfa 156 1.8 (which doesn't have aircon) also does. A friend who
also has a 1.8 without Aircon has the same problem.

On 23 May 2001 10:18:17 -0700, sandy.h...@altavista.net (Sandy

[Keith]

A firenfd of mine had the actuator fitted for the same problem, but it
didn't cure it.

On 24 May 2001 08:39:01 -0700, sandy.h...@altavista.net (Sandy

[G.J.]

That surely makes a difference.

The airco-compressor absorbs approx 5HP(!!!!!)
Allthough switched "on" that doesn't mean it effectively "works" (= cooling).
So when it works it absorbs the 5HP, when not effectively working it doesn't.

Just see it as follows, which you may have expereinced:
Start you engine with all headlight "off", wait for the idle speed to stabalize
and then switch on the headlights. The 2x 55Watt the headlights need (less than
0.2HP) will result in a very short dip in revs.

Maybe you can understand what effectively switching on an off of the airco
comperssor (25x the power of the headlights) will do to the revs of your
engine.

I don't say this IS the cause, but it MAY be it.

In this case, nothing to worry about.

PS
When your airco-compressor is effectively "on" and you will ask full power from
the engine, the engine management will shut off the compressor!! This can be
seen as the same switch mode, but just the other way around.

--
Gert-Jan / Holland
(156) SW 1.8

"Sandy Henderson" <sandy.h...@altavista.net> schreef in bericht
news:f9fd75dd.01052...@posting.google.com...

[Martin]

I've had long term problems with similar judder too on a 1999 156 2.0 TS.
Usually happens when you're in traffic, cruising at slow speed, often when
the engine is not fully hot. After a number of occasions when the car
stalled, even under acceleration, the local dealership checked out both
problems and replaced the idle actuator under warranty (car 2 years old at
the time). It's been better so far, but the judders came back once the other
day, so it's may not be the whole answer.

Keep us informed please of the outcome.

Martin - To reply, remove xxx from e-mail address

"Sandy Henderson" <sandy.h...@altavista.net> wrote in message
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