[AlfaMaxximo]

defective manufacturing and bad components i.e oil pump selinoid failure starves engine of oil pump comes apart and next thing you get low oil pressure your engine shudders and then dies.

new oil pump has different part number than old one.

 

[AlfaMaxximo]

Although there have been a couple of postings of oil pump failures, I would like to hear from the several Alfa Technicians who frequent the forums regarding:
1) How often does this happen?
2) Is there a new and improved part?
3) How difficult is it to swap out the oil pump in a Q4?
[/QUOTE
the new parts is improved so they say but what kind of confidence will you have in that? being your car only had 50k on it and you had to replace the engine? not very much and it cost 4500 to have to new style pump installed if you catch it in time, and old pump will fail its just a matter of time.

 

[lockem]

new oil pump has different part number than old one.

New trunk lid stops have a different part number than the old one, but when you order one you get the old part.

 

[lockem]

the new parts is improved so they say but what kind of confidence will you have in that? being your car only had 50k on it and you had to replace the engine? not very much and it cost 4500 to have to new style pump installed if you catch it in time, and old pump will fail its just a matter of time.

Let's hear from @Crosshairs or another Alfa technician, not one person who posts a bunch of single line replies.
My car has 86kmiles on it.

 

[shpuncik]

you don't want a used engine because it may have the old style oil pump, time bomb

and what stops you from replacing oil pump on that engine?

if you have been making cars as long as alfa oil pumps shouldn't be a problem

yeah. Alfa created new engine for Giorgio platform but forgot to use pre-war oil pump

 

[Alpha]

Oil pump failures are unfortunately not uncommon, but they usually don't end up with a dead engine.

 

[AlfaMaxximo]

Let's hear from @Crosshairs or another Alfa technician, not one person who posts a bunch of single line replies.
My car has 86kmiles on it.

you are one of the lucky ones, I just spoke with the alfa techs and they have seen this several times, it may not happen to every car but the vehicles that do have that bad part is doomed

and what stops you from replacing oil pump on that engine?


yeah. Alfa created new engine for Giorgio platform but forgot to use pre-war oil pump

lol thats funny

 

[johnalfa]

Does anyone actually know when the updated oil pumps were installed at the factory. BTW oil pump failures have been common on other FCA vehicles for years.

 

[Martin]

you are one of the lucky ones

Um no? Most don’t have their engine grenade. There are plenty of high mileage giulias now.

 

[lockem]

One thing of note: I am pretty sure that replacing the oil pump in a Q4 is a lot more expensive than in a Rwd version. You cannot just pull the oil pan on a Q4 because the front differential and left half shaft are attached. It is a clever design--until you need to work on it.

 

[beta2alfa]

Does anyone know what date they started to use the updated oil pump and how to tell you have the newer one?

 

[adams.triston12]

2018 Giulia Q4 purchased 2 years ago used, just reached 54,303k miles. Engine has to be replaced because of a known
defective part. The oil pump which is a known defective component grenaded sending metal shavings into my engine,
low oil pressure warning as I was pulling up to a stop light and it shuddered and died, never started again. I was stuck in
traffic for hours,400.00 tow to my home then a 200.00 tow to dealership. I find out a week later that the oil pump failed damaged my engine to the point it must be replaced. I am so disappointed that I am physically sick just thinking about it. alfa care says they will cover cost of labor but I have to cover parts i.e engine, over 2k labor vs 8k for a new engine, well why is the dealer marking up the price of the engine 2k. I searched on carid and a new engine is only 6k so it sounds like I am getting screwed. I don't even want the car anymore my confidence in this product is totally shot and the worst part is I still owe 23k on the car I will never drive it again. the company knows that many drivers are out there with a ticking time bomb in their engine and if your warranty has expired you are sol. The oil pump causes catostrophic engine damage and you are stuck dead in the water. shame on the company for disregarding my safety and value of my dollar by knowingly allowing a potential dangerous component to destroy my engine. I was in the Navy 20 yrs worked on weapons systems and if the fleet was aware of a component or piece of ordnance that could cause serious damage to equipment or personnel, a safety bulletine ,info notice, casrep something would imediately warn all installations and platforms to cease use until repair or replacement of potential hazard. I am going to park this car in my garage and never drive it again. My 2007 Mazda 6 that has 172k miles will be more reliable.

My man... That engine assy is 32k on Mopar parts through the dealer side. If you're getting an engine for 8k, you just got the deal of a lifetime... Whatever you're finding on car Id is not what it costs the dealer to get that engine. Also, the dealer is in business to make money, just like any business on the planet. It's not unfair to apply a markup to the parts, which is the same thing Walmart and target do to your food. And on the subject of the dealer replacing your pump for you, from the dealers perspective ( also from alfa corporates perspective(no that I'm speaking for them)) it would have had to fail within warranty to be addressed. Every manufacturer does this, i agree that it's not the best practice, but it's not unusual. It feel for you, sincerely, I love those cars, they're so much fun to drive, and to hear that you've had that happen to you is just heartbreaking. I wish you the best

 

[adams.triston12]

Um no? Most don’t have their engine grenade. There are plenty of high mileage giulias now.

