Ownership Verified: Meet Filippo aka The Red Panther - My 2008 Alfa Romeo 159

RedPandaXP

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Messages
56
Location
RE, Italy
Car(s)
Alfa Romeo 159 2.4 JTDM
This is what I bought about three years ago, when my previous car decided that having a functioning fifth gear wasn't necessary (among other things).
It's a 2008 Alfa Romeo 159 saloon, powered by the last installment of fiat's 2.4 I5 turbo diesel engine, that produces 209 hp and 400 Nm of torque.
It's in Ruby Red Metallic, with black leather interior, and 17 inch wheels (more than enough for our roads ?).
I bought it with 176k km, drove about 80k km so far, and enjoyed every single one of them. It's lively, even if on the heavy side, and it's not afraid of being thrown into corners fast.


This photo was taken on my first night of ownership, after a 300 km trip from Venice, back home.


The first upgrade I did, was to buy a set of used original Alfa Romeo wheels, to use with summer tyres.


I then decided that I didn't like the gray calipers, and painted them red.


Next up, I had to refurbish the summer wheels, and paint them black at the same time. They look really good, but at very close inspection, you can see they're not made by a pro.

Some artsy shots... In a mall car park! ?



Here we can see the optional extras Peeling Paint and Water Yellowed Fog Lights, that makes you stand out from all the other boring manufacturers :-D Pfft, who wants a clear coat that lasts as long as the car anyway?!
Both are going to be fixed soon, when the car will receive a complete respray, courtesy of some gentlemen who didn't like its lack of scratches :censored: Luckily insurance will cover it, so all should be good!


Casual encounters...


Latest upgrade: EBC Slotted and Dimpled rotors, and RedStuff pads.


Random engine bay shot.

So far, the only things that needed repair are the power steering pump, and the ac compressor. Other than that it's just been maintenance.
Right now, the DPF/EGR/swirl need to be... fixed... and the front left is quite out of camber, so I need to find a way to fix that as well.

That's it for now. Sorry for the lack of a proof pic, that will come later today, when I'll be tackling the non working boot light... That'll be fun!

---Update---

Proof pic!
 
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Nice! Love the colour. Don't see it often enough
Thank you! Indeed it's quite rare around here too. I've only seen another one like mine around my city, and it's not even on italian plates!
Indeed! I’d hate that color on most cars, but on this it just works ?
Thanks! :)
I'll be tackling the non working boot light... That'll be fun!
As I suspected it's not just a blown bulb, there's something wrong with the latch, so I'll have to take some of the bootlid trim apart.
 
An actual Italian, driving an Alfa.. we haven't had that on the Forums in a long time I think :D. Nice color, I have to agree. Good luck with the reliability ;)

Also, need to page @gt1750 :p
And it gets even more italian: both my father and my mother own Alfas as well!? Thanks for the color, had to go 300 km north to find one, but I think it was worth it!:)
Reliability is typical Alfa: the engine is bulletproof, 255k km and not a single problem! It's the little things that fail the Alfa way, like the parking sensors that work only when it's warm outside, or the bootlid latch that doesn't tell the computer when it opens, or the power steering pump that dies splattering fluid all over the engine bay (ok, that's not so "little")... Never a dull moment owning an Alfa! ?
 
Oh, a what a nice 159! They're good cars, I used to own a Sportwagon 1750 Tbi for 4 years, of which the first 3 were completely trouble-free. Then some parts of the cooling system started causing trouble as they developed some cracks and needed replacing. I also used to have a 156 with the 2.4JTDm 20v, so I know how characterful those I5 diesels are :)
 
Oh, a what a nice 159! They're good cars, I used to own a Sportwagon 1750 Tbi for 4 years, of which the first 3 were completely trouble-free. Then some parts of the cooling system started causing trouble as they developed some cracks and needed replacing. I also used to have a 156 with the 2.4JTDm 20v, so I know how characterful those I5 diesels are :)
Thank you! :) Mine was also leaking coolant, but luckily it was just a cracked reservoir. I was also considering a 1750 Tbi, but at the time it was out of budget for me. Drove one though, was really fun!
I heard the 2.4 on 156s was even better.
 
