Oil for neglected Alfa Romeo Twin Spark

[lemon4]

Hello everyone, I used to be lemon3 here many years ago but now the site cannot find anything...

So, here it goes: I recently acquired a nice 180k km Alfa Romeo 147 with the dreaded 1.6 twin spark engine. Yes, the one that drinks oil. It drives normally, no funny sounds from the engine even though it seems a little low on power.

I took a peek inside the valve cover, everything looks ok in terms of the camshafts, no unreasonable wear. However it looks like instead of the tan varnish which is to be expected on a gas engine, the varnish is dark colored, almost black. Being a little ocd even on beater cars, this needs to be addressed.

Now I don't want to open a can of worms here by discussing engine flushes, we will consider it a last resort solution. Let's stick to a more conservative approach. I have access to total rubia tir 8900 10w-40 (TDS) that goes in an old gas car and all diesel equipment around here. I've had great results with similar oils unsticking rings on an overheated diesel tractor, to the point that went from 1 liter per hour to one liter per 10 hours (still not great but that engine was cooked without coolant)

I am thinking of doing a couple short OCIs with that oil. Is there any harm in that?
If things don't get cleaned up, should I consider an engine flush product?
If things turn out ok with either method, should I continue to use the HDEO or try something more towards a PCMO?

Our goal is to clean the engine internally and free up any stuck rings and to find the best long term regime once the engine has stabilized.

 

[GSCJR]

Sure, give it a shot, then switch to a 5w-40 A3/B4 to help things along; Forget about flush products.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

HPL Engine Cleaner for one OCI, then run their regular oil that meets your specs. It’s got alkylated naphthalene & esters that will clean it like a hot tank

 

[LeoStrop]

I am thinking of doing a couple short OCIs with that oil. Is there any harm in that?

No harm, if temperatures where you live allow a 10W to be used, i can't see anything more that could do harm. I have no idea what oil is recommended for that engine, but i can bet 10W40 should be one of them.

If things don't get cleaned up, should I consider an engine flush product?

That depends if it is causing any problems, if not, i would not mess with it. The only cleaner i would try and recommend is HPL EC.

If things turn out ok with either method, should I continue to use the HDEO or try something more towards a PCMO?

I believe that Rubia should have the same SAPS level than a A3/B4 oil, that's what you would be using instead. So either way, i think you are okay in both directions. Maybe for very short OCI's , a MB-Approval 228.3 mineral HDEO could have a stronger effect in cleaning, being a Grp I/II and higher SAPS. To be fair, i think it won't make any difference.

But don't expect a rapid cleaning or making your engine look like new again, oils are not made to clean a sludged engine. The best thing you can do is doing a couple short OCI's coupled with long trips at high speeds. Maybe after 10 to 20K you will start seeing some minor change.

 

[KCJeep]

Can not possibly make any suggestions without pictures of the Alfa.

 

[Popsy]

A friend of mine had a 147 too, consuming a lot of oil. I heard some years they got some low tension rings or something like that. To compare apples to oranges, my Barchetta (similar base engine, less modern and no twin spark head of course) isn't consuming any appreciable amount of oil.

Anyway, my friend used Total Quartz 10W50 oil till the car was trashed at over 350000Km. Despite the oil consumption the car was still passing emissions till the end, on the original catalyst converter (granted these tests are not very stringent).

 

[FCD]

If you want to clean it up, just put some 15w40 conventional oil in there and do a few short oil changes, like 1500 or 2000km, i used Shell Rimula R4X 15W-40 HDEO in my 1988 Escort and it did a good job cleaning it.

 

[FCD]

After that, i'd switch to an A3/B4 5W-40, whichever one you like best.

 

[lemon4]

So here's the setup: next to the battery you can see the dinky 12v pump that takes oil from the sump via dipstick and off it goes into the jug. Under the bottom of the fender you can see the special tool I use for oil filters. It consists of a small piece of rope and a pair of pliers or similar. Make a loop around the filter, take up the slack and twist the filter in the desired direction while applying force to keep the rope tight. It even crushes stubborn filters this, all the leverage you need.

So out goes the old oil, new rubia tir with random el cheapo oil filter, a new air filter (previous owner ran a bone dry k&n ...) and let's go for a ride.

Nothing to report after the ride, I think I am hearing more hydraulic lifters but that's probably me being paranoid.


Here's an interesting before/after picture

In the middle there's 2 blobs of oil. The clear one is the new oil that went in. The darker one is this same oil after 30 miles. The difference is rather stark. Is there any conclusions we can draw at this stage?

 

[Deleted member 89374]

In the middle there's 2 blobs of oil. The clear one is the new oil that went in. The darker one is this same oil after 30 miles. The difference is rather stark. Is there any conclusions we can draw at this stage?

The conclusion is that you undoubtedly ran that oil trough an internal combustion engine.

 

[Superflan]

from my experience of multiple 147/156 with TS engines, there's a chance that the most oil consumption in your engine would be the valve seals and you'd have to get those replaced if you can't mitigate enough

 

[andyd]

If you have access to a compression tester, I'd do dry and wet compression tests. Likewise a vacuum gauge will tell you things. Whatever you try please post a follow up. TIA