@@williamegler8771 erm, whilst historically it may be supposed to be a reference to a dragon, the absence of wings or legs in the actual logo makes it look more like a giant snake.
Its too big for the barn, the doors wouldnt shut with it straight in, and its too long and wide to rotate into the main room, and theres no space at home
@@furiousdriving Ok. Is it really bigger than the space the 123 left though? Only the part you are working on needs to fit under the car port for example. I know the frustration of having to work outside without the right tools on hand I have very few options myself.
Look at the state of the injectors... they have never been out. That valve cover has never been off. It still has the high quality factory RTV holding it on. Sometimes RTV can just hold that well. First, triple check that there are no more bolts holding it down. Perhaps on the front end behind the cam sprocket, or on the rear of the head, the cam-driven vacuum pump, maybe. Second, force is the answer. Use the giant pry bar like you did, and get a friend to help by tapping all around it. Another option, the through holes for the bolts seem nice and long. Pick a bolt hole near a corner, drill and tap it to whatever bolt size will suit it. You won't be able to tap threads all the way through, but go as far as you can. Take a bolt the size you tapped, grind the threads off the end, maybe about 10mm (compensate for no threads towards the bottom). Drive the bolt in and use it as a separator, as you would on a brake disc or drum, those ones that have threaded bolt hole in them.
It's Alfa Romeo. Probably the reason why the cylinder head won't come off is because the boot is shut and it's not the third Saturday of the month.....
I know the 159 is a very nice car but any modern car left on grass is a big no no for me. If it was the choice of reviving it or sawing my leg off with a hand saw I would seriously consider the latter. Fair play to you sir.
Engine support bar fitted between the wing tops as you would use if taking the gearbox out , leave it hanging/ with pressure on? Second best day of my life was buying my Alfa, best day was when I sold it!
I'm doing a bunch of research on what could be the issue with the rocker cover not coming off. I have some experience with the Fiat JTD platform engines, and still have the workshop manual for a SAAB 93 which uses a TID engine which is based on the same platform. If I see anything about anyone struggling and what they did to fix it I will be sure to edit this comment accordingly Side note, I am looking forward to seeing you and the other youtubers at the NEC next month!
It's not just you that gets jobs lasting for days on cars. Took me 3 months to do the clutch on my cinquecento, didn't help that i had a heatwave at the start and monsoon by the time I finished, also had to search all over Europe for a part i broke 🙄👍🇮🇪
I don't wish to further piss on your chips, but wait until you get to the rest of it, the engine and gearbox are usually the bits you dont have to worry about......
Matt, I shudder to see you work in a field like that! As an aircraft maintenance engineer, originally, it is so bad for contaminant ingress into the engine. Dust levels are however much lower in the UK than here in Southern Africa. Please get it to your barn or garage. I would really like to see this one back on the road, it has so much going for it. You remind me of people here who open and even overhaul an engine at the roadside where it broke down in a semi-desert environment! 😮
If you are thinking of doing an engine swap, just take the old engine out, take it somewhere warm and handy, then work on it. I assume you can either roll the car to somewhere hard or at least get a sufficient quantity of wood to roll it on to to get the engine out.
Hi Matt I would try and find a Alfa 159 forum and see if they can give you some pointers to get the head off I am sure someone as had this issue and found a solution good look my friend best regards Andy Allen.
Yes, a hard surface is required. Try dropping it on one! Seriously though, that rocker cover could have become corroded or fused due to overheating. Good luck with it. I feel your pain.
16:08 Can confirm, it isn't just you. Every job has to make itself harder than it should. Sometimes, as you touched upon earlier, because the sodding tool we need is at home and we're somewhere else
Not hijacking your video but just checkout the 33 videos I made on the 1.9 version of this engine. Went through all your pain, bought a injector puller did it myself. Took me weeks of faffing about wiggling and spraying loosened them slightly, puller did the trick in about an hour on the last two injectors. Saab snapped cambelt, Vazza 750 on RUclips. 33 videos, I hope it helps you out. Good Luck 👍👍👍 I watch loads of your videos. Great content.
At 11-42 I tried that bolt too, made no difference, is too low down to have effect on camcover, I remember when I did my 1.9 Jtd I could not shift the cover off, turned out to be a bolt on right side of engine in about the middle going through to block. Check out my saab snapped cambelt video number 11 to show the long bolt that I missed too. Shows that bolt you tried to undo cambelt side, that bolt sits too low to b into camcover. Good Luck. 👍👍👍😊
Finding the rat poo would be enough to make me just get rid of the car entirely. I had rats in my workshop, and the memory of the smell, and disinfecting everything is etched in my memory. Nothing feels clean afterwards, no matter how much cleaning you do. Horrible creatures. I'm definitely paranoid about them now.
You've mentioned the car is not too far from your home, price up having the car moved, should be quite easy with the towing eye in ready, either that or sell it and get a better one
Nothing wrong with design of Jtd engine, cambelt snaps it's not the end of the world. I fixed my 1.9 Jtd diesel in my SAAB 9-3 1.9 diesel after cambelt failure. Brilliant design allows the rockers to snap on there pivot point, valves are standing up straight like soldiers. So pistons pushe valves straight up snapping the sacrificial rockers saving engine from destruction. A new timing belt kit set of rockers, cam cover gasket, check all bits of rockers accounted for and your good to go, done over 3 thousand miles so far in mine, sweet as a nut. No cylinder head damage at all, inspected with camera.
