Drive and RestoreTiming belt day: replacing the belts on my Alfa Romeo 156 V6
There is one job every Busso V6 owner thinks about more than any other: the timing belt. The engine sounds wonderful, but it is an interference engine, and a belt or tensioner that lets go takes the valves with it. So when it was time on my Alfa Romeo 156 V6, I didn’t want to take any chances.
Choosing the parts
On a job like this the belt is only half the story. The tensioners do the hard work of keeping the belt at exactly the right tension, thousands of times a minute, and an old bearing in a tensioner is just as dangerous as an old belt. Replacing the belt and keeping the old rollers is a false economy.
So I went for original parts:
- Tensioner 55190052
- Tensioner 60813308
- A complete belt kit, which the team at italricambi helped me put together so that everything matched my engine.
Getting the parts right before you start makes all the difference. There is nothing worse than having the engine apart and finding that one roller or belt is the wrong one.
The job itself
The V6 doesn’t leave a lot of room under the bonnet of a 156, so the work is mostly about patience and access. Before anything comes off, the engine goes to its timing position and the camshafts and crankshaft are locked with the proper tools. On this engine, guessing or relying on paint marks alone is not an option.
Then it is a matter of working through it: auxiliary drive off, covers off, old belt and tensioners out, new parts in, everything back together in reverse order.
One bolt didn’t want to cooperate. It was seized solid, and that is the moment where a timing belt job can go wrong: rush it, and you round off the head or snap the bolt. With penetrating oil, time and steady force rather than brute force it came free, and from there everything went smoothly.
With the new belt and tensioners on, I set the tension, removed the locking tools and turned the engine over by hand, two full turns of the crankshaft, before checking that the timing marks still lined up. Only then did the key go in.
The result
The engine started straight away and runs beautifully. That smooth, even V6 sound, with the peace of mind that the most important belt in the engine is new, on new original tensioners.
What I’d tell anyone doing this job
- Always replace the tensioners with the belt. The belt gets the attention, but the rollers matter just as much.
- Use the locking tools for the camshafts and crankshaft. They are not optional on this engine.
- Have penetrating oil ready and take your time with stubborn bolts. A snapped bolt turns a day’s job into a week.
- Turn the engine by hand two full turns before you start it, and check the timing again.
- Get the parts right first. A matched kit with original parts saves you from surprises halfway through.
Want to know more about the engine itself? Read the story of Giuseppe Busso and the Alfa Romeo V6.
Parts used
- Tensioner 55190052: italricambi.nl/product/55190052
- Tensioner 60813308: italricambi.nl/product/60813308
- Complete belt kit: put together with the help of italricambi.nl