Jamie is a handy bloke to know. The job would have taken days and, if you're anything like me, you would have been sh!$tt g yourself the first time you turned the key. Worth every penny.
A great watch, thanks for filming this, Matt. I did my 159 diesel timing belt and water pump last year on a gravel car park with only a jack and a few hand tools. Easy job, only took a couple of hours and I also replaced all of the auxiliary belt pulleys too. Passers by were amazed, they thought it must be some kind of black magic as garages charge big money for the job and most folk would be scared to death to attempt it themselves. As long as you do it methodically and double check the marks and tension are correct, jobs a good un.
I've been a hobby mechanic all my life and did this job on my 145. All straight forward till you come to the balance belt tensioner which I tried to do as best I could by sight. Car ran fine for a while but then I got a ticking sound which turned out to be the balance belt tensioner hitting one of it's stops. So I got myself the adjustment tool which Jamie uses here but it wouldn't fit between the tensioner and the chassis leg. I've now had a bit chopped off the tool shaft and rewelded to try again but haven't got near my 145 since with other projects. Jamie's experience shows with his use of gasket sealer on the cam cover belt end. My engine is a phase 1 with the aluminium cover and getting the right torque on the bolts to prevent oil leaks on the corners he mentioned is a nightmare, I'm on my second cover after breaking a corner off and still have a leak. Thanks for showing this Matt and Jamie, valuable footage! It's like everything in life, experience is the thing and I fully recommend specialists like Jamie for these difficult jobs.
Matt, I did my first timing belt recently on my 2003 Alfa 916 Spider twin spark. I ended up fitting it, taking it off, fitting it again just to check that it went back the same way both times before I was brave enough to turn the engine. Glad to say it was all ok and a big sense of achievement doing it myself. The cam locks are cheap off ebay for the twin spark. Cheers Steve
Fantastic Video Matt, and great to see Jamie doing his thing. You cannot beat a independent/specialist, my Nissan in my years ownership has never seen a dealer, it has went to my local Renault/Nissan Specialist 5 mins from my house as that is where it spent the last couple of years at before I bought it and who better than a specialist who knows your car.
Very interesting video Matt. Definitely a job for someone who knows what they're doing. Used to do cambelt changes on my own Fiat twin-cams and SOHC ENGINES in 127,128 and X1/9's, but modern engines scare me to death.
@furiousdriving here in Australia where air conditioning is fitted it is often used with the demister function. if that is the case then it is a Roadworthy fail (our equivalent of the MOT) as the A/C is considered a critical component of the car and as such must be working correctly so that your demist works.
@@furiousdriving also cars down under cost a lot more money your Alfa would be worth the equivalent of 8000 pounds where I live. I can't believe they are so cheap over in the UK.
The 145 is alive because of the passion of car nuts like us, the fact that it is so rare makes you want it to survive even more. Such a lovely car and a joy to see Matt!
I couldn't get the bolts out the air compressor on my RX8 and gave up after several attempts over a few weeks. Took it to a specialist local to me and they took two days of trying between other jobs before they finally got them released! so glad I gave up!
Great to see you got the timing belts taken care of. I have always used Anti-Seize on steel bolts going into aluminum as a way of preventing steel bolts from getting stuck or potentially broken off due to corrosion. Especially being installed into anything aluminum. Like how the Tea Mug gets to ride along being seat belted in.
Matt, nothing wrong with the original timing belts, they weren’t faulty. What was faulty was the plastic tensioner wheel that Alfa put on them. That used to fail and take the belt out. All timing belt kits since 2001 or so have a Littens metal tensioner which doesn’t fail like the original plastic wheeled one.
Your absolutely Right Mr Furious Driving, My Nexia, Owned 4 and a Half years and Got the Belt Done Janurary this year. What you say its like a Lottory and your absolutely correct. I was also Told I had Just Cought the Belt Just in time. The garage reckoned that the Belt would of gone within the next 5k miles at best 😮 Like yourself i can now too relax for the Foreseeable, At somepoint i will have to Get the Hyundais Belt done at somepoint.
Did a DIY cambelt job on a 24V 164. Cam pulleys fit on a taper surface, not keyed, one slip of 4 cams and you get a destroyed engine as a result. There are 6 pages on the tech service bulletin on how to set the tension properly on the cam belt using specialist tools. This looks like a breeze compared to that.
