My 156 is all of a sudden remembering its pedigree - luckily I can do this job round the back away from the "told you so" looks of any pub locals.

The battery light's come on and I'm guessing it is the alternator.

Another beautiful Alfa trait - they've stuffed it down the back of the engine where it is going to take a lot of swearing to get out and replace.

With a fair few 156 owners on the forum I'm wondering - is it always a replace job or are there other things that can put the battery light on?

Is a 2004/ 205k 156 with a long MOT worth anything if I decided to sell it on and start running the Coupe instead?

Just found an amazing howto from the old 145 forum.
http://forum.alfa145.com/index.php?showtopic=14459
Looks like an inlet manifold / plenum off job.

I'd check your belt is still there first.

Seems to be. Just one belt that wraps around everything in this case.

Just have a check of the wiring first. I've had more than a few Fiats that have worked loose on the back of the alternator.

Might also be worth mentioning that my 1800 Marea suffered alternator failure. I went from the drivers front wheel arch and undid the drivers side engine mount and drive shaft to create room. I can't see the pictures in your link so maybe there's no comparison. But it took me a couple of hours at a steady pace.

Here's the rear view.


I've had the bit of plastic knocking around for the rear door for ages, so with a bit of luck it could be a dodgy connection.

Does removing the driveshaft mean that you can drop / tip the engine forward?

I'm guessing the Marea is probably the same block etc.

It looks very similar. Essentially I rocked the motor down and forwards. Once I undid the shaft there was *just* enough room to wiggle it out. It was a while back and I can't remember if I needed to work the jack up and down a bit to get it out. But it certainly wasn't that bad a job.

What does occur to me, what about approaching it like a 20 valve belt change?

From a distance, with a whip in one hand and a chair in the other?

There is an account of getting it out from underneath on AO. They suggest undoing the exhaust, and dropping the subframe.
I believe the workshop manual also suggests removal from underneath.

IIRC the driveshafts prevent you from dropping the engine much.

Probably why I had to undo the driveshaft. Just to add it was around 2004 when I owned the car, there's a fair chance I've forgotten something .



If it's anything like my coupe, you need an armed gaurd.

I think I've changed. I used to enjoy this stuff. Not going well.

Nice big gap from the top once I'd wrestled the plenum out of the way.

Bosch alternator seems to be completely O/C from the big terminal to ground so I guess it really is shagged.