by Brad Anesi
This is the first of a series of articles which will cover upgrades, enhancements, and basic maintenance to the Alfa Romeo 164. The series will echo the work which is done on my car, an early (3/90 build date) 1991 Base Model with 60,000 miles, which I use as a daily driver. The articles will appear only on a semi-regular basis, so don't expect to find this column in every issue of the Alfa Owner. Some of the planned topics of discussion include A/C stepper motor replacement, wheel/tire upgrades, exhaust replacement, valve adjustment, and any number of other projects which will enable this car to reach it's full potential (suggestions are encouraged at banesi@novell.com). As a confirmed "shade-tree mechanic" like many of you, my objective in bringing you these articles is to share the pitfalls and experiences which a qualified Alfa mechanic might take for granted, but you and I might find ourselves venturing into. In doing so, I hope I might encourage some of you to tackle some of these tasks yourself, or at least feel more confident in presenting a particular problem or upgrade to your mechanic.
If there is any one maintenance item we do ourselves, inevitably it is changing the oil & filter. It is the most frequent maintenance item on most cars, and the Alfa 164 is no exception. The factory interval is listed as every 10,000 miles for the 3 liter V6 found in the 164, but I take exception to this recommendation. Oil is the life blood of any motor, and the effectiveness of any oil (including synthetic) will be diminished well before reaching 10,000 miles. I would suggest 5000 miles as a more realistic milestone; 3000 miles if you do a lot of short trips. When in doubt, change it - oil is very cheap compared to a motor re-build.
This goes without saying, but it is important to have the required tools at hand before starting any project. For an oil change on the 164, it is not quite so cut & dry; there are some options on how the job is approached, and even the tools which are required. Early 164s require a 27mm socket wrench to remove the drain plug; later 164s use a 12mm hex head bolt, and will thus require either an Allen wrench or hex-head socket (available from SK Tools for about $10). If you need to find out which you have, the drain plug faces to the rear of the car at the bottom of the oil pan. If you lie on you back and maneuver yourself from the front of the car, you should be able to just reach the plug and determine what it is by feel.
Since the oil filter is not accessible from the top of the engine compartment on an Alfa 164, we will need to get the car up in the air to reach the drain plug and filter. This can be done in one of two ways (assuming you don't have a lift): 1) Drive-on ramps. 2) Jack and block* right side of car, removing the passenger-side wheel to provide access to filter. I feel method #1 is preferable since everything can be done from one position (under the car) without removing the wheel. However, method #2 may be required, if the oil filter does not come off easily ...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
With the car now up in the air, we can proceed with the filter and drain plug removal. First, we need to find the oil filter, which is easier said than done. It is located about half way up on the engine block on the passenger side, pointing toward the fire wall. From beneath the car, you can reach up (wait for those exhaust down-pipes to cool down, they will be hot!), and grab hold of the filter to twist it off in a counter-clockwise direction - be sure to have a drain pan ready beneath the filter. Because you can't get a whole lot of torque in this position, you may not be able to get the filter off from here, requiring the "through the wheel-well approach" mentioned earlier. Apparently, it is even more difficult to get to the filter with the 94 - 95 model year 4-cam motor. When doing my car the first time, I found that rubber gloves made the difference in getting the filter off from beneath the car. Note, do NOT use a typical "band-type" oil filter wrench to get the filter off ...or on, for that matter. I did try using one, and created a light show of sparks upon hitting something electrical above the filter. An adjustable, crescent wrench style oil filter wrench (Groit's Garage sells one of these), which allows you to grab the filter from an angle, may prove effective for this task.
With the filter off, you've gotten past the most difficult part of this job. Now we can remove the drain plug from the bottom of the oil pan, making sure to have a drain pan of at least 8 quarts capacity ready to catch the stream of oil as the plug is removed. While the oil is draining, you can clean up the drain plug and remove any metal shavings from the magnetic tip and then slide the old crush washer off and the new one on - you did get a new washer, didn't you? Now screw the plug back into the oil pan and snug it up gently. Ideally, this should be done with a torque wrench set at 40 ft/lbs - DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN! Next, the new oil filter can be installed, but only after spreading oil on the rubber seal of the filter to ensure a good seal. This can be a bit of trying task as well - I found that by getting both of my hands up there, using one to guide the filter and the other to twist, I was able to have the filter back on after only few failed attempts. Remember, if the filter does not screw on easily it is cross-threaded and must be backed off and screwed on properly. Also, as mentioned earlier, hand-tighten only!
All that remains now is to re-fill the motor with fresh oil. The Alfa factory specification suggests using a 10W-40 oil, but conventional wisdom seems to favor a heavier oil such as a 15W-50 or 20W-50, especially in the summer months. Some swear by Italian oils such as Agip, others (myself included) prefer a 100% synthetic such as Mobil 1 15W-50. Nonetheless, approximately seven quarts are needed to bring the 164's V6 back up to the proper fill level.
At this point, you have completed the oil & filter change. The only thing left to do is start the motor up, check for leaks, and be on your way out to dinner, having just saved the cost of the meal by doing your own oil change!
* Always use blocks or jack-stands on a raised car - NEVER rely on the jack alone!