Good to see the 145 back in use. Re the damaged lower belt cover. Wondering if it's had an alternator or auxillary belt let go during the past which has then whipped around and damaged the cover? Was once called out to a '52 Renault Scenic diesel where the alternator over-run pulley threw its belt and it wrapped around the crank pulley then into the cover and timing belt with expensive results.
Was nice of the mechanic/tech to allow us to follow the job through. You can tell Jamie knows what he's doing for sure. Matt, does the engine feel perkier now with dialled in cam timing?
My Alfa 145 1.8TS has it's original cambelt since 1998 but it's only done around 49k miles. I did wonder whether the additional balancer belt on the 2.0TS contributed to the higher failure rate that led Alfa to reduce the replacement interval from 72k to 36k miles. Anyway, so far I've probably saved up to £3k by not following their advice, until the evil day arrives......
Just as an FYI..I used to repair and service Alfa twin sparks...we had a customer that refused to change the plugs until they started to misfire...which turned out to be around 95k in his case.
I brought my 145 with 80K miles in 2006 and ran it for another 60K miles before I replaced my cambelt. The belt in it was a Gates one and it wasn't even cracked. Don't know how long the Gates belt was in it. I replaced it with a Dayco one - should have got another Gates one.
If you think that belt interval was bad I recently decided to have the belts (and headgasket just for peace of mind) done on the MG F I saved from the scrapper during lockdown 1. Obviously as it had no history I had no idea if it had ever suffered HGF or had the belts done. The good news was it had never suffered from HGF and had done 70k on the original gasket. Unfortunately it had also done that 70k with the original 20 year old belt.... I'm kicking myself for not checking it, always check your belts people!
@@furiousdriving Judging by the state the car was in it was brave AND lazy! Its still not perfect externally (it's a bit of a rat at the moment) but mechanically I've got it perfect, its sailed through an MOT with no advisories!
The a/c compressor is a Sanden SD7V16, the same as in my Volvo 480 and many other cars of the 1990s that were luxurious enough to have been fitted with aircon. Are condensers still available for the Alfa 145? For my car these have been unobtainium for years. Pro-tip: have the system properly flushed and fit a new filter/dryer afterwards (when available, again these are unobtainium for my car)
Specialists for any brand are just the best thing ever for us enthusiasts. I have such a dislike and distrust for main stealers now, I avoid them like the plague
Just in time is far better than just too late. I always felt with the 164 V6 that cam belt failures seemed to start after about 55,000 miles on an official interval of 70,000, so my personal interval was 50,000 miles for a cam belt change. Ditto with my 156 jtd 2.4 Sportwagon.
Yes, the V6 belt looks very weeny to keep all that rotational speed in check. I'm sure we'd have a lot more V6s still on the road if they'd had chains as good as those on the 8 valve Twin Spark engine of old.
This is no joke if you have a twin spark. My Wife’s 147 ate its timing belt at just over 30 thousand miles back in the day when these cars were current. This was before Alfa changed the timing belt service interval. So we were lucky and it was covered under warranty.
@@furiousdriving Volkswagen did the same with the 1.9TDI (the one in which people love to go on about for being reliable) around the same time with the PD engines, originally 80,000 miles and then dropped down to 40k.
Watched this on my tachograph break whilst delivering the britool torque wrench 🔧used on your 145 should have did a toolbox 🧰 tour whilst you were there snap on 🤓😉👍👍
Nice to see your Alfa get the attention it deserves. I really should get mine done on the GTV soon... coming up 4 years since last documented belt change.
Belts do not need lubrication like chain or gear drives to cam shafts and in theory easier to change as if one has changed the lower chain on an XK engine will know.
I agree. Depending on the type of car, it also guarantees a bill of a few hundred pounds for the dealers and others. In my opinion valves should never have a chance to touch pistons.
3:24 GTV 15:15 I have never seen that type of torque wrench. Do you know how it is called, or how does it work? 16:15 That engine mount on the left needs changing, I would say. BTW, I read in the Serbian car magazine that the Portuguese guy, who is a head of Alfa Romeo, said that Alfa Romeo will no longer be making any Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf) or GTA models! >:( I really don't undestand why did they allow a non-Italian to be the head of Alfa Romeo... He will probably even change the "Alfa Romeo will always be made in Italy" policy. :(
@@furiousdriving How much will Harry Metcalf have spent on his 74 Lancia Fulvia when it's fully done ? You really need to drive this car a lot more this year, park the Rover coupe, finish and sell the Volvo, and use the red Mini as a runaround.