99.5% of the engines also don't have a grenaded oil pump that causes damage to the rest of the engine when it fails

 

[adams.triston12]

One thing of note: I am pretty sure that replacing the oil pump in a Q4 is a lot more expensive than in a Rwd version. You cannot just pull the oil pan on a Q4 because the front differential and left half shaft are attached. It is a clever design--until you need to work on it.

You actually just pull the half shafts and the diff off the side of the pan, then pull the pan while using a pole jack to raise the engine so you get clearance for the pan to come out. It's really not as bad as it seems In a shop environment. Plus, you don't have to remove the pan to replace the oil pump. Taking the timing cover off and flushing the pan that way will suffice unless there are large parts found in the engine.

 

[lockem]

You actually just pull the half shafts and the diff off the side of the pan, then pull the pan while using a pole jack to raise the engine so you get clearance for the pan to come out. It's really not as bad as it seems In a shop environment. Plus, you don't have to remove the pan to replace the oil pump. Taking the timing cover off and flushing the pan that way will suffice unless there are large parts found in the engine.

Yes but pulling the front half shafts involves taking the front suspension uprights loose, which requires re-aligning the suspension, replacing one time use bolts (certainly the top pinch bolt and the half-shaft crimp-on nut), some special tools (I think), busting knuckles (inevitably) etc.

 

[adams.triston12]

Yes but pulling the front half shafts involves taking the front suspension uprights loose, which requires re-aligning the suspension, replacing one time use bolts (certainly the top pinch bolt and the half-shaft crimp-on nut), some special tools (I think), busting knuckles (inevitably) etc.

No special tools, but yes, axle nuts are one time use; And no realignment is necessary after the procedure. I'm not saying it's easy, I'm just saying it's not at time consuming as it looks

 

[Theo]

No special tools, but yes, axle nuts are one time use; And no realignment is necessary after the procedure. I'm not saying it's easy, I'm just saying it's not at time consuming as it looks

Could this all have been avoided by a better relay or just a shitty oil pump?

 

[adams.triston12]

Could this all have been avoided by a better relay or just a shitty oil pump?

All manufacturers have faulty parts, it's just part of doing business. If you make a thousand pumps and one has a casting defect, and explodes in an engine later in its life, as much as it's going to really hurt that person, it's a pretty good fault percentage for the manufacturer (0.1%). There may be parts of the pump that could be strengthened, there may be ways to check the part for casting defects with the lower fault percentage, but there's always going to be the one that slips through.

As far as the rest of the pumps are concerned, 2.9 and 2.0 l engines all have had runs of faulty oil pumps. It's usually earlier models, but I can tell you that the pump for the 2 l has been superseded more than three times. Alfa engineers know about the problem, and are working to fix it. Unfortunately, there are going to be those cars that are going to have problems later in life, where the issue didn't surface before the warranty expired.

 

[lockem]

All manufacturers have faulty parts, it's just part of doing business. If you make a thousand pumps and one has a casting defect, and explodes in an engine later in its life, as much as it's going to really hurt that person, it's a pretty good fault percentage for the manufacturer (0.1%). There may be parts of the pump that could be strengthened, there may be ways to check the part for casting defects with the lower fault percentage, but there's always going to be the one that slips through.

As far as the rest of the pumps are concerned, 2.9 and 2.0 l engines all have had runs of faulty oil pumps. It's usually earlier models, but I can tell you that the pump for the 2 l has been superseded more than three times. Alfa engineers know about the problem, and are working to fix it. Unfortunately, there are going to be those cars that are going to have problems later in life, where the issue didn't surface before the warranty expired.

Yes but if every part has a 0.1% failure rate the probability of something breaking on any given car gets pretty high. They have to aim for a lot better than 0.1%/part.

On my Dodge pickup truck there are rubber bushings that the tailgate hinges run on. It is a simple piece of cast hard rubber, no moving parts no fancy shape. They are on revision E (what is there to revise? maybe the rubber formula?). So yes sometimes even simple parts can be problematic.

 

[Phorenzic]

Although there have been a couple of postings of oil pump failures, I would like to hear from the several Alfa Technicians who frequent the forums regarding:
1) How often does this happen?
2) Is there a new and improved part?
3) How difficult is it to swap out the oil pump in a Q4?

Following thread, at 50k miles with max extended warranty, but would love to know if there are any preventative measure to mitigate risk of failure.