84 Alfa Romeo Spider - CTS, TTS, TPS, CSI, starter

[@bigilworth]

Did cleaning the contacts help?

[@albagr01]

Not really. It was a while back, but I believe I ended up having the CTS replaced. I saw cleaning the contacts as cheap insurance. It also helped me get to know my car a little better.

[@bigilworth]

@@albagr01 Ahhh, but like you said, a wise investment of your time. I watched all your videos because I'm trying to decide if I should get an Alfa Spider. I have a BMW E30 which I've brought back to life and now I'm trying to figure out what the common problems of an Alfa are before I invest. Alfa's seem to be a little more expensive than the common E30. Changing that starter looks like a nightmare. I hope you don't ever have to do that. Probably need to take the entire intake off the head to get to it.

[@albagr01]

Check the Alfabb forum. There are a lot of people there more knowledgeable than me. It's best to be at least a little mechanically inclined or at least have a good mechanic that knows the car who you could get it to. I love my alfa, but as a daily driver, it can be a challenge at times.

[@bigilworth]

@@albagr01 Thank you for the advice! I have been able to do all my own work on my E30 so I'm confident I could do almost any of the necessary jobs on the Alfa, but having that backup when time or experience is an issue is always handy! That's too bad that the Spider has not been a dream daily driver. That is definitely what I'm hoping to do when I get one. What are the issues that you've found that make the Spider a difficult daily?

[@albagr01]

I love the car, but when you are in need of be reliability over a long period of time, the Alfa has a way of shaking up your security. Broke down on me a couple times at inopportune moments, has occasionally been finicky when trying to get it started... Sometimes when it's cold, sometimes when it's hot. It can be tricky to hunt down the issues when the symptoms appear and without more free time to spend on it, they can become frustrating. I love the car, but a backup for the times when things don't go right is helpful. Now we have Uber and Lyft so it's rare for me that a breakdown is detrimental to my plans. At least during non-pandemic times. Right now it barely get driven, so every time I get in it's a real pleasure. Like I said, read up in that forum. There are a lot of people more knowledge than me. I just started making videos to help me remember what I did and how to do it, and maybe help people trying to work on the same issues.