From: spider@knoware.nl (Hans de Kok)
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 16:49:45 +0200
Subject: 164 transaxle

> Talk about hard to find, the most hard to find item is the transaxle oil
> dip stick. I looked at the CD-ROM manual for hours trying
> to figure out where it is.  It is accessible only from under the car.

Indeed, also i have been looking for 'hours' with the manual next to me,
searching for this little willy. Never found it.
Until, after changing engine oil, i was lying underneath my car i suddenly
saw it, thinking what the hell is this?
Probably if i need the stick do check some levels, i cannot find her back?

Maybe this helps, you are not alone!

Date:    24 Jul 1998 12:21:32 +0200
From:    Attif RAFIQUE 
Subject: Re:164LS embarassing question

The way I located my dipstick for my 24v was I had to take the left hand side f
ront wheel off, remove the
wheel arch cover  nearest to the bulkhead ( only takes about 5 -10 mins), use y
our torch and you will see it. 

Attif

From: "Bill Harkell {Oh No! Mr. Bill!}" 
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 09:31:54 -0800
Subject: 164 shifter

Mark,

	If memory serves well, there is a troublesome bushing under the
firewall which handles the shifting linkage. Mine had to be replaced a
while back just for the symptoms you describe. It also seems to be
returning as a problem as my action is getting a bit tougher and the
tech who did my recall said he moved it back into place. Too bad he
cobbed up my inner fender well when re-assembly took place... :o(
	Hope that helps.

------------------------
From: Keith Morehouse - W9RM 
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 11:30:38 -0600
Subject: RE: 164 Transmission repair

> From: JLEEALFA@aol.com
> Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 07:34:38 -0500 (EST)
> Subject: 164 Transmission repair

> My 91 164b has 100,000 miles and it is time to renew the clutch. 
> The transmission has also developed a "rattle" or clicking sound in 
> first, second, third, and fifth gear under load.  Has anyone had a 
> similar experience, and what was the cause?  I am suspecting a bad 
> bearing or synchronizer.

It's possible the noise you hear is a rattle associated with the gear
shift linkage bushings.  There are several and they wear.

My '91 164 (150,000 miles) has had a sloppy gearshift for quite a while. 
Under hard acceleration, there is a definite "buzziness" which can be
stopped by a slight front or back pressure on the gear shift lever
(depending on which gear you're in at the time...).

I've heard that the bearings that guide side to side movement are
relatively easy to replace - the others, less so...

From: Peter.Greis@saab.se
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 15:50:44 +0100
Subject: 164 "quick shift". Long

:-) This weekend I've done some modifications to my gear shifter. I'm so
pleased with the result that I'd like to share it with you. I have always
thought that the shift stroke on my 164 -90 was too long, not worthy of a high
performing saloon, so I decided to do something about that.

The idea is to allow you to adjust the shifting distance between gears by
changing the position of the pivot-ball on the stick, the higher you adjust the
ball the shorter the throws. Because of the short distance between the bottom
of the shifter and the floor you also have to raise the pivot-cup.

The -90 shifter has a plastic pivot-ball that is moulded to the stick and a
pivot-cup that consists of some plastic parts and is integrated with the
support strut from the engine. This design can't be modified so I went out to a
scrapyard to look at a -93 model.

The -93 shifter has a much nicer pivot design with a steel ball and a cup that
can be dismounted from the support strut in one piece. The ball is secured in
place by dents in the stick above and under the steel ball. Pressing these back
will free the ball. I drilled a hole in the ball for a socket head set screw to
be able to lock it at the desired height on the stick.

To increase the distance between the pivot point and the floor I sawed off a
pipe at appropriate lengths to use as spacers between the pivot cup and the
support strut. To screw everything in I used two long M6 screws.

I, with my -90 model, didn't want to change to the -93 support strut and I
wanted to keep my old shift-handle so I did some more modifications that gave
me a shifter that also can be changed in height.

