ChuckMoritz
Well-Known Member
Are you looking forward to changing the timing belt someday yet?
Changing the fan belt on an Alfa 156 is an activity that should be viewed as inhumane torture under the Geneva Conventions and is an act of pure evil that I do not wish upon anyone.
First you have to remove a little plastic cover piece that's held on with oneboltrust and two hex head bolts that immediately round out as soon as the proper tool touches them. Once you've vice-gripped the bolts off you're greeted with a sight that instantly makes you lose the will to live: there's a whole inch of space to work in. The space is so tight that you have to bend and twist the belt just to get it around half the pulleys. Then, due to an engine mount being in the way, it's physically impossible to touch either of the two leftmost pulleys. So you have to feed though enough slack and pray to your favorite deity that the belt catches both pulleys as you pull the slack through the other side. Once you do that you have to feed slack back toward the left (again, more prayers that the belt won't fall off) and dislocate a few fingers to get the belt over the tensioner pulley. Once that's done it's time to find the longest 15mm wrench that you can find and find some sort of extension because you're going to need every nanometer of movement on the tensioner to give you even a minute chance of squeezing the belt over the idler pulley. Once you manage that you're going to need a very large beer to get your senses back (the step I'm on now).
Over three hours start to finish. Jesus. Tap-dancing. Christ.
The good news is that the problem is fixed! She's nice and quiet now.
Also after taking a closer look at the ugly-ass tow bar it seems I have to pull the exhaust down and remove the heat shield before anything can come off so that's a project for another day. Or until I can get a big grinder.
Are you looking forward to changing the timing belt someday yet?
ANGRY ALFA HATES WINTER!!!!
So I got to experience snow driving for the first time and I can sum it up in three words: terrible and terrifying. As soon as I drove onto snow the ABS said "Fuck this! I'm outtie!" then the handbrake warning light came on to keep the ABS light company (lol Italian electrics). Roundabouts are bottom-clenching as any miniscule amount of forward momentum combined with the tiniest bit of steering input leads to massive understeer. Usually you can tell when the grip is starting to go off but not in this car. Every turn is a mystery which just adds to the terror.
Oh Alfa! :lol:
It's snowing, and you own a Land Rover. So you took the Alfa?! :lol:
Seriously. KaJuN, you're in danger of becoming a FG meme. :lol:
ANGRY ALFA HATES WINTER!!!!
So I got to experience snow driving for the first time and I can sum it up in three words: terrible and terrifying. As soon as I drove onto snow the ABS said "Fuck this! I'm outtie!" then the handbrake warning light came on to keep the ABS light company (lol Italian electrics). Roundabouts are bottom-clenching as any miniscule amount of forward momentum combined with the tiniest bit of steering input leads to massive understeer. Usually you can tell when the grip is starting to go off but not in this car. Every turn is a mystery which just adds to the terror.
Oh Alfa! :lol:
:lol:
To be fair the Land Rover is still wearing its mud boots which might as well be ice skates.