Smoking Alfa

Bobo78

Hi lads I went this evening to see Alfa Romeo 156 1.6 TS 45k miles.
I had a test drive and the car drives perfectly but there s one thing that I m worried about.
Once the engine has been warmed up as I pulled the dipstick it was smoking from there and when I open the oil filer cap drops of oil were popping from the inside.
Now I know that on normal car this would mean engine is burning oil. But I m not sure is that normal for Alfa because I heard that they tend to use a lot oil.

10-10-20

What were you looking for in opening the oil filler cap?
Does the engine sound OK? Do you know what you're actually looking for?

This smoke is called piston blow-past. It's normal.

Be more worried about the timing belt and suspension.

Bobo78

I was just making the usual checks that I would do before I purchase the car, when I noticed the smoke from the dipstick and drops of oil coming from the engine oil filler cap. So my question is, is that normal for this car or not?
I m asking that because the car that I had couple of years ago was smoking and popping drops of oil from the filler cap as well and that car was burning oil badly ( it was Polo 1.0l). So I just need to know is that Alfa good one or is there maybe the same problem with her??

10-10-20

Well, on a smaller engine with high mileage, you will see this more often as the blow-past is often greater.
If that's a 1.6 engine with a legitimate mileage, and if the upkeep was correct, then I would not be worried.
The 156 engines have a habit of pooling oil around the filler cap when sloppily filled.
It's not something I would be overly concerned about - just give it a good long drive and have somebody look out for smoke from the exhaust when it's accelerated hard.

It's a strong engine once the upkeep is done. I'm driving the 1.8 version of that engine.

Bobo78

10-10-20 wrote: »

Well, on a smaller engine with high mileage, you will see this more often as the blow-past is often greater.
If that's a 1.6 engine with a legitimate mileage, and if the upkeep was correct, then I would not be worried.
The 156 engines have a habit of pooling oil around the filler cap when sloppily filled.
It's not something I would be overly concerned about - just give it a good long drive and have somebody look out for smoke from the exhaust when it's accelerated hard.

It's a strong engine once the upkeep is done. I'm driving the 1.8 version of that engine.

Yeah it s a 1.6 TS engine with 45 k miles on the clock, the dealer has a full service history and he s giving 6 months warranty on the engine and gearbox.
As far as I looked there was no smoke from the back.
But can I ask you how much oil would those 1.6 TS engine tend to use on 1k miles?

10-10-20

I've seen some TS engines consume 1l/1000miles.
Mine consumes ~1l/6000miles.

Again, depends on upkeep. Some of the later models have a dashboard oil gauge which shows on engine-start.

Bobo78

10-10-20 wrote: »

I've seen some TS engines consume 1l/1000miles.
Mine consumes ~1l/6000miles.

Again, depends on upkeep. Some of the later models have a dashboard oil gauge which shows on engine-start.

Would that be the models from 2003 and onwards?

10-10-20

Yes. Facelift on. I think that's 2003 alright. But it may also be specification related also.

Just make sure that any car with greater than ~40k has HAD the timing belt, tensioner and belt bearing replaced. Don't hand over any cash before this is complete.
It can be as much as ~€550 to do otherwise.

Bobo78

10-10-20 wrote: »

Yes. Facelift on. I think that's 2003 alright. But it may also be specification related also.

Just make sure that any car with greater than ~40k has HAD the timing belt, tensioner and belt bearing replaced. Don't hand over any cash before this is complete.
It can be as much as ~€550 to do otherwise.

Ok cool, I have to ask you one more time, so its normal for Alfa to smoke from the dipstick area when it s warmed up??

Thanks again:)

10-10-20

Don't get me wrong here - I'm not trying to sell anything...

But, you're looking for issues where you shouldn't.

The crankcase is pressurised and is not designed for having the dipstick removed during use.
This smoke (excess oil which is vapourised as it's pushed past the piston rings) is normally sucked up and fed back into the air intake and then burned as fuel.