Rating:
I do really recommend this, it's far more noticeable than any other performance
mods I've done. I don't know if it will cut any time off your lap time around
the track but I imagine it will for me. Things work and looks just like stock,
a distinct "klick-in" feel when shifting and my elbow doesn't hit the back-rest
any longer.
I have reduced my throw with 45% for a daily drive and 60%, and a much higher
stick, when I feel sporty.
The feel depends much on the condition of your transmission as the shifting
forces will increase as the throw decrease. Getting the shift out of reverse is
a little bit hard on mine but I can live with that. Otherwise it feels great.

If you want a little more thorough description on how I did this modification,
on a -90 model, just drop me a line.

/:-) Peter
164 V6 -90 with a flick-of-the-wrist style of shifting

From: Bruce Murray 
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 07:55:56 -0500
Subject: Re: 164 shift linkage nightmare

Now this is a post I really must reply to:-

>I have a problem with my 91 164S.  The shift stick hits the plastic of the
>console when shifting into first.  It goes into gear, but not easily.

>Now how in the world do I get the new bushing into the female portion at
>the end of the rod?  I sanded and filed the plastic at one end of the
>bushing, but no matter what kind of puller I rig up I can't get it in.  It
>just seems to big.  Even heating the rod and cooling the bushing didn't
>help.  I guess the answer is a press, but I can't even imagine that would
>do it.  Seems to me the plastic would just buckle and it would never slide
>into place.

I have just been through the identical agony so I won't waste bandwidth by 
repeating it in its entirety.
I did in fact complete the job without removing the complete gear shift 
assembly from the car as the manual describes.  Having already experienced 
the joys of dashboard work on this car, I was not anxious to repeat it.  So 
I did the job from within the engine compartment only. You do need  the 
dexterity and extreme patience to do it though. 

The replacement bushing is about 1mm bigger diameter than the hole in the 
steel rod end. Also it has a retaining lips at each end which add another 1 
mm.  So this means you have to compress the nylon bushing about 2 mm to get 
it in the hole.  Since the hole in question is about 33 mm dia, you can see 
this is a major problem.

I got the old bushing out by chipping away at its retaining lip on the one 
side I could reach ( the nylon was brittle from heat ) and the bushing then 
just slid out.  So my assumption is that the nylon will shrink and lose its 
interference fit over time.

After futilely trying to file a chamfer on one end to provide a lead in, I 
gave up and ended up by turning down the bushing outer diameter to 1.300 ins 
which was slightly bigger than the old bushing OD. The new one then fitted 
in snugly. Of course now it can rotate within its housing and probably slide 
a bit as well but I am hoping it will last a bit.  After a day's heavy duty 
struggle, interspersed with thoughts like " why the hell did I buy a front 
wheel drive car? ", I was not about to be a mechanical purist.

So I expect my repair will last a while but not as long as the original ( 
135000miles ).

I had the idea of using a Loctite Bearing lock compound to make up for the 
loss of interference but didn't bother.
As an engineer I have tried to understand the reason for this design and I 
suspect that it is done this way so as to compress the central rubber 
element. This maintains the bushing's integrity by reducing the tensile 
stresses at the rubber/nylon interface.

When you do finally get the new bush in make sure the holes in the rubber 
are vertically oriented.

I expect by now you've done the job but good luck anyway.

Clearly if anyone else has the heads off or is doing major work in the area, 
I strongly suggest that this bushing be changed.

From: Brad Anesi 
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 1996 09:49:14 -0600
Subject: <164> 5-speed Transmission Fluid Change

This past Saturday was mostly spent underneath my 164, performing a
number of upgrades (read about the Stebro exhaust install in an
upcoming Alfa Owner), and maintenance items, including a transmission
fluid change.  Draining the fluid was easy enough, requiring both a 10
and 12mm allen socket to remove the two drain plugs.  Re-filling the box
proved much more difficult however, as I could not find the dipstick/fill
hole as indicated in the Owner's Manual.  After searching for nearly an
hour, I came to the conclusion that the sensor screwed into the top of
the bell housing HAD to be the only way to re-fill the unit and (once
again), I had found another anomaly of the early 164s.  In fact, the
transmission happily drank down the two quarts of RedLine MTL fluid,
and I now have a much smoother shifting gearbox.