Jamie is battling s stuck bolt - thank goodness I've had my medicine today so I can cope with the excitement of someone taking their car to the garage and having some work done - yay!
I'm a big rover fan. Sold a 623 gsi like on your t shirt for £20 2 years ago to make space for a 206cc . Pritty gutted now. Was bad decision. Love British layland/Honda.
Good Times. Metro's and maestro's are rare sight now. Perkins diesel best engine in UK. they start 1st time every time. run on red and oil no proby. 80s and 90 cars all the way. Too much tec in cars now m8.
Given what work had to be done, I think you made a wise decision to go to a specialist. I have successfully done timing belts on a V6 Pajero, a couple of Charades, both 3 & 4 cylinder and several Corollas, single and twin cam. The Japanese cars have dots and notches and arrows to align everything to so I followed procedure and never had a problem. Exotic engines like the Alpha look a little different. You can actually adjust the cam timing, which is good for tuning. I'm sure you will thank yourself for the aircon one day. 😊👍
Matt you were right to get an expert to do the job. I would be TERRIFIED to do any TB (even though I did on a mk 6 Escort once with no issues). Your car looks a nightmare to work on.If I could be so brazen to ask how much was the cost of it all?......
Damn,i had the same problematic bolt on my 156.Although mine was on the bottom side of the compressor.Still it was the same game.It twisted,i tought it was gonna snap,in the end it didn't fortunately (i didn't use heat because i haven't got any flame torch),but going back and forth for atleast half an hour and it came out as a spaghetti.I still have nightmares with stuck corroded bolts on that car.
How very bizarre just booked my 916 Spider 2.0 TS in for a belt change this morning at Alfaworkshop at least now I know what they will be doing next Wednesday 👍
Did the OHC belt on my wife's Hyundai Getz after 6 years and only 47,000 km, 6 years regardless of Km is Hyundai's limit on these cars, come out looking like the day it went in.
Nice to see a specialist at work! One question comes to mind: How are the prices to get timing belts done in the UK? I had it done om my Cougar 2.0 Zetec at a Ford dealer, it was £600 (eqv.) on a special time-limited offer, normally around £800 I also asked my local Hyundai dealer to do the same on my Hyundai Coupe 1.6 : £800 was the quote. This is including water pump etc. Sounds expensive, so I am considering doing it myself :)
I always change the timing belts along with the tensioners at precisely 3 years no matter the mileage covered. I choose either the Dayco or the Gates ones. But the procedure to change the belts is by far easier in my boxer 145. Told you that the Twin Spark is a bit of a headache...
This is my 3rd Twin Spark (including my wife's 147) so very familiar with the routine, but have always trusted Jamie to do them. Not having to move the engine mount its easier than a K Series twin cam but I dont have the tools (or years of experience!)
@@furiousdriving You are lucky you have a dedicated Alfa Romeo mechanic and not a random local "I do all" one. Especially one who worked during the Twin Spark era and knows their "secrets".. Don't lose him!! 😁
I'm glad this important work was carried out, now you can get her out on the road, and really enjoy the driving experience, safe in the knowledge everything important is sorted. I love the interior the leather looks very rich and sumptuous.
Automotive pornography. This will be watched repeatedly. I wonder how many times Matt has played it back. This is now my favourite Fleet Member. Sorry, Volvo, Quentin, Mercedes, Tomcat even MINI. This Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf 🍀is a very special thing. That engine is awesome. Jamie is an Artist.
Nice video as always, glad to see the Alfa get some love. Small issue, but I got horribly low sound when you are talking. Enough that I had to max out the volume of my earbuds. That in itself isnt such a problem, but I got ads enabled to support you, and the ones I got served are quite loud. The difference is enough to hurt my ears a bit. Hope to see the Alfa running some trackday in the future, or maybe nurburgring? I can sponsor a lap or two if you ever feel like doing a lap while I am there. Cheers.
Getting proper care! Quite an intensive job, not to be done by a home mechanic with little knowledge. Jamie is his weight in gold worth for specific Alfa jobs! I remember when I was a full time mechanic the 2.5 TDI was a full days work to change the timing belt + auxiliary belts.
