alfa east wrote:Congrats on the test drive. I admire your perseverance; let's hope it's not the clutch that needs replacing.
Thanks

I think the clutch will last for a while but will inevitably need changing in the next year or so. I don't really mind, so long as I get to drive the car first!
AlfaWhiz wrote:Cograts, big step forward.

Brake servo and master cylinder are definitely possible without too much hassle (overflow tank, etc.). The clutch on the other hand is obviously much more complicated.
I have to replace the starter motor in mine... Is it possible to do it from the top only, or did you have to have some access from the bottom as well? I have only jack stands at hand at the moment unfortunately. Any tips would be welcome.

As for the 4WD, I wouldn't be too worried about the rear wheels not moving while in the air, although my first thought is that they should. Maybe the speed was just too low, Viscomatic is pretty smart and takes a lot of parameters into consideration, unlike some of the other ehem... less sophisticated ehem... crude systems from certain ehem... German manufacturers.

Thank you!
Indeed, I had good access to the servo and master cylinder while changing the starter, I wish I had known to replace them at the time but never mind. They should be OK for a while, my only concern is the noise the brake medal makes when driving...it doesn't sound very happy. I've changed the clutch before on my old 164 QV but I suspect the Q4 is a bit more complicated with the Getrag gearbox.
As for the starter motor, I'm more than happy to provide some tips. I found the easiest way to work was with the car raised up such that you can get underneath it and on top of it (as in, access the back of the engine bay) at the same time. This is because you'll probably end up switching regularly between work underneath the car and in the engine bay. So I raised the front of my Q4 so it rested on some concrete blocks underneath each of the front wheels, which gave good access to the underside but I could still reach the back of the engine (though it wasn't very comfortable leaning over it!). Here is a basic list of what I removed/how I replaced the starter (you may do it differently of course):
>Disconnect the battery and remove the airbox, large intake sleeve and intake plenum.
>Remove the coolant reservoir and the false firewall (see the following link for firewall removal instructions
http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/164-168 ... moval.html). I would say that removing the firewall is essential, it makes the rear manifold bolts much easier to access.
>Disconnect both exhaust downpipes; do the longer one first to give better access to the nuts holding the rear downpipe to the rear manifold. The downpipes should push to one side quite easily after this (you'll need to remove the longer downpipe from the bracket attached to the gearbox to do this, it slides onto two pins and is held in place with two 13mm nuts).
>Disconnect the rear exhaust manifold - 6X 13mm nuts. I didn't quite have room to remove the manifold completely so I just disconnected it and pushed it to one side. It does get in the way a bit when you're installing the new starter but I worked around it. Perhaps you could make room to remove it if you loosened the engine mounts and tilt the engine forward slightly, but I couldn't be bothered doing that
>Disconnect brown/green wire that fits quite loosely to some kind of sensor on the back of the engine next to the oil filter, and the 2.5 black wire that sits on a small rectangular pin on the starter motor. Disconnect the other two thick black cables that sit on the starter motor (13mm nut I think).
>This is the fiddly bit; you can now remove the starter. I found the following method to work quite well. Undo the top starter bolt first, working from inside the engine bay. Use a ratchet with a long extension and a 13mm socket and try to slide it along the back of the engine towards the head of the bolt. Do this with one hand, and use your other hand (you can just reach with your finger tips) to guide the socket onto the head of the bolt. Then undo! The middle and lower bolts (3 in total) are much easier to get to. I disconnected the middle bolt from on top of the engine with a spanner as there's not much room to get a socket onto it. The lowest bolt is easy from underneath the car.
>You'll also need to remove two 13mm nuts on the other side of the starter motor (as in, the side facing the oil filter) because the starter motor has a bracket on it. I removed these nuts, wiggled the starter motor free and then had to remove the bracket from the starter motor (two 8mm nuts, one is difficult to get to) to give enough room to get the motor off.
Re-fitting is simply the reverse of the removal! Well, I say 'simply'...

I hope those instructions made sense, I was due to leave the house while writing this so I've had to rush it slightly. I might have missed one or two things, so let me know if there's anything else you need to ask. Overall it's not a difficult job - just very fiddly. I am the world's least patient person and I hate fiddly jobs, so if I can do it so can you!
Thanks for the tips about the 4wd system too, much appreciated. As you say, perhaps it's because the car was only idling and therefore there was no speed involved. I still need to get my head round how the 4wd system works.
Haydn