Brad
'91 164B (3/90 build)

------------------------

From: "Dr. Ted Siverns" 
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:34:13 -0700
Subject: 164 Transaxle Lube

There appears to be some confusion on the lubricant for the 164 transaxle.
My question to Redline Synthetic Oil Co. and their reply follows. I hope it
helps.
What do you recommend for a 1991 164S (5 Speed Manual) Alfa Romeo
transaxle? I'post your answer to the Alfa user group. The Owner's Manual
says Dexron II, the Technical Data says 80W 90. What is the Redline product
that you recommend? Thanks. 

"In my guide '92 guide it calls for a 75W90 GL-5 in the Alfa 164 manual
transmission, in the '97 guide it calls for a Dexron III fluid in the 164.
I would check to see what is in the gearbox, you should be able to tell if
it is an ATF or gear oil. If it is an ATF I would recommend Red Line D4ATF,
if a gear oil I would recommend Red Line 75W90NS in your Alfa. The most
recent recommendation is the Dexron III. It appears in the 164 that Alfa
changed their recommendation at some point, possibly to improve cold
shiftability. I don't know that they changed the transmission.  Thank you
for your interest in Red Line Oil."

From: bjanesi@juno.com (Bradley J. Anesi)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 21:02:18 EST
Subject: Which Redline Fluid for 164 5-speed -Reply

"Todd Boyer"  asks...

>anybody know which type of Redline synthetic to use in a 164 manual
gearbox?  
I've had Redline MTL in mine for over a year (with good results) which is
what Redline suggests for manual boxes which spec' ATF fluid.

Hope this helps,

Brad Anesi
'91 Project 164Q 5-speed

From: JLEEALFA 
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 07:16:13 EDT
Subject: 164 Transmission noise

Robert Hardwick wrote:
>BUT, what had been a mild rumbling during low gear acceleration is now
>very disconcerting.  The sound is a rapid "tick-tick" emanting from the
>gear shift at maybe engine speed frequency.  It gets louder with the
>evel of acceleration or deceleration and seems to be more linked to
>engine rpm than vehicle speed.  It's noisiest in 1st gear, fairly noisy
>in 2nd gear and gradually quiets so that on the highway it's inaudible
>even if going hard.

I had a similar problem with my 164b.  It turned out to be a bad bearing on
the input shaft of the transmission.  The old bearing was a ball bearing in
which the plastic cage had broken and the bearing race had become etched.  The
rest of the transmission looked fine (100k miles) and needed no other service.

The replacement bearing was a roller bearing of improved design.  If this is
your problem be sure to replace clutch plate, pressure plate, and throw out
bearing while you have the car apart.  The parts are inexpensive compared to
the labor to do the job at a later time.

91 164b+

Date:    Fri, 18 Sep 1998 18:42:03 -1000
From:    "Rupert Kwok" <rkwok@Hpu.EDU>


Installing a Momo shift knob. 
I ran into trouble when I try to remove the OEM knob. I checked the Tech
Notes but no one has mentioned how to do the job. In most car, you just
unscrew the shift knob. I tried very hard to turn the knob with no success.
After spending over an hour trying to figure out how Alfa designed and
installed the knob, I decided to cut the shift knob. 
After removed the shift pattern cap, I cut the knob straight down from the
top to bottom (at the position where the 4th gear is pointing). Then I made
a same cut on the right side (between the 5th & the reverse). Just like
cutting a cake. Then I cut the knob three or four times on the side of the
cut section. Peeling the smaller sections one by one from the bottom with a
screw driver. Finally, I can see the whole steel shift stick, cut the
inside rubber, and removed the OEM knob. Installing the new one is very
simple.
I don't why Alfa made the shift knob like that. I spent over 4 hours just
to change the knob(I also cut the metal shift stick about 2 inches since
the stick looks kind of long).
The Momo knob and a shorter stick looks really nice but if I knew it would
take me that much time, I might not do it at all.