What the Alfa Romeo 156 Manual says about the bonnet?
This what my Alfa Romeo 156 owner’s manual says about closing the bonnet
“To Close: - Lower the bonnet until approximately 20 centimetres from the engine compartment and then let it drop ensuring that it is fully closed and not just held in position by the safety hook.
If the bonnet does not close properly do not push it down but open it again and repeat the above procedure.
Always check that the bonnet is closed properly to avoid it opening while the car is travelling”
As you can see there is no mention on maintenance. Before my crash I changed the battery of my car and closed the bonnet from 3 feet. The bonnets are very heavy on the Alfa and it closed in the normal position. I gave it a quick push up and down and it seemed fine.
Unbeknown to me the catch and safety catch had only half closed and any major force, such as driving at 70mphs would open it. The rest is quite self explanatory...
Labels: What Alfa Romeo Say
4 Comments:
I've heard of this faulty bonnet catch on the 156, but never seen it happen to anyone. I own and Track Day Alfas, from the 155 Silverstone to a tuned 180bhp 2litre 16v 156 Sportpack.
The first thing I noticed about all the 155's and 156's that I've owned/own is that the bonnets need slamming from as the manual says, about 20cm.
I'm under the bonnets of my Alfas all the time and never had a problem with the bonnet staying shut at any speed, including Race Track speeds !!!
As for the £21000 cost of owning the 156.......If you use main dealers for any make of car you will be ripped off. The 16v engines need the belts done at ~36K miles, and not 54K as the manual says, but the dealers know this. The cost for belts replacement at a dealer is around £600 for everything. An indy will do it for about £300 or if you do it yourself and shop around for the parts it'll cost you less than £100 and 2 hours cutting your hands up.
Are you sure the car hadn't had a smash before you bought it ??
The rattling insides sounds a bit strange as I've owned 3 156's now, all from 98 to 99 and they do not rattle inside, unlike the 155 !!!
Alfa Romeos are NOT Ford Mondeos that will run forever without checking them and looking after them.
The 16v TS revs to over 7000rpm as you know, so look after it accordingly. Do you think a Ford Mondeo would last if it was revved like that all the time ???
Anyway...that's off topic, but Alfa produce Sporting Saloons, not rep mobiles.
I wonder how many "faulty bonnet catches" on the 156 only became apparent just after the owner opened the bonnet ??? This suggest to me the bonnets are not being closed properly.
Sorry for your loss :(
January 15, 2007 8:04 PM
It is interesting that on here you say:
"I gave it a quick push up and down and it seemed fine."
and on alfaowner you say:
"I am an idiot for not pulling the bonnet up after I closed it to check it had closed"
Seems that someone is trying to blame Alfa for their own mistake!
January 26, 2007 8:04 AM
I've been opening and closing bonnets for 20 odd years and never had a problem. I closed my bonnet as I have always closed my bonnet.
My DEKRA report says that the Bonnet Safety catch had seized. To be quite honest I never know that a bonnet safety catch could seize - I do now.
I wonder why Alfa have recalled all Alfa 156's in Italy because of a faulty bonnet catch.
I wonder why there has been 3 crashes in the past four weeks in the UK because of bonnets on Alfa's not been closed properly. I not know of any other car have this sort of problem - please tell me if you do
I wonder how long it will be before there is another crash
I wonder when Alfa will send out a letter to all UK 156 owners, telling them to maintain their bonnet catchs as they are liable to seize up.
Not much to ask
January 26, 2007 11:40 AM
Other cars have a far worse problem than this - Renault have over 250 affected Clios and wont even issue a recall:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watchdog/reports/transport/transport_20070123.shtml
Other cars affected by faulty catches:
Ford Explorer
Mitsubishi L200
Audi A4
Nissan Micra
January 26, 2007 4:02 PM
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