Really interesting vid. I was particularly interested in the cam belt tensioner and the cam variator - the one in my 1.6 T Spark rattled, making the car sound like a diesel at idle. I had it replaced, and a couple of years later it started rattling again. Only weak spot on an otherwise very reliable car!
Hi Matt, another top video,very technical to do,worth taking it to a Alfa specialist, awesome to see the car getting a timing belt and the A/C compressor sorted.and to see it on here.
Did you resist the urge to start singing "Can't touch this" when the very hot air con pump came out? It's amazing what a trained mechanic can spot by eye and great that you now have peace of mind you can give it a thrashing with the new belt
@@furiousdriving , that must be a lovely feeling, sir! The SsangYong has gone to an authorised repairer in Hampshire as of yesterday. We were just going to use the Rover as daily transport but that is starting to use coolant a bit more quickly again, so I think I actually will use my mother's Mercedes tomorrow for most of the journey when I do some more filming.
Jamie is a handy bloke to know. The job would have taken days and, if you're anything like me, you would have been sh!$tt
g yourself the first time you turned the key. Worth every penny.
Im not sure Id have dared turn the key yet...still turning by hand just in case!
Independent specialists are worth their weight in gold and don’t rip you off like a dealer.
Yep, agreed - I always use independent specialists for my Alfa Romeos!
yes neil at italia autos lol
A great watch, thanks for filming this, Matt. I did my 159 diesel timing belt and water pump last year on a gravel car park with only a jack and a few hand tools. Easy job, only took a couple of hours and I also replaced all of the auxiliary belt pulleys too. Passers by were amazed, they thought it must be some kind of black magic as garages charge big money for the job and most folk would be scared to death to attempt it themselves. As long as you do it methodically and double check the marks and tension are correct, jobs a good un.
This is the the type of guy you would want to look after your Alfa ,Well done Jamie, hope the work floods in
I've been a hobby mechanic all my life and did this job on my 145. All straight forward till you come to the balance belt tensioner which I tried to do as best I could by sight. Car ran fine for a while but then I got a ticking sound which turned out to be the balance belt tensioner hitting one of it's stops. So I got myself the adjustment tool which Jamie uses here but it wouldn't fit between the tensioner and the chassis leg. I've now had a bit chopped off the tool shaft and rewelded to try again but haven't got near my 145 since with other projects. Jamie's experience shows with his use of gasket sealer on the cam cover belt end. My engine is a phase 1 with the aluminium cover and getting the right torque on the bolts to prevent oil leaks on the corners he mentioned is a nightmare, I'm on my second cover after breaking a corner off and still have a leak. Thanks for showing this Matt and Jamie, valuable footage! It's like everything in life, experience is the thing and I fully recommend specialists like Jamie for these difficult jobs.
Matt, I did my first timing belt recently on my 2003 Alfa 916 Spider twin spark. I ended up fitting it, taking it off, fitting it again just to check that it went back the same way both times before I was brave enough to turn the engine. Glad to say it was all ok and a big sense of achievement doing it myself. The cam locks are cheap off ebay for the twin spark. Cheers Steve
Fantastic Video Matt, and great to see Jamie doing his thing. You cannot beat a independent/specialist, my Nissan in my years ownership has never seen a dealer, it has went to my local Renault/Nissan Specialist 5 mins from my house as that is where it spent the last couple of years at before I bought it and who better than a specialist who knows your car.
They are brilliant, they have the knowledge but also take time to care for the cars and customers more
Really enjoyed this, I've done two cam belts on my 4-pot Alfas and they're incredibly un-fun - Jamie makes it look easy! What a talented bloke.
Nice to see the Alfa back out! Seems to get better looking every time we see it!
Very interesting video Matt. Definitely a job for someone who knows what they're doing. Used to do cambelt changes on my own
Fiat twin-cams and SOHC ENGINES in 127,128 and X1/9's, but modern engines scare me to death.
Same here used to be able to do cvh cambelts in half an hour. Never touch twin cams though also the space is normally terrible.
@furiousdriving here in Australia where air conditioning is fitted it is often used with the demister function.
if that is the case then it is a Roadworthy fail (our equivalent of the MOT) as the A/C is considered a critical component of the car and as such must be working correctly so that your demist works.