2.4 five-cyllinder JTDm engines in the 159s are infamous for cracking the heads (prolly because of the temperature rise while burning off the DPF). Be extra careful.
Matt have you ever used freeze spray? It is brilliant, moved many a rusted stuck thing with it. Freezes the components and the when contradicted or whatever the word is, a very fine lubricant gets into the cracks. Difficult to mention this without saying giggidy.
I've had the exact same issue with a 1.9 JTD! The problem is the injector clamp bolts, the rods that appear to be part of the cam case. These threaded bits actually come through the cam carrier, and are threaded into the cylinder head. To remove the cam carrier, you need to remove the injector bolts first. You can get special tools for this. You mentioned in the video that some of these were bent when removing injectors? If so, this will definitely stop the cam carrier coming off
@@furiousdrivingyeah, you’d be amazed how much trouble they can cause. They get stuck in because they’re steel and the carrier is aluminium, and it’s almost impossible to get any leverage on them. The tool you need is a stud extractor. I’d imagine the fancy induction heat tool you have would help with getting them out, or at least breaking the bond between the studs and the cam carrier a bit! Once those studs are out the carrier should come off with a few gentle taps with a mallet.
Heres an idea!!!. Make a suitable adapter to connect to the oil filler on the cam cover and then use compressed air to blow the cover off, make a great video to see it fire off!!!.
Don't think I can post links here, but there's a very good thread on the Alfa Owner forum regarding this exact issue with the rocker covers sticking, I've not seen it myself, but it is worth mentioning that the cams are fixed into the cam cover, it'll come out as a module. I'd also get those injectors cleaned and tested before you put them back in, all of the vibration and dirt flying around may have damaged them, and the last thing you want to do is melt a piston two weeks after all this work when one sticks open!
Maybe you could take it somewhere with a hard surface where you can jack it up and put it on car ramps. Then you can get underneath and hammer the cylinder head upwards using a metal bar.
Have you tried hammering a Stanley knife blade into the joint? (The Catch-22 is: don’t hammer Stanley knife blades as they’re really brittle. And it’ll mess up the surfaces)
There you have it, HDi diesels are a nightmare at hihgh mileages, you'd be better off finding a running good engine and swapping it out complete..The clutch will need checking anyway, bet the dual mass will knackered! You could try cranking the starter I guess, nothing to lose.
Just gone through same thing on volvo d5, injector stuck, waited week for air slide hammer, cam cover stuck with rtv from previous repair instead of just using gasket. Luckily on d5 intake built onto cam cover so used engine support beam lift engine by cam cover, probably took 150kg of force to break away. Copper washer stuck in injector bore, waited for another tool!!!!
The 1.9 engine is the same used on the Vectra, as mine were terrible to take out a few years ago. The block is a Fiat unit, just altered for different makes.
I tried to change the timing belt on a 147 1.6 twinspark once. Had to order a bunch of riba sockets and it wasn't a very maintenance friendly engine. Later I switched to a 6 cilinder Lexus 1mz-fe engine and changing that timing belt was a walk in the park. Anyways, the alfa was very nice to drive, so I guess the fiddling is part of alfa ownership.
I would ge it to your house where all your things are instead of that field you will se things differently then and not feel pressured and relaxe and work on it in comfort.
Just a tip - rats hate any type of mint.I reckon you could concentrate more heat on a safe corner and watch for the gasket goo to start bubbling..the torch you have looks ideal as it is not too hot, not too cold.
Borrow or hire a generator to run the inductive heat tool. Hire seems a bit expensive just had a look at HSS and they want £75 a day. Otherwise get the engine out and to the barn or 'new' engine to the barn. You only have couple of weeks till clocks goes back so no late afternoon working without lighting then.
Want to see you do the cam belt on this keep putting it off doing mine because it is very tight when I did the alternator to take the tensioner off I had to chop down a Allen key to fit
Have you tried to use the engine compression to get the injectors out? Just crank the engine. But make sure the injector bolts are screwed on a few turns. Or is the engine seized? I forgot...
How frustrating & what a pig of a job it's going to be to separate them. Best of luck & I hope you win through. I've been reading that 140 Alfa's of all models went to be destroyed after being turned in for the TfL Ulez £2000 scrappage scheme through the FOI act, The breakdown list of individual marques that went the same way is heartbreaking.
It was a bloodbath, Saab and Rover 75s in particular have gone plus a number of classics, all for £2K off a car shipped from China full of toxic materials. Saddest thing is, this is bound to happen throughout the UK come the next budget.
That engine bay looks as though a VW flat four could fit in.... Thankfully I've never had rats in any of my cars, but a mouse once got into my VW 1600 Variant and chewed a good chunk off the wooden handle of a hammer that was in the car. I still have it (the hammer, not the mouse - and sadly not the Variant either).
You need to get that out the field , now the Mercedes has gone get it in there even a engine swap will be easy , I think a pulley needs removing to get the head off ?