Update time!!

So, after two weeks of driving around in this:
h3odutTm.jpg
(obviously)

I got my car back from the body shop!


Works done:
-Full Respray
-Front black honeycomb grille, and new logo
-Black mirrors covers
-New fog lights (with yellow lamps)
-Polished headlights
-Fixed parking sensors (one was broken)
-Fixed EGR and DPF (DPF was clogged at 217%)
-Remap

The car drives much better now, it revs better, there's no stuttering, and, because I don't like chrome too much, it looks better.



Yes, I know that's just a clown nose, but I couldn't find a proper Rudolph "car costume" in time, so... ?
 
I hope you gave that Panda a seriously good trashing while you had the chance. ?

I like driving diesel, but getting behind the wheel of a small displacement petrol car makes a nice change of pace every once in a while.
 
I hope you gave that Panda a seriously good trashing while you had the chance.

I like driving diesel, but getting behind the wheel of a small displacement petrol car makes a nice change of pace every once in a while.

Of course!

You're right, I had good fun thrashing it around, and it didn't even mind the treatment!
 
Ok, so I traced the source of a whistle that happens only after a cold start up, back to a snapped exhaust manifold bolt. That's going to be fixed next friday. It will also receive a new thermostat and a service. We'll also check the turbo for any play, and all the suspension arms. And we'll try to fix that damn boot light.

Also, does anyone have any experience with Poweflex's adjustable polybushes? Since there's no OEM camber adjustment, and the original ones started squeaking, they seem like a good solution to my front camber problem, but I never had any experience with them.
 
Title of this post should be: "I thought I was having a "la meccanica delle emozioni" moment..."

Because the check engine light (along with limp mode) came on the other day while I was overtaking a lorry on my way to work, I went to my mechanic the following morning (with cel still on, but no limp mode) to get the car checked... The scanner came out with a "low fuel pressure in high pressure fuel system"... Not good...
So, after a few failed tests, he sent me to one of his former employees, that now has his own workshop and specializes in fuel pumps and electronic fuel injection systems (btw he's the same guy who did the dpf/egr/remap).
After a quick check he told me I had to leave the car there as he had to run some tests. So after a quick argument with my boss over Telegram because I told him I didn't know if I could make it to work, he found me a lift with a colleague, and off I went...
In the afternoon, the guy called me back telling me that they fixed it... When I asked what was the problem he said the fuel pump was clogged by dirty fuel, so he had to clean and flush it... 150 €!
I was both relieved that the fuel pump is still good, and pissed off for having been served dirty fuel.
I don't use the "no brand" fuel stations, but I use two different stations, so I don't know which one had the bad fuel.

Now everything's good, car runs smoothly, made a few high load, high rpm pulls to see if the error came back, and it didn't, so I think that was really it.

Boot light still doesn't work, so everything is back to normal! ?
 
The question is, how did the bad stuff make it past the filter? Diesel engines are sensitive to bad fuel. That‘s why fuel filters on diesel cars are important and a yearly (or bi-yearly) service item.

In comparison, owners of petrol cars are usually made aware that their car has a contraption called a “fuel filter” when it rusts through and springs a leak. Some cars don’t even have one.
 
The question is, how did the bad stuff make it past the filter? Diesel engines are sensitive to bad fuel. That‘s why fuel filters on diesel cars are important and a yearly (or bi-yearly) service item.

In comparison, owners of petrol cars are usually made aware that their car has a contraption called a “fuel filter” when it rusts through and springs a leak. Some cars don’t even have one.

That's the same thing I asked my mechanic when I called to give hime the update, but the filter was kinda new, it's been changed in october last year and had less than 10k km... He changed it the other day, but still has the old one, so he'll look into it on tuesday.
 
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