Well I didnt know that!
@@furiousdriving also cars down under cost a lot more money your Alfa would be worth the equivalent of 8000 pounds where I live. I can't believe they are so cheap over in the UK.
The 145 is alive because of the passion of car nuts like us, the fact that it is so rare makes you want it to survive even more. Such a lovely car and a joy to see Matt!
A sensible approach to replacing the timing belt.Some jobs are best left to the professionals with all the good equipment.
You cannot independent specialists, its great to see an alfa being looked after
Just did a cam belt on my sons 147 2.0 TS last week, it has 191,000kms and it is so smooth and so eager.
That roaring sound, reminds me, my former Alfa Romeo 146 1.4 Twinspark.
Nice of them to allow you to film the procedure and convey their knowledge for all of us to see. Good content sir.
I couldn't get the bolts out the air compressor on my RX8 and gave up after several attempts over a few weeks. Took it to a specialist local to me and they took two days of trying between other jobs before they finally got them released! so glad I gave up!
Great video on cambelt really informative, interesting and well filmed 👍
Great job! Those suspension springs and shocks need rust treatment and painting! Great little day job.
No real point painting, just rub off the worst and rust convert.
@@johnmoruzzi7236 Of course there is, asthetics! Just a quick rattle can job.
Great to see you got the timing belts taken care of. I have always used Anti-Seize on steel bolts going into aluminum as a way of preventing steel bolts from getting stuck or potentially broken off due to corrosion. Especially being installed into anything aluminum. Like how the Tea Mug gets to ride along being seat belted in.
Matt, nothing wrong with the original timing belts, they weren’t faulty.
What was faulty was the plastic tensioner wheel that Alfa put on them. That used to fail and take the belt out.
All timing belt kits since 2001 or so have a Littens metal tensioner which doesn’t fail like the original plastic wheeled one.
Your absolutely Right Mr Furious Driving, My Nexia, Owned 4 and a Half years and Got the Belt Done Janurary this year. What you say its like a Lottory and your absolutely correct. I was also Told I had Just Cought the Belt Just in time.
The garage reckoned that the Belt would of gone within the next 5k miles at best 😮
Like yourself i can now too relax for the Foreseeable, At somepoint i will have to Get the Hyundais Belt done at somepoint.
Did a DIY cambelt job on a 24V 164. Cam pulleys fit on a taper surface, not keyed, one slip of 4 cams and you get a destroyed engine as a result. There are 6 pages on the tech service bulletin on how to set the tension properly on the cam belt using specialist tools. This looks like a breeze compared to that.
that sounds like a 'nah, thanks' kind of job!
Good to see the 145 back in use.
Re the damaged lower belt cover. Wondering if it's had an alternator or auxillary belt let go during the past which has then whipped around and damaged the cover? Was once called out to a '52 Renault Scenic diesel where the alternator over-run pulley threw its belt and it wrapped around the crank pulley then into the cover and timing belt with expensive results.
Was nice of the mechanic/tech to allow us to follow the job through. You can tell Jamie knows what he's doing for sure. Matt, does the engine feel perkier now with dialled in cam timing?
Incredible differences with belt changing intervals. Some need doing after 40k, mine only needed to be changed after 110k miles (180 k km).
And Alfas own difference - 70k topped to 35!
My Alfa 145 1.8TS has it's original cambelt since 1998 but it's only done around 49k miles. I did wonder whether the additional balancer belt on the 2.0TS contributed to the higher failure rate that led Alfa to reduce the replacement interval from 72k to 36k miles. Anyway, so far I've probably saved up to £3k by not following their advice, until the evil day arrives......
@@malcolmlowry6118 you should change the belt after a certain time, I think it was 7 or 10 years.
Always love the 145 videos.
Just as an FYI..I used to repair and service Alfa twin sparks...we had a customer that refused to change the plugs until they started to misfire...which turned out to be around 95k in his case.
liked .. mainly for the travel mug seat-belted into the passenger seat
A furious fix I wouldn't want to undertake! Did the right thing going to the indy expert 🍀✔️
I brought my 145 with 80K miles in 2006 and ran it for another 60K miles before I replaced my cambelt. The belt in it was a Gates one and it wasn't even cracked. Don't know how long the Gates belt was in it. I replaced it with a Dayco one - should have got another Gates one.