You won't be getting that head assembly off in a hurry I'm afraid. I think you're better fitting a new engine but you're in for a world of pain. I did my Brera this year so speaking from experience. The best way to do it is to remove the front valence. I removed the engine but left the box in and that caused a world of pain. In the end, I removed the box and fitted them together. BUT, before you do that, do the following: Check the subframe on the passenger side. These are £700 to replace and they all fail there. Allow for the fact that you'll want to fit a new clutch and slave cylinder (they're internal) Remove the drive shafts. This is an incredible ball ache and you'll destroy the lower bolts. I know that it's good content mate but you're in for a world of pain with this one. Really look carefully before you do it as the costs mount up really quickly on these. When you remove the front bumper, for example, you will disintegrate the front brackets and, if you're lucky, the washer bottle and airbox mounting brackets might be intact.
If it was the head that was stuck that might work but not the rocker cover. With a petrol engine with a stuck head you could remove the camshafts, put oil down the bores, put the spark plugs in and turn over the engine to use hydraulic pressure to force off the head.
Could you persuade Chris the mobile mechanic out to the field for one last go to try and get the rocker assembly off? May need bribery with tea and/or beer I would imagine though. If that doesnt work then i think you've done all you can in the field and it needs to be recovered somewhere warmer, drier and less rattier for very hard persuasion / power tools or engine replacement.
Snapped timing belt, rust-welded injectors, probably a bucket of silicone under the valve cover, to me all that means the car was beaten on hard until something eventually broke. Wonder when was the last oil change. Definitely an engine swap. As you might encounter dozens of next nasty suprises with the original one. And by the way try to look under the car for any rust before you start to throw money in it. Alfas like to rot, especially if they never had aby rust proofing done. If the rest was neglected as much as the engine then it might not be worth saving unfortunately. That's sad as the 159 is a really beautiful car and the 2.4 jtd engine is really nice and powerful.
Perhaps a stupid suggestion but would your stuck bolt heater run off a power invertor operating from your car with best battery output (I guess your c class?), I suspect it would draw too much current but worth a mention, to me it sounds like you may have talked yourself into a replacement engine if you can't get any joy , half the work is already done and it is most definitely worth saving, referring to your 3 week +, convoluted video worry, personally I enjoy watching them and seeing a job completed with warts and all rather than just the arguably more watchable highlights, good luck either way!
One of the cars that you recently discovered all the rust? How recently are we talking about? Many come to mind... ;) Is the chap that you used to remove the injectors the one based around Detling? If that's him I've spoken to him a couple of times on the phone (when I had my old diesel Golf) but never called him out, always seemed pleasant and helpful, albeit very busy which despite the inconvenience is probably a good sign. I cannot offer any advice on this, but hope you can work something out.. 🤞👍
Maybe 6 Diesel involved, but I would personally look at replacing the engine. But given the solid state of the existing engine, I would be removing the engine with help.
Bit of an overkill about the Rat...The Car is parked in the middle of a Field where wild animals live..Why do I see this as another money pit...like the Rover etc..Finish one Job first...
Yeah I reckon engine swap Probably easier in long run. This low mileage example though. 🤔 Would have to ensure replacement engine from a wreck was a runner and not something that needs major work too.
Well at least I'm not the only one that takes on "simple jobs" which turn in to 3 week long ordeals that make me question my life choices... In this situation I'd say a new engine is the way to go if they are reasonable money. You're going to be £500 to recondition all 5 injectors, £250 to skim and rebuild the head when you finally get it off and probably another £200 in miscellaneous parts to put it all back together, so if second hand, running engines are under £900 you're laughing....with a whole engine worth of spares should the new one need anything.
Hi Matt,took a Quick Look and apparently there are 21 vertical bolts and one horizontal ( at camshaft sprocket end) ,not counting the 5 injector studs . If all these are out ,apparently they are bad for the injector hold down studs binding to the head. Try some penetrating oil and heat on the studs. This is all second hand ,have not worked on one of these myself . Hope it helps. Good luck. They always come of in the end. You did the right thing walking away. Start afresh in the morning.
@@furiousdriving big long bolt highest point on cam cover just below oil filler cap. Undo this long bolt your camcover is now free. If you think watching any of my 33 videos on the Jtd 1.9 diesel on SAAB 9-3 feel free, hope they help you out I too went through exact pain for days getting injectors out then trying to free off the camcover. Lots of other info and tips I hope help you get your engine back to running ways. New rockers, gasket, cambelt kit and water pump you will be good to go. 😊😊😊😊 Thanks for all your other videos you have posted down the years, Vinny. Vazza 750 SAAB snapped cambelt video 11 for the long bolt below oil filler cap. Good Luck.
And I thought the lower wishbone on the Audi A2/VW Polo was a pain in the bum to remove/put back on! Who design the engine on your car? Must be the same person who designed the VW/Audi engine with it's cam shaft carrier/cover. Sexy looking car.
