by Brad Anesi
I know that I promised you all some performance upgrades for this months article, but while that project is proceeding along, I'll keep you busy with some additional maintenance items for the Alfa 164.
While most people understand that the engine oil of any motor should be changed on a regular basis, the transmission fluid (both automatic and manual), with its longer change interval, is often neglected altogether as a maintenance item. On the Alfa 164, the factory suggests a transmission fluid change every 30,000 miles, for both the manual and automatic box. This article will cover the fluid change on a manual (5-speed) transmission. The procedure for the automatic unit is somewhat more involved, with a requirement for a filter change and five liters of fluid (overall capcity is nine liters), rather than the two liters (1.8 liters, to be exact) found in the manual unit.
To get started, it will be essential to get the front end of the car up in the air at least a few inches to comfortably access the two drain plugs. These plugs are located on the bottom of the bell housing, facing somewhat forward for easier access. With a drain pan in place, you can first remove the upper (gear box) drain plug. This will require a 12mm allen head wrench or socket. A 1/2" drive socket with a breaker bar makes this a very easy task. Upon removal, you will find that the drain plug is magnetic and will thus have a collection of fine metal particles attached to it - hopefully you will not find a gear tooth attached to the plug, but shi(f)t happens! Clean the metal particles off the plug (this is most easily done with a strong magnet), and then replace and torque to 22 ft/lbs.
Next, the lower (differential) drain plug can be removed using a 10mm allen head wrench or socket. You will find that most of the nearly two quarts of fluid came out from the gear box drain, and so very little fluid will remain when the differential plug is removed. Once the remaining fluid has been drained, replace the plug and torque to 22 ft/lbs. Do NOT over-tighten the drain plugs!
Alfa recommends ATF Dexron II as a refill for both the manual and automatic transmission. Always looking for something a little better, I turned to RedLine Synthetic Oil Corp., who specifies their MTL fluid specifically for manual transmissions which specify an ATF refill. At $8/qt, the Redline may seem expensive, but not when you consider it will get 30,000 miles of use.
The dip-stick/refill location for the 164 is located on the rear side of the engine and is hidden extremely well. Let me emphasize, extremely well. After draining all the old fluid, I could not locate the dipstick and went into near panic mode as I realized I had an empty transmission and no place no refill. As it turns out, this was a blessing in disguise. There is a speed sensor conveniently located at the top of the bell housing (removing the air box makes this very easy to access), which can be removed with a 24mm deep socket or box wrench. Using a 10mm (spout diameter) funnel, two quarts of Redline MTL were easily poured into the box and the sensor was replaced, re-torqued to 30 ft/lbs, and re-wired. Job done.
Has the Redline MTL made a difference, you ask? It has made a slight, but noticeable difference in shifting effort (not that I had any real problem beforehand), and I suspect that it will make more of a difference in the Winter when petroleum-based gear lubricants tend to become somewhat "peanut-butter-like" before warming up.
The radiator cooling fan for the 164 is a two-speed unit; the low speed fan circuit is designed to engage when coolant temperature reaches 198 degrees F' and/or when the air conditioner is turned on. The high speed fan circuit engages at 206 F'. The low speed circuit is controlled by a resistor which is located on the drivers side, upper corner of the radiator shroud. The original device is a thermo-circuit breaker of Fiat design, and as such, it is very prone to failure. To determine if the device has failed, simply turn the A/C on (with the coolant temperature below 190 F'), and see if the fan turns on.
Because there were so many failures of the original part, Alfa now sells a redesigned unit which has proven much more reliable. For a short period of time a kit was available (p/n 589-4444), which included the resistor and the accompanying assembly parts. That kit has now been discontinued and you will need to purchase the individual parts separately under the following part numbers:
Installation is as follows:
Don't expect this upgrade to be the "magic bullet" in reducing the stuck-in-traffic, hot running temperature of the 164. That's an issue which I'm still wrestling with on this car, as I'm not happy with the 212 F' temperature which is quickly reached when the car is not moving. Nonetheless, the low speed fan resistor should be updated, as it is important for proper A/C operation.
Low Speed Cooling Fan Resistor
60609114 Resistor Assembly ($25)
60800827 Connector (Quan 2, 50 cents ea)
60800826 Terminal (Quan 2, 30 cents ea - I used solder-less crimp-on connectors instead)