Great to see a craftsman at work 👍
If you think that belt interval was bad I recently decided to have the belts (and headgasket just for peace of mind) done on the MG F I saved from the scrapper during lockdown 1. Obviously as it had no history I had no idea if it had ever suffered HGF or had the belts done.
The good news was it had never suffered from HGF and had done 70k on the original gasket. Unfortunately it had also done that 70k with the original 20 year old belt.... I'm kicking myself for not checking it, always check your belts people!
That was brave or lazy of someone to let that go so long, hope its running well now
@@furiousdriving Judging by the state the car was in it was brave AND lazy!
Its still not perfect externally (it's a bit of a rat at the moment) but mechanically I've got it perfect, its sailed through an MOT with no advisories!
A British car….lovely on top and dire underneath…….here in US, the northeast cars look quite the same often!
The a/c compressor is a Sanden SD7V16, the same as in my Volvo 480 and many other cars of the 1990s that were luxurious enough to have been fitted with aircon. Are condensers still available for the Alfa 145? For my car these have been unobtainium for years. Pro-tip: have the system properly flushed and fit a new filter/dryer afterwards (when available, again these are unobtainium for my car)
Specialists for any brand are just the best thing ever for us enthusiasts. I have such a dislike and distrust for main stealers now, I avoid them like the plague
Same reply as to Scottish Car Enthusiasts, cant beat a good independent specialist
excellent, really enjoyed that.
Just in time is far better than just too late. I always felt with the 164 V6 that cam belt failures seemed to start after about 55,000 miles on an official interval of 70,000, so my personal interval was 50,000 miles for a cam belt change. Ditto with my 156 jtd 2.4 Sportwagon.
They started having fails at below 50k which is when they halved the interval. Finding better belts might have been the better solution!
Yes, the V6 belt looks very weeny to keep all that rotational speed in check. I'm sure we'd have a lot more V6s still on the road if they'd had chains as good as those on the 8 valve Twin Spark engine of old.
This is no joke if you have a twin spark. My Wife’s 147 ate its timing belt at just over 30 thousand miles back in the day when these cars were current.
This was before Alfa changed the timing belt service interval. So we were lucky and it was covered under warranty.
That was ridiculous how they halved the interval, you were fortunate with the warranty
@@furiousdriving Volkswagen did the same with the 1.9TDI (the one in which people love to go on about for being reliable) around the same time with the PD engines, originally 80,000 miles and then dropped down to 40k.
Watched this on my tachograph break whilst delivering the britool torque wrench 🔧used on your 145 should have did a toolbox 🧰 tour whilst you were there snap on 🤓😉👍👍
haha but did you deliver the actual wrench here? That would be very cool!
Nice to see your Alfa get the attention it deserves. I really should get mine done on the GTV soon... coming up 4 years since last documented belt change.
Definetly worth worth doing it, that can go without warning
very interesting vlog, thanks Matt.
no way is that a job to be done at home ,, ps lets see more of the v8 rover and the old merc
I wonder who thought a timing belt that when it fails buggers up the whole engine would be a good idea ?
Timing chains aren't much better. Look up VW TSI engine and you will see the pain. The joys of interference engines.
Not on a Fiat FIRE engine though. The old 8v one is non interference.
Belts do not need lubrication like chain or gear drives to cam shafts and in theory easier to change as if one has changed the lower chain on an XK engine will know.
I agree. Depending on the type of car, it also guarantees a bill of a few hundred pounds for the dealers and others. In my opinion valves should never have a chance to touch pistons.
It would be OK if it was easy to change. Ford Ecoboost is around 12hours labour, even though it is meant to last 10 years that is ridiculous.
Awesome video really enjoyed this one!
Love this car Matt .....
oh joy, timing belts
3:24 GTV
15:15 I have never seen that type of torque wrench. Do you know how it is called, or how does it work?
16:15 That engine mount on the left needs changing, I would say.
BTW, I read in the Serbian car magazine that the Portuguese guy, who is a head of Alfa Romeo, said that Alfa Romeo will no longer be making any Quadrifoglio Verde (Cloverleaf) or GTA models! >:(
I really don't undestand why did they allow a non-Italian to be the head of Alfa Romeo... He will probably even change the "Alfa Romeo will always be made in Italy" policy. :(
Good video as usual mat keep up good work
Thanks 👍
24:33 Alfa put a passenger seat in, just as a cupholder?