@@furiousdriving I have given up on all common rail diesels, i admit to being old fashioned but i just don't want the expense or the complications. I have every confidence that you will get it in bits and back again, but running without a christmas tree on the dash, thats a whole other ball game
Matt it's an Alfa on which there's no such thing as a five minute simple job, unless you happen to be a diminutive contortionist of Italian descent . As for the rodents buy yourself some GT85 spray decant it into an old pan and dice up half a dozen 🌶 add to the gt 85 and simmer gently for half an hour when cool strain the mixture int a spray bottle and splash it all over the engine bay the moisture will evaporate leaving behind a mixture of chilly and PTFE that rodents of all makes and models hate.ive used this on everything n my barn for years and even on friends combine and tractors Now as to removal of the upper cam carrier,set the engine to a position where the pistons are all down the block away from the top of the stroke,and having made certain that everything that needs to be undone and removed has been try turning the camshaft over one at a time by hand of course this will apply a lifting force to the cam carrier from inside and will help to lift the housing which is no doubt stuck on it's dowels. God be with you and best of luck.
chilli and GT85? Thats a new one, bet it keeps neighbours cats out of flower beds as well! I was talking to someone about hanging it from an engine lift, the threaded rods for the injector clamps are still in so could be used
I've got a guided Tiddles to keep the neighbors cats out of her garden !... As for hanging it from an engine hoist try by all means,however it will need to be inside to keep weather out of the engine bay ,and you will need to keep the bonnet fully open to avoid the hoist causing any damage when and if it lets go !. Don't rely on the injector hold down threads To greatly as it's only alloy Fingers crossed Matt.
Matt as it’s a diesel could you send Al and fudge a video they may be able to help or suggest stuff to try sorry it’s putting up a fight I wonder if engine has catastrophically failed
![Quando Rondo - Grow Up [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8zFnCg3BO4Q/mqdefault.jpg)
It’s no coincidence that the badge of Alfa Romeos features a giant snake eating a human.
Gallon of petrol and some matches? 🔥
Matt loves a challenge, it will be soon fixed, running and mot teed, the guy is an inspiration,
Dragon, not a snake
@williamegler8771 grass snake I believe
@@williamegler8771 erm, whilst historically it may be supposed to be a reference to a dragon, the absence of wings or legs in the actual logo makes it look more like a giant snake.
Cold and dark winter evenings are going to be here very soon, you need to get that to the barn if you're ever going to fix it.
Have a mooch on Italia Autos channel on RUclips, lad works on his own and knows pretty much everything about alfas, Neil is his name.
As you said. The first think you normally do befire starting a job like this is tow the car to a warm and dry place where you can work. :)
If only he had somewhere 😂
@@rgorham99 If only. 🤣🤣
Its too big for the barn, the doors wouldnt shut with it straight in, and its too long and wide to rotate into the main room, and theres no space at home
@@furiousdriving Ok. Is it really bigger than the space the 123 left though? Only the part you are working on needs to fit under the car port for example. I know the frustration of having to work outside without the right tools on hand I have very few options myself.
@@rimmersbryggeri that space is filled..
Look at the state of the injectors... they have never been out. That valve cover has never been off. It still has the high quality factory RTV holding it on. Sometimes RTV can just hold that well. First, triple check that there are no more bolts holding it down. Perhaps on the front end behind the cam sprocket, or on the rear of the head, the cam-driven vacuum pump, maybe. Second, force is the answer. Use the giant pry bar like you did, and get a friend to help by tapping all around it. Another option, the through holes for the bolts seem nice and long. Pick a bolt hole near a corner, drill and tap it to whatever bolt size will suit it. You won't be able to tap threads all the way through, but go as far as you can. Take a bolt the size you tapped, grind the threads off the end, maybe about 10mm (compensate for no threads towards the bottom). Drive the bolt in and use it as a separator, as you would on a brake disc or drum, those ones that have threaded bolt hole in them.
It's Alfa Romeo. Probably the reason why the cylinder head won't come off is because the boot is shut and it's not the third Saturday of the month.....
Well, not with mine, which are bespoke Alfas. The JTD engines are designed and made by Fiat.
They are reliable engines @@БранимирПетров
I know the 159 is a very nice car but any modern car left on grass is a big no no for me. If it was the choice of reviving it or sawing my leg off with a hand saw I would seriously consider the latter.
Fair play to you sir.
The paint and protection on all the components underneath has been pretty useless for the last 20 years…
This feels like watching myself working on my 75. Everything that could fall in the engine bay did.
I’m assuming the under tray is magnetic and pulling anything loose down there
Engine support bar fitted between the wing tops as you would use if taking the gearbox out , leave it hanging/ with pressure on?
Second best day of my life was buying my Alfa, best day was when I sold it!
I'm doing a bunch of research on what could be the issue with the rocker cover not coming off. I have some experience with the Fiat JTD platform engines, and still have the workshop manual for a SAAB 93 which uses a TID engine which is based on the same platform. If I see anything about anyone struggling and what they did to fix it I will be sure to edit this comment accordingly
Side note, I am looking forward to seeing you and the other youtubers at the NEC next month!
Agreeing with the comments on here and i think if you can get a new secondhand engine from scrapped Alfa then thats maybe a way forward.
Feel your pain Matt. Totally normal, so many jobs just seem to end up being a frustrating pain. At least you do have people to ask for ideas.
These were a great car but do not spend any time or money on it until you have it off the ground and inspected the underside.