If you want to determine whether the car is buring more oil than it should, you'll need to have a pressurisation test done on each of the pistons.
I'm satisfied that if you were to lift the filler cap on any engine when operational, you will see some level of oil-smoke.

It can only be left up to you at this stage to satisify yourself that the 'smoke' is acceptable.

Henry Ford III

You shouldn't have the dipstick or oil filler cap out when the engine is running surely?

10-10-20

Henry Ford III wrote: »

You shouldn't have the dipstick or oil filler cap out when the engine is running surely?

Ideally not as the crankcase ventilation will get messed up and unmetered air will reach the intake.
Hence, you usually get a slight change of engine note/RPM when you do this.

Bobo78

Yeah I know that I shouldn't lift the dipstick and oil filler cap while it s working but on most of the cars you would see in what condition is the engine when you do that.

For example on my previous car (Polo 1.0l) when you lift the oil filter cap while engine is warmed up you could see plenty of smoke and and drops of oil popping from oil filler cap and that car was burning oil badly and I had to top up every week to be able to drive next 100 miles.

So because of this experience I m worried about this Alfa that I would like to buy. And that s way I m asking is this normal on Alfa's up to certain level because I already know that they tend to use quite a bit of oil. So I dont know is this smoking normal or not?

10-10-20

OK, and what I'm saying is that this is a misnomer.
Don't use it as a diagnostic.
It's not an accepted method of dererming the engine health.
If the engine sounds good, starts well, has the paperwork and a warranty; go for it.

Bobo78

10-10-20 wrote: »

OK, and what I'm saying is that this is a misnomer.
Don't use it as a diagnostic.
It's not an accepted method of dererming the engine health.
If the engine sounds good, starts well, has the paperwork and a warranty; go for it.

I totally agree with you and understand you but I was badly burned once and I don't want it to happen again (with Polo I mean) Polo was runing perfect as well and you would never know it was burning oil unless you lift the oil filler cap and saw it.

P.S. Dont know what "misnomer" means?:(

Lex Luthor

my 1.8Ts used about 1.5 to 2 litres of oil every 12,000miles. I've heard others using more.

Is it smoke or just a bit of hot oil burning up that you are seeing?

Like others said, I would check the service history that the belts/tensioner has been done

Henry Ford III

Bobo78 wrote: »

I totally agree with you and understand you but I was badly burned once and I don't want it to happen again (with Polo I mean) Polo was runing perfect as well and you would never know it was burning oil unless you lift the oil filler cap and saw it.

P.S. Dont know what "misnomer" means?:(

Looking in an oil filler neck tells you nothing. The oil being burned is combusted out the exhaust. Look for blueish smoke.

Henry Ford III

Bobo78 wrote: »

I totally agree with you and understand you but I was badly burned once and I don't want it to happen again (with Polo I mean) Polo was runing perfect as well and you would never know it was burning oil unless you lift the oil filler cap and saw it.

P.S. Dont know what "misnomer" means?:(

Looking down an oil filler neck tells you nothing. The oil being burned is combusted out the exhaust. Look for blueish smoke.

Bobo78

No there was no blue smoke at all it was just the smoking from the dipstick area and oil filler cap area that I was worried about.

10-10-20

So, did you buy???

Alfa nuts always like to hear the full story.

Fishtits

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

Have a mate who was an Alfa loyalist through & through, bought new every three years, got used to the warranty claims etc, his last purchase had an engine replacement after 9 months due to oil consumption... sod that.

He bought a Civic.

fishtits. Had several, loved them all but eventually couldn't hack the (lack of) reliability.

10-10-20

If you've nothing other than the BMW/AUDI/VAG party-line to add, then move along.

Prove to me that a B/A/V won't smoke from the filler when warm, then I'll take you seriously...

Bobo78

No I haven't bought the car yet I m gonna go and see few more and then I m gonna decide.
I still wanna buy Alfa 156 but if all of them use a lot of oil I will have to think twice then.