I knew a bloke who didn't do his Alpha cam belt on time. That was the end of that car.
So does the Air Con now work?
Ill find out when its gassed, you need to have a license to to that and most garages dont have that
£7k of history on an Alfa is modest but by no means vulgar; you'll shell that out (almost) rebuilding/refurbishing the 3.0 V6 properly.
Easily!
@@furiousdriving How much will Harry Metcalf have spent on his 74 Lancia Fulvia when it's fully done ?
You really need to drive this car a lot more this year, park the Rover coupe, finish and sell the Volvo, and use the red Mini as a runaround.
How many mechs are as attentive as this , not many. certainly not Halfords , trying too tell you you have other things wrong as well.
Matt, does the AC work?
Not gassed yet, will find out soon!
@@furiousdriving fingers crossed 🤞
Did u use the tea shelf?😁
A tea battery and heater, does that count?
first comment hehe
in all seriousness, love the content. jolly good indeed
I never touch belts, I let people like Jamie do it, he's now the warranty
The cambelt could break at anytime, it’s a ticking time bomb , as he’s thrashing it down the road to get to the garage to get the cambelt replaced 😂
The way cars are ment to be driven. :D
My thoughts exactly!
Thats the only setting this car has
@@furiousdriving 😂 yep I had a 156 and that was flat out all the time
Know your limits, it's not good to take a chance with such tasks.
Jamie, as with many other independent specialists, is a gem.
Jamie is the kind of guy you want to know if you're an Alfa driver..
Jamie is battling s stuck bolt - thank goodness I've had my medicine today so I can cope with the excitement of someone taking their car to the garage and having some work done - yay!
Great content - love to see an expert doing a great job 👏
Awesome little car, good work keeping it on the road 🙌🏻
I'm a big rover fan. Sold a 623 gsi like on your t shirt for £20 2 years ago to make space for a 206cc . Pritty gutted now. Was bad decision. Love British layland/Honda.
Nows teh time to buy 600s, they'll never be cheaper
Good Times. Metro's and maestro's are rare sight now. Perkins diesel best engine in UK. they start 1st time every time. run on red and oil no proby. 80s and 90 cars all the way. Too much tec in cars now m8.
Given what work had to be done, I think you made a wise decision to go to a specialist. I have successfully done timing belts on a V6 Pajero, a couple of Charades, both 3 & 4 cylinder and several Corollas, single and twin cam. The Japanese cars have dots and notches and arrows to align everything to so I followed procedure and never had a problem. Exotic engines like the Alpha look a little different. You can actually adjust the cam timing, which is good for tuning. I'm sure you will thank yourself for the aircon one day. 😊👍
Matt you were right to get an expert to do the job. I would be TERRIFIED to do any TB (even though I did on a mk 6 Escort once with no issues). Your car looks a nightmare to work on.If I could be so brazen to ask how much was the cost of it all?......
Damn,i had the same problematic bolt on my 156.Although mine was on the bottom side of the compressor.Still it was the same game.It twisted,i tought it was gonna snap,in the end it didn't fortunately (i didn't use heat because i haven't got any flame
torch),but going back and forth for atleast half an hour and it came out as a spaghetti.I still have nightmares with stuck corroded bolts on that car.
How very bizarre just booked my 916 Spider 2.0 TS in for a belt change this morning at Alfaworkshop at least now I know what they will be doing next Wednesday 👍
Did the OHC belt on my wife's Hyundai Getz after 6 years and only 47,000 km, 6 years regardless of Km is Hyundai's limit on these cars, come out looking like the day it went in.
REPLACEMENT TIMING BELT .. IT'S DIFFICULT AND COMPLICATED .. EXPENSIVE .. MUCH MORE PARTS BE DEMOLISHED
Can anyone explain why heating a bolt would help to remove it if it’s locked? Surely by heating, the metal expands slightly?
Changing cambelt on the 740 is childsplay compared to that! And almost all redblocks just stops if it snaps. :)
I went to look an an Alfa Giulietta last week, ask the seller if it had the cam belt and water pump done. "I don't know" so clearly I didn't buy it.
Some digging shows that you got the 145 in November 2017. Doesn't time fly?
It only seems to us that you have been doing this channel a year longer that you think :-).
