Thinking about buying a Delta Auto

[Frank]

As I did not get any answers to my enquiry abut buying a Delta, I just found a few and actually went to test drive what seems like a straight car.

However, it gave a clunk when changing gear which concerned me. It could be that as I am used to driving autos with torque converters, the auto clutch on the Delta just takes a bit of getting used to. Or it could be that the clutch is not set up correctly, or simply the clutch and or DMF is on its way out.

I am on the outskirts of Blackpool and I have not found any garages in Lancashire who are interested in working on the Delta.

Are there any auto owners who can give me some feedback on the clunk, and anyone who knows of any garages in the north who are familiar with the Delta?

My other concerns were the windscreen had a few chips, with one in particular looking to me like it had started a crack in the bottom piece of glass even through the interlayer. The owner said he had gone to a windscreen repair place and they had told him it was not possible to repair that. I know this is correct, as a chip can be filled, but a crack is not fixable. 

Can windscreens for Deltas be got in the UK? And how much is that likely to be? Anyone have any ideas? The first glass place I spoke to has not got back to me yet, after initially saying they did not think the screens are available in the UK. They did say they would search, but I presume the screen is different to any other Fiats? Anyone know?

I will of course ask some local windscreen companies, and bother some local garages for a price for a cambelt change while I am at it. But even though the car has the standard Fiat 1.6l Multijet fitted, a lot of garages seem to go cold as soon as they hear Chrysler, or Delta.

 

 Best, Frank B

[ForzaLancia]

Hi, I managed to get my screen replaced with AutoGlass. It did have to be specially ordered rather than off the shelf as my car has the sensor for the auto light. They did bring along the one for cars without the sensor first time round, so there is at least one in the country. 

AutoLusso in Penrith will be able to do the auto box easily.  A well respected Alfa specialist will have all the kit to do the job properly as it is the same box as fitted to the Giulietta. The clunk may be a concern though as these boxes suffer from wear on one of the bearings. There are YouTube videos on what to looks for (on a Fiat 500 IIRC, same box), often specialist put an extra 500ml of oil in the box and that seems to sort it. My box has 150k miles on it and no sign of a problem (unless it explode on the previous owner!)

Cambelt should be easy, the engine is the same as a Vauxhall Astra/Vectra so any garage should find it pretty easy although they will doubtless try to charge you an extra £100. Or simply take it to Autolusso who will do the water pump at the same time.

 

HTH

[FrankB]

Many thanks for the reply. And please accept my apologies for my not being able to post back to thank you.

Without labouring the point, I screwed up my password and multiple reset attempts did not work...

I am better with spanners than computers, honest...

Now back to the very valuable help you have posted. I did not know about AutoLusso and did not think about looking for Alfa specialists, rather than Chrysler.

The people I did speak to were Fiat agents and as main agent do, want to charge top dollar for everything.

The tip about the gearbox oil is valuable as I have not read that anywhere. I also did not know it was the multijet that was fitted to the Insignia.

I had heard bad things bout the pump suction pipe seal on Insignias, but have no idea what models were affected.

As usual, only those unfortunate enough to have problems howl about it, so it is probably a very small percentage of cars that have a problem.

However, if it is your car, that is a disaster. 

The auto I had looked at has either been sold or the owner has decided to keep it.

All the other auto cars I have seen have been at least 200 miles away from me until recently.

I have found one nearby that has problems and the owner wants too much for a dead car, otherwise I might have taken a punt.

I have tried to help him out, but by now I probably know only enough to be dangerous.

He has a transmission not available after first having intermittent problems with the 'box. I have posted a screenshot he sent me. 

I will keep looking for an auto, a good time as people are now starting to get rid of second cars.

Thank you once again, I have read a lot of your posts with great interest and I came to the conclusion you know what you are doing.

There is no substitute for the voice of experience!

 

Best, Frank B

 

[hazeywood]

I have the same issue with my 1.6MJ. Gearchanges are often clunky, especially on changing down. And occasionally it seems to have a problem deciding which gear it is in. Mostly when pulling away on an incline after just coming to a stop. I put my foot down on the accelerator and...nothing. It crawls forward almost as if trying to pull away in third gear on a manual? Got a few other issues but will save that for a new post. Just thought I would mention the gearbox thing. Someone told me it needs to be calibrated? 

Also finding it impossible to get any garage down here (Sussex) to work on the car. Even a so called "Alfa Specialist" is ignoring my requests even for a simple service