It's not just you that gets jobs lasting for days on cars. Took me 3 months to do the clutch on my cinquecento, didn't help that i had a heatwave at the start and monsoon by the time I finished, also had to search all over Europe for a part i broke 🙄👍🇮🇪
I'd go for a secondhand engine, preferably one you have seen running. Perhaps a rusty runner as a spares car?
I don't wish to further piss on your chips, but wait until you get to the rest of it, the engine and gearbox are usually the bits you dont have to worry about......
Matt, I shudder to see you work in a field like that! As an aircraft maintenance engineer, originally, it is so bad for contaminant ingress into the engine. Dust levels are however much lower in the UK than here in Southern Africa. Please get it to your barn or garage. I would really like to see this one back on the road, it has so much going for it. You remind me of people here who open and even overhaul an engine at the roadside where it broke down in a semi-desert environment! 😮
try spending near a grand on a 1.2 agila plus 500 for the car and now have white smoke form exhaust. 60k miles 03 plate.wish i hadn't bothered
ouch..
ECOTEC:
Every
Component
On
This
Engine's
Crap
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
It's a great car, only an unfortunate coincidence. You'll solve it cheaply
@@jazzhands7771 well it made it to 22 years before throwing an issue which is commendable
i would argue on a car that was crap in the first place is impressive
Matt finds something that even Bulldog BDX can't dislodge.
If you are thinking of doing an engine swap, just take the old engine out, take it somewhere warm and handy, then work on it. I assume you can either roll the car to somewhere hard or at least get a sufficient quantity of wood to roll it on to to get the engine out.
Hi Matt I would try and find a Alfa 159 forum and see if they can give you some pointers to get the head off I am sure someone as had this issue and found a solution good look my friend best regards Andy Allen.
I once had to use a pneumatic slide hammer running off a massive air compressor to get some injectors out of my 2.4 diesel 5 cylinder 159 😖
Yes, a hard surface is required. Try dropping it on one! Seriously though, that rocker cover could have become corroded or fused due to overheating. Good luck with it. I feel your pain.
16:08 Can confirm, it isn't just you. Every job has to make itself harder than it should. Sometimes, as you touched upon earlier, because the sodding tool we need is at home and we're somewhere else
Not hijacking your video but just checkout the 33 videos I made on the 1.9 version of this engine. Went through all your pain, bought a injector puller did it myself. Took me weeks of faffing about wiggling and spraying loosened them slightly, puller did the trick in about an hour on the last two injectors. Saab snapped cambelt, Vazza 750 on RUclips. 33 videos, I hope it helps you out. Good Luck 👍👍👍 I watch loads of your videos. Great content.
At 11-42 I tried that bolt too, made no difference, is too low down to have effect on camcover, I remember when I did my 1.9 Jtd I could not shift the cover off, turned out to be a bolt on right side of engine in about the middle going through to block. Check out my saab snapped cambelt video number 11 to show the long bolt that I missed too. Shows that bolt you tried to undo cambelt side, that bolt sits too low to b into camcover. Good Luck. 👍👍👍😊
Finding the rat poo would be enough to make me just get rid of the car entirely. I had rats in my workshop, and the memory of the smell, and disinfecting everything is etched in my memory. Nothing feels clean afterwards, no matter how much cleaning you do. Horrible creatures. I'm definitely paranoid about them now.
yeah, thats the feeling, Horrible creatures
@@furiousdriving I think many humans are Horrible, thought you'd be kinder than that? Try moving your POS out of their environment.
If nothing else, it will make a beautiful garden ornament
You've mentioned the car is not too far from your home, price up having the car moved, should be quite easy with the towing eye in ready, either that or sell it and get a better one
I would sell it and get something with a better design of engine!
tug1345
An excellent idea
Nothing wrong with design of Jtd engine, cambelt snaps it's not the end of the world. I fixed my 1.9 Jtd diesel in my SAAB 9-3 1.9 diesel after cambelt failure. Brilliant design allows the rockers to snap on there pivot point, valves are standing up straight like soldiers. So pistons pushe valves straight up snapping the sacrificial rockers saving engine from destruction. A new timing belt kit set of rockers, cam cover gasket, check all bits of rockers accounted for and your good to go, done over 3 thousand miles so far in mine, sweet as a nut. No cylinder head damage at all, inspected with camera.
2.4 five-cyllinder JTDm engines in the 159s are infamous for cracking the heads (prolly because of the temperature rise while burning off the DPF). Be extra careful.
Matt have you ever used freeze spray? It is brilliant, moved many a rusted stuck thing with it. Freezes the components and the when contradicted or whatever the word is, a very fine lubricant gets into the cracks.
Difficult to mention this without saying giggidy.
Giggidy! Thats a good idea, freeze instead of heat it off
@furiousdriving, wouldn't freezing make aluminium even more brittle? I'd avoid the hammer treatment if you do freeze the rocker cover
Italian cars a beauty desing and some good perfomance and all have good luck lol😂
I've had the exact same issue with a 1.9 JTD! The problem is the injector clamp bolts, the rods that appear to be part of the cam case. These threaded bits actually come through the cam carrier, and are threaded into the cylinder head. To remove the cam carrier, you need to remove the injector bolts first. You can get special tools for this. You mentioned in the video that some of these were bent when removing injectors? If so, this will definitely stop the cam carrier coming off
Ah, that is important, I assumed they only went into the carrier
@@furiousdrivingyeah, you’d be amazed how much trouble they can cause. They get stuck in because they’re steel and the carrier is aluminium, and it’s almost impossible to get any leverage on them. The tool you need is a stud extractor. I’d imagine the fancy induction heat tool you have would help with getting them out, or at least breaking the bond between the studs and the cam carrier a bit! Once those studs are out the carrier should come off with a few gentle taps with a mallet.
