156 PROBLEMS?
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KANEIT

Original Poster:

2,856 posts

240 months

Sunday 15th July 2007
quotequote all
Picked up the motor today and may have problems already.I'm hoping to see what those in the know might think before I speak with the garage where I bought it.
The car is a 2 litre 156 Lusso 2001 reg.
1. When starting it's 'chuggy', really low revs and konks out after a few seconds. I think it's done it a few times when I've been parking up at home too but hasn't done it while stopped in traffic. If I quickly blip the throttle and get the revs up a bit it's O.K. A choke/overfuelling/idle speed issue?
2. The nearside rear sidelight or brakelight remains on,quite dimly though, with all the lights switched off, indicators cancelled, and the car is locked. Is it a parking light? I just disconnected it as it could be draining the battery.
3. When driving at 30mph+ the temp gauge reads below 90 but in standing traffic today it went over 100 on the gauge. Should I be scared?!
I really love this car but it's been bought as I need a smart car for my work and didn't have a massive budget.
Cheers, any help or suggestions would be most appreciated.

DamienCBR

2,037 posts

244 months

Monday 16th July 2007
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Question 3.

My T-Spark runs pretty much constantly at 70c on the temp, if stuck in traffic it will go just past 90 and the fan kicks in to bring it back down. I have always thought this is low but have been assured by Medway Auto it is fine.

Not sure on the others.

D

jwyatt

570 posts

242 months

Monday 16th July 2007
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Sounds like the MAF or variator might be troublesome...

On the temp front, I know of various owners of early 156's that have seem big improvements with a new rad, or even just a flush/refill of the coolant.Worth a try!

Edited by jwyatt on Monday 16th July 15:48

AdrianR

822 posts

305 months

Monday 23rd July 2007
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KANEIT said:
2. The nearside rear sidelight or brakelight remains on,quite dimly though, with all the lights switched off, indicators cancelled, and the car is locked. Is it a parking light? I just disconnected it as it could be draining the battery.
Allegedly this is a fault with the rev counter, and you need a new one to fix it.

Found that out while searching for similar problem with a 147.

AdrianR
(still don't know what the cause is on the 147 though - see separate question)

dgr

289 posts

255 months

Wednesday 25th July 2007
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There is a parking light feature activated by the ignition key. If you push the little button on the steering lock and turn the key right back you activate the parking lights. I did this when I first got mine as I thought it was needed to remove the key.

Had the same tickover problem on my previous 156 (99 2.0 T-Spark) when cold, dealer fixed at a service and it never re-appeared. Too long ago to remember the fix I am afraid. Suggest you get a specialist or dealer to look at it.

Hope you enjoy the car as much as we are.

OldEngineer

32 posts

240 months

Thursday 2nd August 2007
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All well known problems...
1) MAF is faulty, needs replacing. Simple job, at top of engine bay with two hose clips, but part is about £100.
2) Slight glow from rear light is a revcounter fault. A diode on the 'bulb warning' circuit has blown causing the circuit in the rev counter to report a fault. Change the revcounter (10 Minute job behind the steering wheel with 4 screws) but about £100.
3) Cooling system should run at constant 90C but most fail with the thermostat open to give 70C at speed (which is too cold). Dealers often fob off owners about this failure. Change the thermostat and you get a constant 90C...except if the low speed fan circuit has failed, then it gets to 105C before the high speed circuit kicks in. It has one fan which is swithced (on the earth side) by the engine ECU which monitors cooling temperature and A/C pressure. It switches in the low speed circuit first. This is identical to the high speed except it's routed through a large resistor mounted on the back of the radiator. It feels the heat of the radiator and increases the current to the fan to vary the speed almost up to the same as the high speed circuit. Problem is it corrodes. Easy to change (sits at about 11 o'clock on the edge of the fan casing) and costs about £25.

JR

13,969 posts

279 months

Thursday 2nd August 2007
quotequote all
OldEngineer said:
All well known problems...
1) MAF is faulty, needs replacing. Simple job, at top of engine bay with two hose clips, but part is about £100.
2) Slight glow from rear light is a revcounter fault. A diode on the 'bulb warning' circuit has blown causing the circuit in the rev counter to report a fault. Change the revcounter (10 Minute job behind the steering wheel with 4 screws) but about £100.
3) Cooling system should run ...
What a great reply. Nice one.

KANEIT

Original Poster:

2,856 posts

240 months

Thursday 2nd August 2007
quotequote all
Cheers guys for the help. I love the car and am well pleased with it on the whole.
The little monkey overheated a few weeks back after my original post. The garage mended the fan as it wasn't coming on. I think the low speed fan setting must not be working still as it often goes to 105 when standing and drops back down to 90 (cheers Oldengineer). I'll check that resistor.
The rev counter thing sounds bloomin wierd!
I thought it could be a MAF or the throttle potentiometer so I will see if they can be cleaned.
A trip to Simpson Brothers breakers might be on the cards!

cluelesscarnut

116 posts

222 months

Friday 31st August 2007
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to see if the maf is a fault disconnect it and see if the car runs better without it,if it does then the maf is buggered