“What does DTI Stand for?”
“Top dead centre”
😂
Wow them springs and struts look like they been sat in the sea
Good man taking it to Jamie he's the best🙌🙌 top bloke
Nice to see a specialist at work!
One question comes to mind: How are the prices to get timing belts done in the UK?
I had it done om my Cougar 2.0 Zetec at a Ford dealer, it was £600 (eqv.) on a special time-limited offer, normally around £800
I also asked my local Hyundai dealer to do the same on my Hyundai Coupe 1.6 : £800 was the quote.
This is including water pump etc. Sounds expensive, so I am considering doing it myself :)
Thats similar to main dealer here, indy specialists are about half to two thirds of the price
go dealer for car part's lot more
That will be 600 sovs pls sir.
COMPLICATED AND INTRICATE
6:22 Haha, ain't that the truth.
I always change the timing belts along with the tensioners at precisely 3 years no matter the mileage covered. I choose either the Dayco or the Gates ones. But the procedure to change the belts is by far easier in my boxer 145. Told you that the Twin Spark is a bit of a headache...
This is my 3rd Twin Spark (including my wife's 147) so very familiar with the routine, but have always trusted Jamie to do them. Not having to move the engine mount its easier than a K Series twin cam but I dont have the tools (or years of experience!)
@@furiousdriving You are lucky you have a dedicated Alfa Romeo mechanic and not a random local "I do all" one. Especially one who worked during the Twin Spark era and knows their "secrets".. Don't lose him!! 😁
I'm glad this important work was carried out, now you can get her out on the road, and really enjoy the driving experience, safe in the knowledge everything important is sorted. I love the interior the leather looks very rich and sumptuous.
Automotive pornography. This will be watched repeatedly. I wonder how many times Matt has played it back.
This is now my favourite Fleet Member. Sorry, Volvo, Quentin, Mercedes, Tomcat even MINI. This Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf 🍀is a very special thing. That engine is awesome.
Jamie is an Artist.
Nice video as always, glad to see the Alfa get some love.
Small issue, but I got horribly low sound when you are talking. Enough that I had to max out the volume of my earbuds. That in itself isnt such a problem, but I got ads enabled to support you, and the ones I got served are quite loud. The difference is enough to hurt my ears a bit.
Hope to see the Alfa running some trackday in the future, or maybe nurburgring? I can sponsor a lap or two if you ever feel like doing a lap while I am there. Cheers.
Getting proper care! Quite an intensive job, not to be done by a home mechanic with little knowledge. Jamie is his weight in gold worth for specific Alfa jobs! I remember when I was a full time mechanic the 2.5 TDI was a full days work to change the timing belt + auxiliary belts.
Really interesting vid. I was particularly interested in the cam belt tensioner and the cam variator - the one in my 1.6 T Spark rattled, making the car sound like a diesel at idle. I had it replaced, and a couple of years later it started rattling again. Only weak spot on an otherwise very reliable car!
Hi Matt, another top video,very technical to do,worth taking it to a Alfa specialist, awesome to see the car getting a timing belt and the A/C compressor sorted.and to see it on here.
Did you resist the urge to start singing "Can't touch this" when the very hot air con pump came out?
It's amazing what a trained mechanic can spot by eye and great that you now have peace of mind you can give it a thrashing with the new belt
Thanks for another fantastic episode!! It’s always a pleasure to see a tricky job done well. It gives you more time to enjoy the car! 👏
Lovely Jubbly video, have a look at ItaliaAutos on here, it's AlfaRomeo heaven, but sadly a lot of corossion.
I did my vanos, but probably wouldn't touch cams.
I bet you are glad you didnt try to tackle that at home. Good job. That's two cars fixed!
Wonderful news, sir!
Indeed it is, I can relax when I turn the key now...
Hows your clutch doing?
@@furiousdriving , that must be a lovely feeling, sir! The SsangYong has gone to an authorised repairer in Hampshire as of yesterday. We were just going to use the Rover as daily transport but that is starting to use coolant a bit more quickly again, so I think I actually will use my mother's Mercedes tomorrow for most of the journey when I do some more filming.
Jamie is the Alfa Ninja
Trevor is the camera shy Wizard, Jamie is Ninja!
Love all your Alfa content. Great little car. Hold on to it. Good job that you got to the cambelt in time Matt!