You're a braver man than me! All the best for the 24hr challenge! I shall be watching!
Turn the cam, it should assist in pushing carrier up!
worth a shot
Heres an idea!!!. Make a suitable adapter to connect to the oil filler on the cam cover and then use compressed air to blow the cover off, make a great video to see it fire off!!!.
that would be impressive...
Don't think I can post links here, but there's a very good thread on the Alfa Owner forum regarding this exact issue with the rocker covers sticking, I've not seen it myself, but it is worth mentioning that the cams are fixed into the cam cover, it'll come out as a module.
I'd also get those injectors cleaned and tested before you put them back in, all of the vibration and dirt flying around may have damaged them, and the last thing you want to do is melt a piston two weeks after all this work when one sticks open!
I knew the cams are built in, it's a hefty piece. Ill have a search on the forum for that
Maybe you could take it somewhere with a hard surface where you can jack it up and put it on car ramps. Then you can get underneath and hammer the cylinder head upwards using a metal bar.
It's not the cylinder head, it's the cam carrier. Theres no clear route from under the car to this to hammer up to
How are your shins? That towing eye is a whole load of pain waiting to happen!!!! 😂
I’ve only whacked it 40 or 50 times…
Have you tried hammering a Stanley knife blade into the joint? (The Catch-22 is: don’t hammer Stanley knife blades as they’re really brittle. And it’ll mess up the surfaces)
no, as its aluminium I dont want to ruin it, yet
I loved working on alfas you could spend as long as you like and nobody in the workshop would question it😂
There you have it, HDi diesels are a nightmare at hihgh mileages, you'd be better off finding a running good engine and swapping it out complete..The clutch will need checking anyway, bet the dual mass will knackered!
You could try cranking the starter I guess, nothing to lose.
Tow it home/ barn I am sure it will be easier, more so if engine change. Good luck .
No room at the inn-too big for the barn and no space on the drive
Ah the old, it’ll just take a few mins. Only thing I can think of is a thin scraper sharpened on a Grindr wheel try and wedge in the joint.
Just gone through same thing on volvo d5, injector stuck, waited week for air slide hammer, cam cover stuck with rtv from previous repair instead of just using gasket. Luckily on d5 intake built onto cam cover so used engine support beam lift engine by cam cover, probably took 150kg of force to break away. Copper washer stuck in injector bore, waited for another tool!!!!
theres always something!
😢 love these videos but everytime you post a video on the 159 I miss my old one 😢😢😢
I still miss my old sport wagon after all these years
@furiousdriving just something about an alfa they have a hold on me haha
The 1.9 engine is the same used on the Vectra, as mine were terrible to take out a few years ago. The block is a Fiat unit, just altered for different makes.
Chuck another engine in it if it was me why bother stripping it down when another engine will be a bit better with a guarantee. 😊👍
I tried to change the timing belt on a 147 1.6 twinspark once. Had to order a bunch of riba sockets and it wasn't a very maintenance friendly engine. Later I switched to a 6 cilinder Lexus 1mz-fe engine and changing that timing belt was a walk in the park. Anyways, the alfa was very nice to drive, so I guess the fiddling is part of alfa ownership.
Have you thought about being a road sweeper?
I would ge it to your house where all your things are instead of that field you will se things differently then and not feel pressured and relaxe and work on it in comfort.
I think you need to get that car moved from its current location, at least on some kind of hard standing if not a garage.
If you use the anti chew spray on the car it has a disinfectant build in . We use it on all our modern ev and hybrids
Thanks, I’ll check that stuff out
Is this behind an Alfa Romeo specialist, guessing he had no luck with it. Lovely green GTV still sitting next to it?
I'd be getting it towed back home now the Merc is gone and do lots of research to see what exactly you need to remove for it to come off
I have-and video chatted with an Alfa specialist, everything is off, it’s bonded itself
Just a tip - rats hate any type of mint.I reckon you could concentrate more heat on a safe corner and watch for the gasket goo to start bubbling..the torch you have looks ideal as it is not too hot, not too cold.
Borrow or hire a generator to run the inductive heat tool. Hire seems a bit expensive just had a look at HSS and they want £75 a day. Otherwise get the engine out and to the barn or 'new' engine to the barn. You only have couple of weeks till clocks goes back so no late afternoon working without lighting then.
Love this type of content, more please!
Want to see you do the cam belt on this keep putting it off doing mine because it is very tight when I did the alternator to take the tensioner off I had to chop down a Allen key to fit
I’d love to be able to say I’m surprised. I’d LOVE to, but…
Have you tried to use the engine compression to get the injectors out? Just crank the engine. But make sure the injector bolts are screwed on a few turns.
Or is the engine seized? I forgot...
Engine not seized but not in time, and Ive heard hilarious stories about how far the injectors go when they finally break free this way!
@@furiousdriving Did you see how they do it in Poland. That video, How to NOT remove the injectors bmw? 😁
How frustrating & what a pig of a job it's going to be to separate them. Best of luck & I hope you win through.
I've been reading that 140 Alfa's of all models went to be destroyed after being turned in for the TfL Ulez £2000 scrappage scheme through the FOI act, The breakdown list of individual marques that went the same way is heartbreaking.
It was a bloodbath, Saab and Rover 75s in particular have gone plus a number of classics, all for £2K off a car shipped from China full of toxic materials. Saddest thing is, this is bound to happen throughout the UK come the next budget.
That engine bay looks as though a VW flat four could fit in....
Thankfully I've never had rats in any of my cars, but a mouse once got into my VW 1600 Variant and chewed a good chunk off the wooden handle of a hammer that was in the car. I still have it (the hammer, not the mouse - and sadly not the Variant either).
I cringed in horror when you were using the long breaker bar.😱
Thats desperation at work
Would it not have been easier to have it towed out of the field & to a workshop where you would have better access to everything.
You need to get that out the field , now the Mercedes has gone get it in there even a engine swap will be easy , I think a pulley needs removing to get the head off ?
the cam carrier (rocker cover) contains the camshafts so that pulley can stay no bother
Puts me of buying a diesel and another Alfa Romeo. I admire your spirit and determination Mat!
buy one thats been in regular use and you'll be Ok!
I know you will solve it. I thought the injectors would be holding the cover down?
They were, but now the gasket has bonded it
Hmm. Maybe see how Bruno from Alfa Romeo? No Problem! does it.
Hi Matt what’s the story with the GTV/Spider I can see nearby ?
You won't be getting that head assembly off in a hurry I'm afraid. I think you're better fitting a new engine but you're in for a world of pain. I did my Brera this year so speaking from experience. The best way to do it is to remove the front valence. I removed the engine but left the box in and that caused a world of pain. In the end, I removed the box and fitted them together. BUT, before you do that, do the following:
Check the subframe on the passenger side. These are £700 to replace and they all fail there.
Allow for the fact that you'll want to fit a new clutch and slave cylinder (they're internal)
Remove the drive shafts. This is an incredible ball ache and you'll destroy the lower bolts.
I know that it's good content mate but you're in for a world of pain with this one. Really look carefully before you do it as the costs mount up really quickly on these. When you remove the front bumper, for example, you will disintegrate the front brackets and, if you're lucky, the washer bottle and airbox mounting brackets might be intact.
Tow it, maybe the movement of the piston will crack it open? Maybe it's horrendous what's under there when it went bang.
If it was the head that was stuck that might work but not the rocker cover. With a petrol engine with a stuck head you could remove the camshafts, put oil down the bores, put the spark plugs in and turn over the engine to use hydraulic pressure to force off the head.
Could you persuade Chris the mobile mechanic out to the field for one last go to try and get the rocker assembly off? May need bribery with tea and/or beer I would imagine though. If that doesnt work then i think you've done all you can in the field and it needs to be recovered somewhere warmer, drier and less rattier for very hard persuasion / power tools or engine replacement.
I could lie and tell him its a Toyota wheel bearing
Owatrol Transyl Oil...... absoutely amazing penetrating fluid, and will free up pretty much anything.
rather like scenes I have seen of Jag XJ engine head removals where forklifts get involved ...
Snapped timing belt, rust-welded injectors, probably a bucket of silicone under the valve cover, to me all that means the car was beaten on hard until something eventually broke. Wonder when was the last oil change. Definitely an engine swap. As you might encounter dozens of next nasty suprises with the original one. And by the way try to look under the car for any rust before you start to throw money in it. Alfas like to rot, especially if they never had aby rust proofing done. If the rest was neglected as much as the engine then it might not be worth saving unfortunately. That's sad as the 159 is a really beautiful car and the 2.4 jtd engine is really nice and powerful.
Perhaps a stupid suggestion but would your stuck bolt heater run off a power invertor operating from your car with best battery output (I guess your c class?), I suspect it would draw too much current but worth a mention, to me it sounds like you may have talked yourself into a replacement engine if you can't get any joy , half the work is already done and it is most definitely worth saving, referring to your 3 week +, convoluted video worry, personally I enjoy watching them and seeing a job completed with warts and all rather than just the arguably more watchable highlights, good luck either way!
You're right, it would take too much power. Im not jumping into a new engine yet, but it remains an option
One of the cars that you recently discovered all the rust? How recently are we talking about? Many come to mind... ;) Is the chap that you used to remove the injectors the one based around Detling? If that's him I've spoken to him a couple of times on the phone (when I had my old diesel Golf) but never called him out, always seemed pleasant and helpful, albeit very busy which despite the inconvenience is probably a good sign. I cannot offer any advice on this, but hope you can work something out.. 🤞👍
You could try turning the engine over perhaps the compression strokes may force it apart.
Now the injectors are out theres no compression
G'day from Western Australia 🇦🇺 👍
G'day!
have you tried tapping a thin paint scraper into the gasket to break the seal ??
not yet, dont want to damage anything but thats coming...
Do you also need to do all this if you want to check the valve clearances?
probably, although it should, just lift off now
Maybe 6 Diesel involved, but I would personally look at replacing the engine. But given the solid state of the existing engine, I would be removing the engine with help.
Maybe injector studs have a shoulder and need to come out too.
Bit of an overkill about the Rat...The Car is parked in the middle of a Field where wild animals live..Why do I see this as another money pit...like the Rover etc..Finish one Job first...
Agree about the rats, I thought this plonker would be kinder.....
Engine swap sounds sensible
Yeah I reckon engine swap Probably easier in long run. This low mileage example though. 🤔 Would have to ensure replacement engine from a wreck was a runner and not something that needs major work too.
Well at least I'm not the only one that takes on "simple jobs" which turn in to 3 week long ordeals that make me question my life choices...
In this situation I'd say a new engine is the way to go if they are reasonable money.
You're going to be £500 to recondition all 5 injectors, £250 to skim and rebuild the head when you finally get it off and probably another £200 in miscellaneous parts to put it all back together, so if second hand, running engines are under £900 you're laughing....with a whole engine worth of spares should the new one need anything.
A good rat repellent is Lavender, or mint The are a few good youtube vids on it.
That’s a good tip
Get a slide hammer, screw into the top and pull it out that way
Silly question. Could you not remove the cylinder head with the injectors in, and then blowlamp it afterwards to free off the injectors?
no, they act as dowels and hold the layers together
Hi Matt,took a Quick Look and apparently there are 21 vertical bolts and one horizontal ( at camshaft sprocket end) ,not counting the 5 injector studs . If all these are out ,apparently they are bad for the injector hold down studs binding to the head. Try some penetrating oil and heat on the studs. This is all second hand ,have not worked on one of these myself . Hope it helps. Good luck. They always come of in the end. You did the right thing walking away. Start afresh in the morning.
Ive got the 21 and 1 out, I think its the dowels/studs or gasket has bonded itself together
@@furiousdriving big long bolt highest point on cam cover just below oil filler cap. Undo this long bolt your camcover is now free. If you think watching any of my 33 videos on the Jtd 1.9 diesel on SAAB 9-3 feel free, hope they help you out I too went through exact pain for days getting injectors out then trying to free off the camcover. Lots of other info and tips I hope help you get your engine back to running ways. New rockers, gasket, cambelt kit and water pump you will be good to go. 😊😊😊😊 Thanks for all your other videos you have posted down the years, Vinny. Vazza 750 SAAB snapped cambelt video 11 for the long bolt below oil filler cap. Good Luck.
@@vazza7504 remove injector studs. They provably have a shoulder
Matt…… wouldn’t it a good idea / sensible to remove the car out of the field with a tow truck first ?
Ive no where else to put it
And I thought the lower wishbone on the Audi A2/VW Polo was a pain in the bum to remove/put back on! Who design the engine on your car? Must be the same person who designed the VW/Audi engine with it's cam shaft carrier/cover. Sexy looking car.
there is a special slide hammer you can buy for injectors.
and hydraulic ones too. Still took a specialist a couple of hours on these horrors
@@furiousdriving I have given up on all common rail diesels, i admit to being old fashioned but i just don't want the expense or the complications.
I have every confidence that you will get it in bits and back again, but running without a christmas tree on the dash, thats a whole other ball game
Matt it's an Alfa on which there's no such thing as a five minute simple job, unless you happen to be a diminutive contortionist of Italian descent .
As for the rodents buy yourself some GT85 spray decant it into an old pan and dice up half a dozen 🌶 add to the gt 85 and simmer gently for half an hour when cool strain the mixture int a spray bottle and splash it all over the engine bay the moisture will evaporate leaving behind a mixture of chilly and PTFE that rodents of all makes and models hate.ive used this on everything n my barn for years and even on friends combine and tractors
Now as to removal of the upper cam carrier,set the engine to a position where the pistons are all down the block away from the top of the stroke,and having made certain that everything that needs to be undone and removed has been try turning the camshaft over one at a time by hand of course this will apply a lifting force to the cam carrier from inside and will help to lift the housing which is no doubt stuck on it's dowels.
God be with you and best of luck.
chilli and GT85? Thats a new one, bet it keeps neighbours cats out of flower beds as well! I was talking to someone about hanging it from an engine lift, the threaded rods for the injector clamps are still in so could be used
I've got a guided Tiddles to keep the neighbors cats out of her garden !...
As for hanging it from an engine hoist try by all means,however it will need to be inside to keep weather out of the engine bay ,and you will need to keep the bonnet fully open to avoid the hoist causing any damage when and if it lets go !.
Don't rely on the injector hold down threads To greatly as it's only alloy
Fingers crossed Matt.
Matt as it’s a diesel could you send Al and fudge a video they may be able to help or suggest stuff to try sorry it’s putting up a fight I wonder if engine has catastrophically failed
Is the no where on this cam cover to use a bolt to press it off? Other option might be a very thin chisel/scraper to hammer into join.
No, only the lugs on the front and back edges
Bring it inside and work on it in a nice atmosphere with tea and biscuits.
Did u use the tea shelf?
the strut top
New engine sounds a good Idea
You really need to get the Alfa towed home or to the barn to be much more convenient to work on
wont fit in the barn and no room at home